Chocolate is a product everybody knows, but only few people know the history or the origin of chocolate. So here is a brief outline of chocolate through the ages:
Many historians believe that the inhabitants of Mexico and Central America were first to discover the cacao tree. The oldest known plantations were built by the Maya’s in the area of Yucatan. At first, people only ate the pulp of the fruit and threw away the cacao bean. The aroma of roasted cacao beans was discovered later. The Maya’s built plantations and called the cacao tree “cacahuatl”. The scientific name for the cacao bean is “Theobrama Cacao”, a Greek word meaning ‘food of the gods’. The Mexican-Indian word ‘chocolate’ is a combination of ‘choco’ (= foam) and ‘atl’ (= water). Different from the chocolate we know today, the Maya’s and the Aztecs made a spicy drink with a bitter taste. These people believed it was a divine drink, which gave them power and wisdom. The fruits of the cacao tree were considered as a gift from god, as a symbol of life and fertility. The Aztecs also used the cacao beans as currency.
The first European who discovered the cacao bean in the New World, was Christoffel Columbus. In 1502 he landed at the island of Guanaja, where the Aztecs greeted him and gave him a bag with cacao beans. First Columbus did not like ‘Xocolatl’, the drink made of the beans, though he took the beans home with him. Seventeen years later, Hernan Cortés realised the value of the cacao bean as an instrument of payment. He wanted to get rich, so he decided to build plantations everywhere in the Caribbean. Soon other Spanish colonists began to discover the value of “the brown gold” and plantations were also built in Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Jamaica and Hispaniola.
Chocolate found its way to Europe thanks to the Spanish conquistadores. The Spanish created new recipes and kept chocolate secret for almost a century. The cacao bean first came to Flanders in 1535. Since 1580 people started to build plantations in all European countries and the cacao trade grew. In the 17th century the cacao drink became popular, thanks to the addition of sugar, but only the bourgeoisie was able to pay for it. Mass production of chocolate came with the Industrial Revolution. In this period, chocolate was also prescribed by doctors as medication.Since the 19th century the cacao bean has been widely available to the general public.
Since the independence of Belgium in 1830, the national industry of chocolate started to grow. Around 1900 many small companies started to produce chocolate. A very long tradition was developed from generation to generation. These small factories grew up into the famous brands of today. The ‘praline’ was created in 1912 by Jean Neuhaus; he also created the original packaging of the praline, named ‘ballotin’. Chocolate was an affordable product for anyone by the fifties. The real breakthrough of chocolate in Belgium came 10 years later. During the sixties elgians preferred milk chocolate and filled chocolate bars. We could say that Belgians are real chocolate lovers. In the nineties chocolate became also popular on the international market. Yearly people consume around 600.000 ton of cacao beans. Chocolate is one of the world’s favourite flavours.
Many historians believe that the inhabitants of Mexico and Central America were first to discover the cacao tree. The oldest known plantations were built by the Maya’s in the area of Yucatan. At first, people only ate the pulp of the fruit and threw away the cacao bean. The aroma of roasted cacao beans was discovered later. The Maya’s built plantations and called the cacao tree “cacahuatl”. The scientific name for the cacao bean is “Theobrama Cacao”, a Greek word meaning ‘food of the gods’. The Mexican-Indian word ‘chocolate’ is a combination of ‘choco’ (= foam) and ‘atl’ (= water). Different from the chocolate we know today, the Maya’s and the Aztecs made a spicy drink with a bitter taste. These people believed it was a divine drink, which gave them power and wisdom. The fruits of the cacao tree were considered as a gift from god, as a symbol of life and fertility. The Aztecs also used the cacao beans as currency.
The first European who discovered the cacao bean in the New World, was Christoffel Columbus. In 1502 he landed at the island of Guanaja, where the Aztecs greeted him and gave him a bag with cacao beans. First Columbus did not like ‘Xocolatl’, the drink made of the beans, though he took the beans home with him. Seventeen years later, Hernan Cortés realised the value of the cacao bean as an instrument of payment. He wanted to get rich, so he decided to build plantations everywhere in the Caribbean. Soon other Spanish colonists began to discover the value of “the brown gold” and plantations were also built in Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Jamaica and Hispaniola.
Chocolate found its way to Europe thanks to the Spanish conquistadores. The Spanish created new recipes and kept chocolate secret for almost a century. The cacao bean first came to Flanders in 1535. Since 1580 people started to build plantations in all European countries and the cacao trade grew. In the 17th century the cacao drink became popular, thanks to the addition of sugar, but only the bourgeoisie was able to pay for it. Mass production of chocolate came with the Industrial Revolution. In this period, chocolate was also prescribed by doctors as medication.Since the 19th century the cacao bean has been widely available to the general public.
Since the independence of Belgium in 1830, the national industry of chocolate started to grow. Around 1900 many small companies started to produce chocolate. A very long tradition was developed from generation to generation. These small factories grew up into the famous brands of today. The ‘praline’ was created in 1912 by Jean Neuhaus; he also created the original packaging of the praline, named ‘ballotin’. Chocolate was an affordable product for anyone by the fifties. The real breakthrough of chocolate in Belgium came 10 years later. During the sixties elgians preferred milk chocolate and filled chocolate bars. We could say that Belgians are real chocolate lovers. In the nineties chocolate became also popular on the international market. Yearly people consume around 600.000 ton of cacao beans. Chocolate is one of the world’s favourite flavours.