Where Did Chocolate Originate?

Chocolate has been around for hundreds of years, and has been a delicacy throughout history and across many countries. It has a long and interesting history. In fact, the flavor of chocolate has even changed over time!

Chocolate has been around since the time of the Mayans and Aztecs, over three thousand years ago. The Mayans and Aztecs used to harvest the cocoa pods from cacao trees. They would then ferment these pods. This was prepared into a chocolate drink called “xocoatl.”

This was actually not a sweet drink, and was extremely bitter in taste. Unsurprisingly, the name literally translated to “bitter water.” If you’ve ever had unsweetened chocolate, it probably would have tasted extremely close to that.

Considering the intense and bitter flavor of this drink, flavorings such as vanilla or maize were occasionally added to the drink. The drink was regularly used during religious ceremonies, and cocoa beans would be used to haggle for other products.

Chocolate's Spread

When Christopher Columbus travelled to North America, he discovered these cocoa beans and the drink. He then brought the cocoa beans back with him to Spain, in the year of 1502. However, considering the multitude of other treats and products that Columbus brought back with him, no one really paid any attention to the delicious treat.

However, in 1519, Hernan Cortes discovered the same drink of the Aztecs and introduced it to Europe. When he travelled back to Europe, he brought the cocoa beans—and the recipe for the drink—back with him. When this drink was introduced into the Spanish culture, the Europeans found the bitter taste unpalatable. Thus, sugar was added to the drink to sweeten it, this is similar to what you consider “hot chocolate” today.

Hot Chocolate and Chocolate's Evolution

The drink remained in Spain for awhile, and the rest of Europe did not yet enjoy or crave chocolate. However, this changed when Princess Maria Therese married Louis XIV of France. She introduced the drink to the elite of Paris, and the drink quickly became a popular delicacy in France. It was expensive, and thus chocolate was a delicacy for the rich.

Soon, the drink spread throughout Europe, and chocolate evolved. As early as 1657, chocolate was being sold in solid form in English shops. This chocolate more strongly resembled how we eat it today—sugar was added to sweeten the treat, although it still remained a privilege of the upper class, rather than a treat for everyone to enjoy. This “hard” chocolate was still a long way off from how you eat it today.

Chocolate Manufacturing

Chocolate began to evolve over the next couple of decades. For example, in the early years, water was added to the cocoa beans. As it evolved, milk was soon added to the treat instead. Additionally, the production of cocoa butter was discovered by pressing it from the bean with milk—this process was patented. Later, cocoa butter was used to form cocoa powder.

Thus, when Europeans came over to North America and the new world, they already brought a love and knowledge of chocolate with them. The first recorded incidence of chocolate actually being manufactured in North America (rather than shipped over from Europe) was in 1765.

In Dorchester, Massachusetts, the first North American chocolate manufacturer opened. By 1847, a New England manufacturer discovered the process of taking cocoa butter, mixing it with chocolate liquor and sugar. This resulted in the first chocolate that could be eaten in natural form.

In 1875, a Swiss manufacturer discovered that adding dry milk to a dark chocolate resulted in milk chocolate. By the end of the 1800s, chocolate took the form that is very familiar today, and was no longer exclusively available to the wealthy. Who thought the story of where did chocolate originate would be so fascinating?