Don’t we all love chocolate?! I am not sure, though, if we would have loved it in its very beginning too. The very first chocolate was not sweet at all but known for its bitter and strong taste. Thus, the development from over 4,000 years ago is extremely gratifying. Normally, there are five types of chocolate (white chocolate, whole milk chocolate, dark, semi-bitter, and dark chocolate), but when you walk into a supermarket and find yourself in front of the chocolate isle, you may believe there are infinite variations. The question about how it is possible for us to create all these different kinds of chocolate and who came up with the genius idea of processing cacao beans will be answered in this article. So grab your chocolate bar and keep reading.
The history of chocolate began in ancient Mesoamerica, today’s Mexico, where the first cocoa plants were found. In Latin America, the Olmec drank their chocolate during rituals and used it as medicine. I know that today a lot of people say that chocolate heals the soul and makes you happy. I guess there is some truth in it if it worked for the Olmecsback in the days.
Much later, the Mayans made a brew out of roasted and ground cacao seeds mixed with chillies, water, and cornmeal. They praised this chocolate as the drink of the gods and called it “xocolatl,” which means “bitter water.” An interesting fact about the chocolate of the Mayans is that it was available to almost everyone, even though it had such a high symbolic meaning to it. In a normal household, chocolate was drunk with every meal, and the thick and frothy drink was an important part of the Mayan culture.
In the 15th century, the Aztecs enjoyed their chocolate like the Mayans did, as a hot or cold drink with their meals, and additionally used it as currency to buy food and other goods. Chocolate was considered more valuable than gold. Normal people could, therefore, only enjoy it on weddings or other special occasions.
The question of how chocolate came to Europe is a bit more difficult because historians are not completely sure about it. What we know for sure is that it first arrived in Spain, and all the theories agree on the fact that some kind of traveler (e.g., Christopher Columbus or Hernán Cortés) brought it to their country. The Spanish people mixed it then with honey or sugar to sweeten the naturally bitter taste. It quickly became popular and loved among the rich and wealthy people. Even Catholics drank it during religious practices.
Soon, Spain started to export its chocolate and it spread throughout Europe.With the increasing interest in chocolate, European countries set up their own cacao plantations, and sadly, these were worked by thousands of enslaved people.
The chocolate of the Azecs was, after all, not to the fullest satisfaction of European palates. That is why it got combined with sugar, cinnamon, and other common spices and flavourings.In Amsterdam, London, and other big European cities, fashionable chocolate houses for the wealthy have cropped up.
Later, in 1828, a Dutch chemist, Coenraad van Houten, came up with the idea of cacao powder. It was easier to mix with water, and “Dutch cocoa” could be used to make a variety of cocoa-based products.
With this great invention, chocolate became affordable for everyone since mass production was now possible. Just like that, the chocolate we know today came into being.
From there on, companies experimented with different recipes. They added milk, sugar, butter, and everything else you can imagine.
As you know now, back in the days, the first chocolate lovers were the Mexicans. Today,
Switzerland is at the top of the list. On average, it adds up to 11,3kg of chocolate per person that they eat in one year. Germany follows with 9.1 kg. Greece is in the 12th place with 2.6kg. This is still a really huge amount of chocolate. And now that we know what along way the chocolate we know today has come, maybe we can enjoy our chocolate a little differently and think from time to time about its origin.
I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about your favorite snack, and hopefully you don’t have a watering mouth by now.
Sources:
https://www.magnumicecream.com/us/en/stories/about-us/the-history-of-chocolate.html (magnumicecream, 05.10.2022)
https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-americas/history-of-chocolate (History.com Editors, 05.10.2022)
https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/20040/umfrage/jaehrlicher-schokoladenkonsum-pro-kopf-in-ausgewaehlten-laendern/ (Sandra Ahrens, 05.10.2022)
https://www.worldsoffood.de/specials/schokoladenseiten/item/176-das-schokoladenlexikon-von-weiss-bis-bitter-welche-sorten-gibt-es.html (Sandra Wachaja, 05.10.2022)