The Choclate Prince

Who has not at some point  in their life craved for chocolate. But before attempting to go through information like the benefits and the different types of chocolate, you might first want to know how it began.

 

It all started hundreds of years ago in the rainforests of Central America - the place where the mixture of rainfall, high temperatures and humidity are the best elements to grow the Cacao Tree where chocolate comes from.

 

Cacao is a Mayan word which means “God Food”: thus it was called by the modern Latin “Theobrama Cacao which means “Food of the Gods”. Chocolate was worshipped by the Mayans of Central America and Southern Mexico because they consider it a diving being.

 

The early European explorers distorted the now famous Cocoa. Mayans served drinks that only the wealthy and the religious leaders could enjoy. They concocted a spicy, bitter sweet drink by roasting and pounding the Cacao beans and mixed them with maize and Chili peppers and then have it fermented.

 

Other Aboriginals like the Aztecs gave much importance to the Cacao beans. But since they live further north, and their weather conditions were less favorable to grow the Cacao tree. They therefore acquired the fruit by trading, or from the spoils of war. They valued the beans so very much that they even used them as their currency. With 100 Cacao beans one could buy a turkey or a slave.

 

The Aztecs paid tribute and their taxes with these beans. Aside from that, they also fermented the beans for their drinks during their rituals - an extravagant drink which only the wealthy and influential families could enjoy.

 

The drink was called Xocolatl by the Aztecs but the Spanish conquerors had difficulty pronouncing the word, so they named it Chocolat which was still later on changed by the English into Chocolate.

 

Regarded by the Aztecs as an aphrodisiac, their famous Emperor Montezuma drank the fermented Cacao beans 50 times a day. He was known to call it the divine drink bbecause it builded up the immune system and fought fatigue. This precious drink permitted a man to walk for a whole day without food.

 

When Cortez defeated the Aztec emperor in 1519, he found only a huge quantity of chocolate beans when he searched the Aztec treasury. He was expecting to find gold and silver. However, the Aztecs prized the Cacao beans more than precious metals.

 

For Europeans, it was Cortez who brought them Chocolate and they were able to concoct a different tasting drink that was more favorable to the European tongue; while in the US and Canada, the production went into full swing when it was first introduced to North America.

 

Now, Americans and Canadians are the largest consumers of chocolate. They have made it not only as food to eat, but have also made it almost as pupolar as coffee where drinking it is concerned. They consume over half of the world’s total production.