South East N Food network

It may be hard to believe, but the sweetness of chocolate can trace its origin back to a bitter drink created by the indigenous people of Mesoamerica. They used it in their religious and social lives as far back as 250-900 AD – known as the Classic Period. Mayans used to harvest the bean from the rainforests around their city. A cocoa tree was called a “Cacahuaquchtl,” while the “xocoatl” was the word for chocolate, which in translated terms means “bitter water”. The beans were fermented and then roasted to form a paste. Water, chili peppers, cornmeal, and various other spices were added to the paste in order to create the spicy chocolate beverage.

For currency, Aztecs adopted the bean once they began to rule over large portions of Mesoamerica. It should not be surprising that the Aztecs soon integrated chocolate into their society. With the Aztecs, the drink was reserved for only royalty, but with the Aztecs, that privilege was extended to priests, honored merchants, and decorated soldiers along with rulers.

It was widely believed that power and wisdom came from eating fruit and beans. With cocoa beans, many people believed that aphrodisiac qualities followed. In 1492, Columbus brought cocoa beans back from his trip, but they didn’t attract much attention at that point. The desire to use the beans as a type of currency was something that took root for Westerners only once several trips had been taken to America.

Dumping the name of “xocoatl,” the Aztecs began calling their drink “chocolatl,” whose English equivalent is “warm liquid”. In the year 1519, Hernando Cortex Begin stared up the first plantation of cocoa trees. The plantation was created in the name of Spain and by 1528, the Spanish King, Charles V, had his first taste of spicy chocolate. The new delicacy gained even more revered status when Hernando began experimenting by blending the beans with sugar. Soon, other variations, such as nutmeg, vanilla, cloves, and cinnamon all became common.

Only the Spanish nobility were permitted access to the drink, not any of the lower class or other countries. It eventually gained access to the rest of the world through Spanish monks who were cultivating the beans. Some parts of Europe continued to use chocolate as a currency as it spread throughout Europe as a delicacy.

Since then chocolate has slowly spread throughout the decades and centuries, to become the delicacy it is day. It has faced many changes throughout its history, the most notable being that it dropped its religious and royal connotations, and the taste has greatly improved. While cocoa may not be a aphrodisiac, research has proved that dark chocolate is good for you and your continual health.