Chocolate: Its Origins (2024)

FAQs

Chocolate: Its Origins? ›

Chocolate has a long history with humans. As early as 1900 B.C., a prehistoric culture called the Mokaya were processing and consuming a liquid that seems to have been chocolate. The Mokaya lived in what is now extreme southeastern Mexico (Soconusco region, state of Chiapas) and parts of coastal Guatemala.

Who invented chocolate? The history of chocolate begins its 4,000 years of history in ancient Mesoamerica, present day Mexico and the birthplace of chocolate. It's here that the first cacao plants, the plant which chocolate is made from, were found.

For nearly a century, chocolate remained a well-guarded secret among Spain's elite. During the competitive times of the Age of Exploration, the chocolate recipe was kept secret by Spain so they could maintain an edge in European politics and trade.

The Mayans called the drink “chocolhaa” (“bitter water”) and Aztecs called it “Xocolatl.” From those words eventually evolved the word “chocolate.” Cacao was used in special celebrations such as those for funeral rituals, war, or harvests.

Colonist planted cacao in Brazil, the Caribbean, the Philippines and Indonesia, turning it into a global industry. These colonial plantations ran on the labour of thousands of enslaved Africans, brought into captivity to meet the European market's increased demand for chocolate.

According to the authority on the Spanish language, the Royal Spanish Academy, the Spanish word "chocolate" is derived from the Nahuatl word "xocolatl" (pronounced Nahuatl pronunciation: [ʃoˈkolaːtɬ]), which is made up from the words "xococ" meaning sour or bitter, and "atl" meaning water or drink.

Mainly consumed as an unheated liquid by the Aztecs and generally heated by the Maya, chocolate was the drink of choice for the elites and with the addition of hot chilies, maize, spices, peanut butter, vanilla and other flavor and texture enhancers, made the chocolate beverage a spicy and sultry drink enjoyed only by ...

Fry & Sons and currently manufactured by Cadbury. Launched in 1866—nineteen years after Fry's created the first moulded, solid chocolate eating bar (in 1847)— Fry's Chocolate Cream is the first mass-produced chocolate bar and is the world's oldest chocolate bar brand.

We encounter the term “Criollo” frequently in chocolate circles for good reason–it's the most sought after chocolate in the world. Pure Criollo cacao is exquisitely rare: there are only two sources, and only one of them, BFREE Belize, produces sufficient beans for chocolate production.

World's oldest chocolate was made 5300 years ago—in a South American rainforest.

Who is the god of chocolate? ›

The Aztecs believed that it actually came from a god; specifically Quetzalcoatl, and that drinking cacao beverages helped mere mortals share in some of the god's wisdom [sources: International Cocoa Organization; Robles].

An ancient Toltec myth identifies Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god, as planter of the cacao trees in the tropics of southern Mexico. He was called "the god of light, the giver of the drink of the gods, chocolate." Both the Mayas and Aztecs regarded chocolate as a potent aphrodisiac.

Chocolate history starts out around 1000BC in Latin America, where cacao trees grow wild. The first people to use chocolate were probably the Olmec of what is today southeast Mexico, and their word, “kakawa,” gave us our word “cacao.”

Despite developments in human rights and the implementation of laws that abolished slavery in West Africa, laborers who work in chocolate plantations still experience exploitation, such as modern slavery and child labor.

Slavery and child labour

Multiple reports have documented the widespread use of child labour in cocoa production, as well as slavery and child trafficking, throughout West African plantations, on which Nestlé and other major chocolate companies rely.

Lindt strongly condemns human tra cking and slavery and remains committed to ensuring that our supply chains are free from any form of modern slavery. Lindt & Sprüngli has been enchanting the world with chocolate for over 175 years.

Chocolate history starts out around 1000BC in Latin America, where cacao trees grow wild. The first people to use chocolate were probably the Olmec of what is today southeast Mexico, and their word, “kakawa,” gave us our word “cacao.”

Adopting the Mesoamerican chocolate drink as their own, the Spanish were the first to sweeten the drink with cane sugar and cinnamon. However, the delicacy was only available to royalty and the elite, because the chocolate was at that time considered a symbol of luxury, power, and wealth.

Guatemala is considered to be the birth place of chocolate! History says the first chocolate bar was created by the Mayans before it became an industrialized good in Britain and other countries. The Mayans believed chocolate was a 'food of the gods'.

It Started in Mexico

As early as 500 BC, the Mayans were drinking chocolate made from ground-up cocoa seeds mixed with water, cornmeal, and chili peppers (as well as other ingredients)—a much different version from the hot chocolate we know today.