Key Points

Chocolate is made from the seeds of the tropical cacao tree

Research suggests chocolate may have health benefits

Chocolate cravings may be a symptom of addiction

Chocolate history

Chocolate is made from the seeds of the tree Theobroma cacao. Theobroma is Greek for 'food of the gods'. The
ancient Aztecs venerated the cacao tree and used its beans as a form of currency. They saw the tree as a source of
strength and wealth and assigned their god Quetzalcoatl its guardian.

The Aztecs discovered that by crushing the beans into a paste and adding spices, they could make a refreshing and
nourishing drink. This drink would have been very bitter, unlike our chocolate drinks today. 16th century
European explorers brought the drink back from their travels, added sweeter flavourings, and soon it was popular
as an expensive luxury.

The first chocolate bars

In the 1800s, solid chocolate became popular, with the invention of moulding processes. Mechanical grinders
crushed cocoa beans to a fine powder that could be heated and poured into moulds, forming shapes as it cooled.

Dutchman Coenrad Van Houten perfected the extraction of cocoa butter from cocoa beans in 1825. The beans are
crushed to a paste, which is subjected to very high pressure, forming chocolate liquor and cocoa butter. The
extracted butter is smoothed and treated to remove any odours.

In the 1880s, Rudolphe Lindt of Switzerland started adding extra cocoa butter during chocolate manufacture, to
make it smoother and glossier. Cocoa butter melts at around 97°F, which is human body temperature. That's why
chocolate melts in the mouth.

Milk chocolate

In 1875, Swiss Daniel Peter perfected the manufacture of milk chocolate, which is sweeter and smoother than dark
chocolate. Nestlé's recently-invented condensed milk was easy to mix with cocoa paste, unlike liquid milk.

Chocolate craving

The love of chocolate goes beyond the call of sweetness. Chocolate can induce craving in a way that other sugary
products like toffee or marshmallow don't. Chocolate makes us feel good, but can it really be addictive?

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Chocolate treasures from ancient civilizations to
today
Originally consumed as a spicy drink, chocolate can be traced back to the ancient Mayan and Aztec
civilizations in Mexico, Central and South America where the Theobroma cacao tree, or cocoa tree,
grows wild in tropical rain forests.

Solid chocolate as we know it today wasn't created until the late 1800's in Europe.

Hundreds of years before the Europeans got into the act, the Mayans and the Aztecs treasured the cacao
beans, or later to be called cocoa, for both their value as an ingredient for their special drink and as a
currency.

Their drink was made from ground cocoa beans. Since sugar was unknown to the Aztecs, they flavored
the ground beans with spices, chili peppers and corn meal. Some say it was frothed and eaten with a
spoon.

The Aztec emperor, Montezuma, was said to drink chocolate that was thick as honey and dyed red.

He liked it so much that he drank 50 goblets of it every day, and when he was done, he threw the golden
goblets away. They weren't valuable to him, but the chocolate was.

Christopher Colombus is said to have brought the first cocoa beans back to Europe between 1502-1504.
However, with far more exciting treasures on board, the beans were neglected.

It was his fellow explorer, the Spain's Hernando Cortez, who realized a potential commercial value in
the beans.

Cortez, upon conquering the Aztec emperor and his people, sampled the drink, but didn't care for it.
However, he did take some beans back to Spain where it was made into an agreeable drink by
substituting sugar and vanilla for the chili peppers.

This beverage was kept a secret from other European countries for nearly a century. And when the
British captured a Spanish vessel loaded with the cocoa beans in 1587, the cargo was destroyed as
useless.

During the 17th century, the chocolate beverage quickly became the fashionable drink all over Europe,
but not without opposition. Some condemned it as an evil drink. Frederick III of Prussia prohibited it in
his realm.

In the countries that did accept the drink, it was limited to the wealthy because of its high price. The
London chocolate houses became the trendy meeting places where the elite London society savored this
new luxury beverage.

The first chocolate house opened in London in 1657, advertising "this excellent West India drink."
As cocoa plantations spread to the tropics in both hemispheres by the 19th century, the increased
production lowered the price of the cocoa beans and chocolate became a popular and affordable
beverage.

In England, the heavy import duties which had made chocolate a luxury for the wealthy were reduced in
1853, allowing a number of cocoa and drinking chocolate manufacturers to get into the business.

Chocolate was still exclusively for drinking until around 1830 when solid eating chocolate was
developed by J. S. Fry and Sons, a British chocolate maker. Then in the 1870's, Swiss manufacturers
added milk creating the first milk chocolate.

Industrialization in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have since made chocolate a food for the
masses. But despite its availablilty, people continue to hold onto the notion of chocolate as a special
treat.

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Chocolate…rich in history.
For centuries, chocolate has been an intricate part of the history of many
countries. Historically, Chocolate has been used as both a type of
currency and also as an indulgent drink affordable only to royalty. Today,
chocolate is enjoyed by all in a variety of forms and continues to be an
important part of many cultures.

Cocoa Beans as a Monetary Unit

Archeologists have discovered that Mayans cultivated these wild trees in the 7th
century A.D in the Yucatan region of Central America.

The first cocoa trees grew wild in the tropical rainforests of the Amazon and Orinoco
basins over 4,000 years ago.

Archeologists have discovered that Mayans cultivated these wild trees in the 7th
century A.D in the Yucatan region of Central America.

Historians have found proof that cocoa beans were used as a form of payment as
well as a unit of calculation around 1000 A.D. In fact, following that period, all taxes
were paid in cocoa beans to Feudal Aztecs. Over the centuries, the people that would
become known as "Indians" brewed cocoa from a dense paste made with roasted
cocoa beans. With the addition of water and various spices (vanilla and cinnamon, but
also pepper and other strong condiments) it became an expensive yet very popular
beverage enjoyed by Kings, while the poorest used it sparingly to flavor a boiled corn
mixture.

Cocoa - a divine drink

Under the Aztec Emperor Montezuma, the drink made of cocoa beans was reserved for the male elite. "The divine drink,
which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without
food." - Aztec Emperor Montezuma (circa 1480 - 1520)

In 1502 Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover Cocoa beans upon landing in Nicaragua on his fourth
voyage. While the natives used cocoa beans as currency and also as a delightful drink, there was no interest by Columbus
and his entourage who were still searching for the sea route to India.
A beverage fit for a king
Hernan Cortez, who conquered part of Mexico in 1519, was intrigued by the idea cocoa as a means of payment, and
establishes a cocoa plantation in the name of the Spanish crown to cultivate this new "money".

Later, Cortez took xocolatl, a drink made from cocoa beans, to Charles V's court in 1520. Cane sugar, in addition to or in
place of traditional spices made cocoa a beverage that was sweet and agreeable to drink and caught the addition of the
Spanish King. Word of the drink quickly spread throughout Spain.

From Spain to France

In 1615, the French became aware of the use of cocoa, a century after the first discovery of the chocolate drink by the
Spanish court. Spanish princess Anna of Austria married French King Louis XIII who introduced, among other Spanish
customs, the drinking of chocolate at the French court.

News of the drink spread throughout Europe in the 17th century by Italian and French merchants.
The first chocolate-houses open
In 1657 the first chocolate-house was opened in London by a Frenchman, popularizing the consumption of chocolate
among many classes. As early as 1720, several coffee-houses of Florence and Venice are offering chocolate whose
reputation reaches far beyond the country's borders.

Italian chocolatiers, now famous for the art of making chocolate, are becoming known throughout Europe for this new art
form. During this time, gianduja (hazelnut paste) becomes a popular sweet chocolate variation.
Chocolate as cure
During the 18th century, chocolate was used more for therapeutic qualities, such as prevention of stomach aches.

Introduction of chocolate to the United States did not occur until 1765 when John Hanan brought cocoa beans from the
West Indies to Dorchester, Massachusetts, thinking that it might be useful for medicinal purposes. Together with Dr. James
Baker, they start the first chocolate factory in North America, at first to manufacture remedies for illnesses. (Baker's
chocolate still exists as a baking chocolate variety).

During the first half of the 19th century, several technological advances made chocolate easier to produce and more
available to the masses.
Invention of the cocoa press
In 1828, Dutchman Hendrick Van Houten invented the cocoa press. This invention
helped reduce the prices of cocoa even further and helped to improve the quality of
the beverage by squeezing out part of the cocoa butter, (fat that naturally occurs in
cocoa beans) and allowed the cocoa to be grounded more finely. From then on,
drinking chocolate had more of the smooth consistency and the pleasing flavor it has
today. Today, this process is known as "Dutching." The final product, Dutch
chocolate, has a dark color and a mild taste.

The first chocolate bar

In 1847, Fry's chocolate factory in Bristol, England molded the first chocolate bar
that was suitable for general consumption.

Milk chocolate was invented in 1879 by the Swiss Henri Nestlé and Daniel Peter

Industrialization
The industrialization of chocolate reduced the production costs and allowed all
levels of society to enjoy chocolate. Children rapidly became a great market for
chocolate makers. This started a trend of novelties with the 1923 launch of the
Milky Way in by the American Frank Mars while his son invented the namesake
bars, the Mars bar. At the same time, Milton Hershey, another American chocolate
producer vastly expanded his chocolate sales through clever marketing and
capitalizing on impulse purchases of chocolate in main street grocery stores.
Hershey was called the "Henry Ford" of chocolate because he mass-produced a
quality chocolate bar at a price everyone could afford.

The chocolate industry has grown to a worldwide industry topping $50

Billion in retail sales worldwide and continues to show healthy growth.
Recently, there has been an increasing trend towards high quality chocolates
such as chocolates with high cocoa content and or chocolates flavored with
natural flavors and rich spices.

Chocolatesource, via the internet, has made these gourmet chocolates

accessible to chocolate lovers everywhere.
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http://www.knet.co.za/cgchocolate/origin.htm

It was the Maya Indians, an ancient people whose descendants still live in Central America,
who first discovered the delights of cocoa as long ago as 600 AD.

The Yucatan Peninsula, a tropical area in what is now Southern Mexico, where wild cocoa
trees grew, was where the Maya lived. They harvested cocoa beans from the rain forest trees,
then cleared areas of lowland forest to grow their own cocoa trees in the first known cocoa
plantations.

A drink called "chocolatl" made from roasted cocoa beans, water and a little spice, was their
most important use but cocoa beans were also valued as a currency. An early explorer visiting
Central America found that -
*4 cocoa beans could buy a pumpkin
*10 could buy a rabbit
*100 were needed to buy a slave!

Christopher Columbus is said to have brought the first cocoa beans back to Europe from his
fourth visit to the 'New World' between 1502 and 1504. However the many other treasures on
board his galleons were far more exciting so the humble cocoa beans were neglected.

It was his fellow explorer, the Spanish Conquistador Don Hernan Cortes, who first realised the
commercial value of the beans. He brought cocoa beans back to Spain in 1528 and very
gradually the custom drinking chocolate spread across Europe reaching England in the 1650's.

As the demand for cocoa grew, cocoa plantations were started in the West Indies, the Far East
and Africa and the price of cocoa beans gradually began to fall as greater quantities came onto
the market.

However it was not until 1853 that significant reductions in the import duties were made and
with the Industrial revolution making transport easier, chocolate became available to a large
percentage of the population.

Chocolate was exclusively for drinking until early Victorian times when a technique was
perfected for making solid eating chocolate.

As more people could afford to drink chocolate, so there was an interest in its manufacture.
Some of the earliest cocoa makers were apothecaries (early chemists) who became interested
because of the supposed medicinal properties of cocoa.
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http://www.awdsgn.com/Classes/WebI_Fall02/WebI-Final/CBaecker/pages/History_html

Chocolate starts from the cacao tree. Pronounced kah kow. The pods from
the cacao tree contain beans which are ground up to make the chocolate.
The ancient Mayans of 500 A.D. wrote about cacao on their pottery. Some
people think that chocolate dates back to the Olmec civilization.

The beans were ground up into a paste and made into a bitter tasting
beverage. The frothy drink was mixed with water or wine. This was
seasoned with vanilla, pimento, and chili pepper. It was used to cure
diarrhea and dysentary. Chocolate was also believed to be an aphrodisiac.

In 1828 Dutch chocolate maker Conrad J. Van Houten patened a machine

(Hydraulic press) for pressing the fat from the roasted cacao beans. This
created a cake like substance which was then pulverized to make a fine
powder known as cocoa. Van Houten then treated the powder with
potassium or sodium carbonate so it would mix more easily with water. This
method is known today as dutching. Dutch chocolate has a dark color with
a mild taste. Thanks to Van Houten's success, people began experimenting
by mixing the powder with sugar and cocoa butter to create solid pieces.
Then about 19 years laters a chocolate maker named Joseph Stores Fry
produced the worlds first chocolate candy.

In the late 19 century the Swiss developed two ways to make chocolate
even better. First, was Daniel Peter's idea to add powdered milk. Second,
was Rudolph Lindt's process called conching. This greatly improved the
blending and gave the chocolate a smooth, creamy texture and taste.