Chocolate!
A gift from the gods is more than a tasty snack!
Chocolate comes from the theobroma cacao tree. The Mayans consumed it as a beverage. Chocolate became a sacred elixir to the Mayans and the Aztecs. Archeologists discovered residues of chocolate in ancient jars that date back to 1100 BCE. They excavated the jars in Honduras.
Cacao trees grow in abundance throughout the Mayan territories. By 600 CE, the Mayans processed the cacao pods to produce a frothy, bitter beverage. They also blended their chocolate with spices like chili pepper and vanilla. Mayans believed the chocolate relieved tiredness.
They would dry & grind cacao beans into powder, adding other ingredients. The powder is stored & mixed with water for drinking or as a gruel for eating when desired.
Victorious warriors were awarded the beverage after the battle. They would use the drink during religious rituals. Cacao beans also served as currency. To the Aztecs, the beans were more valuable than gold. The Aztecs named the drink xocolatl or choqui, which means ‘warmth.’
English traders misspelled the word, and so the spelling of cocoa stuck.
In the 16th century, Hernán Cortes traveled to Mesoamerica to establish Spanish colonies. Then he took some beans back to Spain, where cocoa became fashionable at the…
