By Lucille Green
Through research we now know that the first chocolate formats came in an ancient drink used by the Mesoamerican indigenous cultures. It was used in religious and social lives of those people as early as 250-900 AD, also known as the Classic Period. The beans had to be harvested from rainforests around the Mayan built gorgeous cities. The cocoa tree was called "Cacahuaquchtl" and the chocolate was called "xocoatl", which means "bitter water" when translated. A paste was formed from the beans which were fermented and roasted. In order to complete the spicy chocolate drink, water, chili peppers, cornmeal, and a variety of other substances were added to the paste.
Additionally, the Aztecs adopted the cocoa when they began their domination of Mesoamerica, and they used beans as a type of currency. Eventually, chocolate became an integral part of the Aztec way of life. Along with the rulers that the Mayans allowed to drink the beverage, the Aztecs also allowed it to be consumed by priests, honored merchants, and decorated soldiers.
Through fruits and beans, Aztecs believed that they would gain much power and wisdom. They were the first to believe that cocoa beans had aphrodisiac qualities. When Columbus returned from his trip to the Americas, he brought cocoa with him, but the items didn't attract a whole lot of notice. It was through repeated trips to the New World that the Europeans finally discovered that the beans had a usage as currency.
Dumping the name of "xocoatl," the Aztecs began calling their drink "chocolatl," whose English equivalent is "warm liquid". By 1519, however, Hernando Cortex Begin had a cocoa tree plantation, the very first. The plantation, which was created in the name of Spain, gave the Spanish King Charles the Fifth his first experience of spicy chocolate. The new delicacy gained even more revered status when Hernando began experimenting by blending the beans with sugar. Further additives, such as nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, and cloves were added to the bean as well.
During this time period, the drink continued to be reserved especially for the Spanish nobility, with the working class and other countries being excluded from its greatness. Spain made one tragic flaw, however, in letting their monks cultivate their beans, because those monks gave the outside world access. The popularity of chocolate rapidly spread throughout Europe, with many people enjoying its taste, or the ability to use it as a currency.
Ever since, chocolate spread throughout the decades and centuries, to become the treasured sweet it is today. Over time, it has dropped the religious and royalty purposes, and has experienced growth in the taste department. Continual research is conflicted on the question of chocolate being an aphrodisiac, but research does agree that a certain amount of dark cocoa is good for you.
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Our favorite Sunday ritual is going out for chocolate con churros during our evening paseo or stroll.
