A Brief History of Chocolate
Although, to many of us cocoa is a relative modern commodity, research has found that there have been cocoa trees growing in the Amazon and Orinoco basins for over 4000 years. Archeology research has confirmed that the wild cocoa trees were cultivated in the 7th century in the Yucatan region of Central America by the Mayans. Cocoa beans were used as a form of payment and calculation, in the following periods the Feudal Aztecs used this valuable bean to pay taxes. As centuries pasted the group of people that would be known as Indians would brew a dense paste from roasted beans, and by adding water and spices created a popular and expensive drink enjoy by kings and the wealthy. The poorest would also indulge into this delicacy by very sparingly using it as a flavor for a corn mixture.
Cocoa, a drink that was reserved for the male elite under the rule of Aztec Emperor Montezuma was believed to build up resistance and fight fatigue. A cup of this beverage permitted a man to walk all day without food.
Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover Cocoa Beans when his fourth voyage landed in Nicaragua in 1502. However, he had no interest in this commodity as he searched for a sea route to India.
Herman Cortez, upon his conquer of part of Mexico in 1519 was intrigued by this mystery food and valuable bean started to establish cocoa plantations in the name of the Spanish crown. Cortez took this cocoa bean drink known as “xocolati” to Charles the V’s court in 1520. Adding cane sugar in addition the traditional island spices made this a very palatable drink catching the attention the King, spread quickly around Spain.
The marriage of the Spanish Princess Anna of Austria and King Louis XIII allowed the introduction of chocolate drinks in to the French Court in the early to mid 1600’s. The news of this drink rapidly spread though Europe by French and Italian merchants during the 17th Century.
By the mid 1600’s this drink has increased in popularity, that the first chocolate house was opened in London England in 1657, by a French Merchant. This business venture allowed the cocoa beverages to be enjoyed by many classes By 1720 several coffee houses in Italy were offering chocolate drinks to their patrons.
The 18th century brought the medicinal and therapeutic use of chocolate to the forefront. John Hanan brought cocoa beans to the village of Dorchester Massachusetts hoping to find a medicinal use for the product. John Hanan teamed with Dr. James Baker to start the first chocolate factory in the United States manufacturing remedies for illnesses. Bakers chocolate is still being produced today not as medicine but as a baking chocolate.
As hard as it is to believe that chocolate could have any improvements in 1828 Hendrick Van Houten invented the cocoa press. His invention reduced the price of cocoa and helped improve the quality by squeezing out some the cocoa butter which allowed the cocoa to be ground finer than before creating a smoother drink. Today this process is known as “Dutching”. The final product is known as Dutch Chocolate, which has a dark color and mild taste.
The first chocolate bar manufactured for general consumption was produced by Fry’s Chocolate Factory in Bristol England in 1847. As The timeline moves forward milk chocolate was invented in 1879 by Swiss Henri Nestle and Daniel Peter. Milton Hershey a caramel manufactures who started to mix his caramel and chocolate in the late 1800 before he produced a milk chocolate bar. In 1923 American Frank Mars introduced the Milky Way bar, and his son invented the namesake Mars bar. Milton Hershey has been credited with clever marketing by promoting the impulse sale of chocolate in the main street grocery store. The chocolate industry has grown to top $50 billon dollars annually.
The Tootsie Roll was name after confectioner Leo Hirsschfield's daughter Clara who was nicknamed 'Tootsie"
The Baby Ruth Bar was named in honor of President Clevland's Daughter
The Mars bar was named after the family name by the inventor Frank Mars' son.
"The Imperial Torte", a square chocolate cake with five thin layers of alomond paste, was invented by a master pastery chef at the court of Emperor Franz Joseph.
German chocolate did not originate in Germany. Sam German developed a sweet chocolate bar for Bakers Chocolate Company in 1852 and it was named in his honor.
Queen Victoria sent a specially molded chocolate bar to the British troops in South Africa during the Boer War in 1900 as a New Year Greeting.
The melting point of cocoa butter is just below the human body temperture , which is why it litterally melts in your mouth.
The average person will comsume 10,000 chocolate bars in a lifetime
In Hershey PA the streetlights are in the shape of a Hershey Kiss, along Chocolate Avenue.
Hawaii is the only US state that grows cacao beans to produce chocolate.
The Aztec Emperor Montezuma drank 50 goblets of hot chocolate every day.
The botanical name of the chocolate plant is Theobramba cacao, which means "Food of the Gods".
In 2003 Pennsylvania was second with 107 chocolate manufacturing establishments to California with 116.
Chocolate Quotes
" The taste of chocolate is a sensual pleasure in itself, existing in the same world as sex For myself, I can enjoy the wicked pleasure of chocolate entirely by myself ....Furtivness makes it better."
Dr. Ruth Westheimer
"Strenght is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands and then just eat one piece."
Judith Viorst
"Watch chocolate never melts" - Pamella Asquith, author of Ultimate Chocolate Cake Book
Chocolate
Trivia and History