History of chocolate facts for kids
The history of chocolate started a long, long time ago in a place called Mesoamerica. This area is now parts of Central America and Mexico. People first made special drinks from chocolate beans around 450 BC.
The ancient Mexica people (who were like the Aztecs) believed that cacao seeds were a gift from Quetzalcoatl. He was their god of wisdom. These seeds were so valuable that people even used them as money!
At first, chocolate was only a drink. It was a bitter liquid mixed with spices or corn. People thought it gave them strength. Today, similar drinks are still made in southern Mexico and parts of Central America. They are called "Chilate".
When chocolate came to Europe in the 1500s, people added sugar to it. It quickly became popular, first with kings and queens, then with everyone else. In the 1900s, chocolate was even given to United States soldiers during war as part of their food.
The word "chocolate" comes from the Classical Nahuatl word chocolātl. This was the language spoken by the Aztecs.
Contents
How Chocolate Began
Cacao trees grew widely in Mesoamerica. Inside their pods are 30 to 40 brownish-red beans. These beans are covered in a sweet, sticky pulp. The beans themselves are bitter because they have natural substances called alkaloids. But the sweet pulp might have been the first part people ate.
Cacao pods come in many colors, like yellow, green, purple, or red. Their skin can also be bumpy or smooth. This wide range of looks does not mean the beans inside taste different or are not ripe.
Some evidence shows that cacao beans were fermented. This means they were left to change, like grapes for wine. People then made an alcoholic drink from them as early as 1400 BC.
Growing cacao was not easy. In nature, cacao trees can grow very tall, up to 60 feet! But on farms, they grew to about 20 feet.
Scientists are not sure which ancient culture first grew cacao trees for food. But it seems that making a drink from the fermented beans started in Mesoamerica. Scientists can find tiny traces of chocolate in old pots. This helps them know where and when chocolate was used.
For example, a pot found at an Olmec site in Veracruz, Mexico, shows chocolate was made by people there around 1750 BC. Another site in Chiapas, Mexico, shows cacao drinks from even earlier, around 1900 BC.
A new study suggests that cacao was first grown by people in South America. This happened about 1,500 years earlier than people thought. Researchers found signs that the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in Ecuador used cacao between 5,300 and 2,100 years ago. They found cacao starch, a bitter substance called theobromine, and old cacao DNA in pots.
Pueblo people in what is now the U.S. Southwest also got cacao from Mesoamerica. They used it in a drink for everyone in their society between 900 and 1400 AD.
Old Evidence of Cacao in Mesoamerica
The oldest sign of cacao use is from about 5,300 years ago. It was found at the Santa Ana (La Florida) site in southeast Ecuador.
In 1984, archaeologists found more cacao evidence in Guatemala. They explored a Mayan site called Río Azul. They found 15 pots around skeletons in a royal tomb. One pot had Mayan writing that said "kakaw," which means cacao. Inside, there was dark powder. Tests showed it had theobromine, a sign of cacao. This cacao was from around 460 to 480 AD.
Cacao powder was also found in fancy bowls called tecomates in Puerto Escondido. At first, people thought cacao was very rare. But finding it in many tecomates showed it was more common. Still, since it was only in high-quality bowls, archaeologists think only rich people could afford it. These cacao bowls were likely used at social gatherings for important people.
Olmec Use of Cacao
The Olmec culture used cacao very early on. They used it for religious events or as a medicine. We do not have many recipes from them for everyday use. We also do not know much about how they made the drink.
Mayan Use of Cacao
The Mayans, who lived in Guatemala, wrote about cacao. Their writings show that chocolate was linked to their gods. The Dresden Codex says cacao was the food of the rain god Kon. The Madrid Codex says gods shed their blood on cacao pods. The Maya people thanked their cacao god, Ek Chuah, once a year.
Pictures on old Mayan pots show people drinking chocolate. The Maya made their chocolate by roasting cacao seeds and grinding them into a paste. They mixed this paste with water, chile peppers, and cornmeal. They poured the mixture back and forth between pots until it had a thick foam on top.
The Maya used cacao for many things. It was part of official ceremonies and religious events. They used it at feasts and festivals. It was also given as gifts, offerings for the dead, and for medicine. Cacao beans were even used in marriage ceremonies, especially for rich people.
One old writing says: "The bride gives the groom a small stool and five cacao grains. She says, 'These I give you as a sign that I accept you as my husband.' He also gives her new skirts and five cacao grains, saying the same thing."
To make cacao, the Maya cut open the pods to get the beans and pulp. The beans were left to ferment for a few days. Sometimes, they roasted the beans over a fire for a smoky taste. Then, they removed the husks and ground the beans into a paste. The Maya rarely used sweeteners. Instead, they added things like flowers, vanilla, and chilies to their cacao paste. The special pots they used for chocolate were short and wide. This helped them make the important foam. These pots were often decorated with fancy designs and were usually owned by wealthy people.
Aztec Use of Cacao
By 1400, the Aztec Empire controlled a large part of Mesoamerica. They could not grow cacao themselves. So, they made the areas they conquered pay them cacao beans as a tax. The cacao bean became a form of money. Spanish explorers wrote that 100 cacao beans could buy a canoe full of fresh water or a turkey hen.
The Aztecs believed cacao was linked to the god Quetzalcoatl. They thought he was punished by other gods for sharing chocolate with humans. Unlike the Maya, the Aztecs drank chocolate cold. It was used for many reasons and was even given to Aztec soldiers as part of their food.
Chocolate in Europe
Early Days in Europe
Before the 1500s, Europeans did not know about the cacao tree.
Christopher Columbus first saw cacao beans on his fourth trip to the Americas in 1502. He and his crew found a native canoe with cacao beans among other trade goods. His son, Ferdinand, wrote that the natives valued the beans greatly. He said they would bend down to pick up any bean that fell, "as if an eye had fallen." But even though Columbus took cacao beans back to Spain, they did not become popular until Spanish priests showed chocolate to the Spanish court.
Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés might have been the first European to see chocolate. He saw it in the court of Montezuma, the Aztec ruler, in 1519. Bernal Díaz, who was with Cortés, wrote about it: "They served him [Montezuma] a drink made from cacao in cups of pure gold. It was said to give power over women, but I never saw this. I did see them bring more than fifty large pitchers of cacao with foam in it. He drank some, and the women served him with great respect."
José de Acosta, a Spanish priest who lived in Peru and Mexico, described chocolate use more generally: "It tastes bad to those who are not used to it, with an unpleasant foam. Yet, it is a drink highly valued among the Indians. They use it to treat noble visitors. Spaniards, both men and women, who are used to the country, are very fond of this chocolate. They say they make different kinds of it, some hot, some cold, and some warm. They add much chili to it. They even make a paste from it, which they say is good for the stomach."
After the Spanish conquered the Aztecs, chocolate was brought to Europe. At first, Spaniards used it as medicine for stomach pain because it was bitter. But once they added sugar, it changed everything. It quickly became a favorite drink in royal courts. The Spaniards tried to keep the original taste by adding similar spices. But this stopped by the late 1700s. Within about 100 years, chocolate was popular all over Europe.
Where the Word "Chocolate" Comes From
The Spanish word "chocolate" likely comes from the Nahuatl language. One idea is that it comes from "xocolatl," meaning "bitter water." However, some experts disagree. Another idea is that it comes from a Maya word "chokol" (hot) and a Nahuatl word "atl" (water). More recently, some think it comes from "chicolatl," linked to a stick used to froth the drink.
Chocolate Spreads and Changes
Cacao farms grew as English, Dutch, and French people started colonies. Many native workers died from diseases. So, enslaved Africans were often forced to work on cacao farms.
In 1729, the first machine to grind cocoa was invented in Bristol, UK. Walter Churchman got a patent for a "water engine" to make chocolate faster and cleaner. This machine used water power to grind cacao beans on a much larger scale. Later, a company called J. S. Fry & Sons bought this patent in 1761.
Wind-powered and horse-drawn mills also helped speed up production. In France, in 1732, people started heating the grinding areas. This helped extract more from the beans. The Chocolaterie Lombart, started in 1760, claimed to be the first chocolate company in France.
New ways to make chocolate came about during the Industrial Revolution. In 1815, a Dutch chemist named Coenraad van Houten added alkaline salts to chocolate. This made it less bitter. A few years later, in 1828, he made a press. This machine removed about half of the natural fat (cacao butter) from chocolate liquid. This made chocolate cheaper and better quality. This invention started the modern age of chocolate. This machine-pressed chocolate, called "Dutch cocoa," was key to making solid chocolate. In 1847, Joseph Fry learned to make chocolate moldable by adding back melted cacao butter.
Milk had been added to chocolate drinks since the mid-1600s. But in 1875, Daniel Peter invented milk chocolate. He mixed powdered milk (made by Henri Nestlé) with the chocolate liquid. In 1879, the texture and taste of chocolate got even better. This happened when Rodolphe Lindt invented the conching machine. This machine mixed and smoothed chocolate for a long time.
Lindt & Sprüngli AG, a Swiss company, started in 1845. Other chocolate companies also began in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Cadbury was making boxed chocolates in England by 1868. In 1893, Milton S. Hershey bought chocolate machines. Soon, he started Hershey's chocolates with chocolate-covered caramels.
Thanks to better machines, chocolate changed from mostly a drink to a food. Different types of chocolate appeared. Also, the price of chocolate dropped a lot in the 1890s and 1900s. This was because chocolate production moved from the Americas to Asia and Africa. So, middle-class people could now buy chocolate.
Even though men led the way in making chocolate for everyone, advertisements also targeted women. Women were seen as the ones who would provide healthy cocoa for their families. Ads also aimed at women for dating rituals, but most early ads were for housewives and mothers.
In 1947, the price of chocolate candy bars went up in Canada. This led to youth protests across the country.
Chocolate Today
About two-thirds of the world's cocoa comes from Western Africa. Ivory Coast is the biggest producer, making over 1.4 million tons. Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon are also top cocoa-producing countries in West Africa.
Like many farmers, cocoa farmers depend on world market prices. The price can change a lot, from around £500 to £3,000 per ton in just a few years. While big investors can quickly sell their cocoa shares, individual farmers cannot easily change how much cocoa they grow.
Images for kids
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An early 20th-century chocolate advertisement
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A 1909 milk chocolate advertisement
See also
In Spanish: Historia del chocolate para niños
