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Chocolate & It’s History

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Chocolate & It’s History
Three real cocoa organic fruits surrounded by real cocoa leaves, nibs and chocolate chunks on a wooden tray. One of the fruits is opened.

Chocolate is made from cocoa beans found within the pods like fruit from the cacao tree. Cocoa/cacao tree is native to Central & South America. Chocolate history, knowledge & it been taken as a form of food or medicine started over 3000 years ago,in the great Maya & Aztecs Empires, which is in present day Mexico.

Cocoa/cacao tree bearing fruits

The people of Aztecs Empire so greatly valued the cocoa tree & things made from the cocoa tree that they called it “food for the gods” or ” god’s food”. The scientific name for cocoa tree is ” Theobroma cacao” which also means “food for the gods”.
Chocolate was served to the gods in the ancient empires of Mexico & guided jealously by the kings of these empires. Important dignities were also buried with bowls of chocolate.

Cocoa beans was also used a form of currency/momey in old empires of Mexico,the more cocoa beans one had,the more purchasing power and goods of exchange as was known in the time of old.

Dark Chocolate,cocoa nibs, & cocoa beans

Today, what comes to mind when chocolate is mentioned is a solid bar or wraps of chocolate but chocolate was never that until the 18th century in the American colonies where it was manufactured into that. Chocolate was first a bitter sweet drink for a major part of it’s discovery to man, chocolate was first a beverage before it became a solid bar of chocolate or used to cook or bake pastries and cake. The chocolate beverage was a favorite drink for the Aztecs kings. Chocolate drink before the 17th century was taken without any additional of sugar,milk & other additions as you we know it today.

Hot chocolate drink sprinkled with cocoa powder on top it, & bars of chocolate around it

Even the word “chocolate” is derived from the Aztecs word of chocolate “xocoatlc” which means a bitter drink brewed from cacao beans.

The knowledge and spread of chocolate to other part of the world aside old Empires of Mexico started in the 16th century with Spain when they first came to conquer Aztecs Empire,Spain was also the earliest European country to include chocolate into it’s cuisine.

In 1828, probably the first invention of cocoa powder was made by CJ Van Houten of the Netherlands, a process that removes the cocoa butter & all liquid from cocoa beans, leaving only cocoa powder.

Three real cocoa organic fruits surrounded by real cocoa leaves, beans and chocolate chunks on a wooden tray. One of the fruits is opened.

Today, four things are mainly made from the fruit of cocoa; cocoa powder has earlier mentioned, cocoa liquor, cocoa butter & chocolate bars.
Out of these four things made mainly from cocoa fruit, other things are made out of the four things, like chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, cocoa butter body cream, cocoa oil, chocolate spread, soap, chocolate wine, hot chocolate among other things & everything chocolate can be added to.

To read party two of this post “Cocoa and dark chocolate benefits, click on the next link, https://sophyfoodblog.com/cocoa-dark-chocolate-benefits/

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