The Cocoa Story

The raw material of chocolate is the seeds of the cacao tree, commonly known as cocoa beans. The cacao tree is a tree of the Parasolaceae family. It is native to the northwestern part of the Amazon Basin in South America. Scholars speculate that the early local aborigines only regarded the fruit of the cacao tree as a fruit, and ate its pulp but discarded the cocoa seed.

Later, the cacao tree spread to southern Central America and the Maya began to plant it. Henderson, a professor of anthropology at Cornell University in the United States, discovered that a batch of pottery unearthed in Honduras in Central America contained theobromine. Alcoholic beverages, this is the earliest known record of human consumption of cocoa tree products. The research team also believes that the fermentation of cocoa fruit and cocoa beans into chocolate beverages is likely to be an accidental by-product of the brewing process.

Cocoa	Cocoa exposure	Cocoa Grind

The Mayans drink chocolate by mashing cocoa beans, mixing water, chili and some spices, then lifting the chocolate pot high, pour the chocolate into a cup placed on the ground, and make a thick layer of foam on the surface. . In Mayan hieroglyphs, it is recorded that cocoa beans are very precious items, mainly used for the rulers and priests, or as a funeral for the rulers, and most people usually only drink it in religion and wedding ceremonies.

Cocoa for drinking	Sprinkling some spices on the surface

After the rise of the Aztec Empire in northern Central America in the 14th century, chocolate culture became more popular. Cocoa beans could even be used as currency. According to the 16th century documents, one cocoa bean can be bought for one tamale or 30. One rabbit and 100 rabbits buy one slave.

In addition, the bride and groom can also use 5 cocoa beans as tokens during the wedding ceremony. From the Mayan culture to the Aztecs to the present Mexico, there are cocoa fruits in the statues and images of many gods, and the present Mexicans also have cocoa fruits in the sacrifices of the corn gods.

Entering the era of great navigation, the Europeans invaded the Americas. Columbus first encountered the Aztec canoe team in 1502 and plundered many items including cocoa beans, but failed to find them due to language barriers. value.

Cocoa production process	Cocoa fermentation	Cocoa

In 1519, another Spanish explorer, Hernando Cortez, landed in the Gulf of Mexico. The Aztecs thought it was the legendary Quetzalcoatl who came and invited the Spaniards to enter the city and offer Chocolate drinks served in golden cups, European talents tasted the taste of chocolate for the first time. Cortez conquered the Aztecs in 1521, and when he returned to Spain in 1528, he brought back cocoa beans to the king. Because of the bitter taste, the king criticized him as "a drink for pigs." Later, someone thought of adding sugar to chocolate to flavor it, which made chocolate a popular beverage among European royal families, and then gradually spread to the upper class and then into the lives of ordinary people.