The Origins of Chocolate
The origins of chocolate, which is derived from the Theobroma cacao tree, stretch
back at least 4000 years. The plant is believed to have originated in the Amazon or
Orinoco basins in South America and was regarded by the Aztecs as being of divine
origin ('Theobroma' means 'food of the gods'). They used the tree's beans as
currency—100 beans would buy a slave, 12 beans the services of a courtesan and 10
beans a rabbit. (Illustration: Aztec god of war)
Although Christopher Columbus was the first European to carry beans back to Europe
(around 1502) they were curiosities but it is his fellow countryman, the conquistador
Herman Cortes, who is credited with introducing them to the Western World a little
over 40 years later. (Illustration: Christopher Columbus)
Hernan Cortes, recognizing the potential of the cocoa beans, took a load back to
Spain. These were used to seed plantations in Trinidad, Haiti and the West African
island of Fernando Po and gave Spain a virtual monopoly of the cocoa market for
almost a century. (Illustration: Hernan Cortes)
Chocolate drinks were developed in Spain that were seasoned with pepper, vanilla,
sugar and cinnamon or mixed with beer or wine. They became such a hit that Spanish
society ladies had them served during Mass. When the French latched on to it, they
immediately hailed it as a wondrous aphrodisiac and, by slapping heavy taxes on it,
further enhanced its status as a drink for the rich and decadent. (Illustration: Map of
Spain and France)
In 17th and 18th century England, the drink became so popular that chocolate
houses threatened the existence of the traditional English pub. The first commercial
chocolate factory in the UK (J.S. Fry) began in Bristol in 1728. The first primitive
version of the chocolate bar is again credited to J.S. Fry and Son, when in 1847 they
mixed sugar and cocoa butter with chocolate powder to produce a dry, grainy and
not particularly tasty solid slab. (Illustration: J S Fry & Sons)
Milk chocolate was a much later invention and the eating chocolate of today began in
1876 when Henri Nestle and Daniel Peters added milk and extra sugar to create the
world's first milk chocolate bar. (Illustration: Henri Nestle)
Later still, the American, Milton Hershey, became the first to mass produce chocolate
when in 1894 he began selling the world's first Hershey Bar for five cents.
(Illustration: Milton Hershey)
Source: Adapted by Naomi Migliacci from http://library.thinkquest.org/26751/cioco/chocorigin.htm
Prepared by Naomi Migliacci • Jig Saw Activity: Social Studies/History/Culinary (Flesch-Kincaid Level 14.0; 409 words)