Is there anything tastier than chocolate? Just writing her name made me happy, some people may have different imaginations when it comes to chocolate. Some may imagine a luxurious box full of finely made pieces, luxurious ingredients, and some may imagine it as a delicious hot drink that spreads warmth in the soul before the body, and others may imagine it on brioche molds and sweets. Fantasies vary depending on each person's preferences, but they all are associated with sweets.
The strange thing is that the real beginning of chocolate, before it became chocolate and when it was just the seeds of the cocoa tree, known scientifically as Theobroma Caca, which means in Latin (the food of the gods), no one would have imagined that it was just a sharp-tasting drink that had nothing to do with sweets at all.
When international food experts talk about it, they always say that it is the most famous food that no one knows anything about!
The true origins of chocolate throughout history
Trace the etymology of words; The origin of the word chocolate in the language, they found that it was derived from the Aztec word Xocoatl, which refers to a bitter drink prepared from cocoa beans.
As for the fact that chocolate existed, many contemporary historians have estimated that it has been around for about 2000 years, but recent research indicates that it may be older. In the book The Real History of Chocolate, authors Sophie and Michael Coe make an argument that the first linguistic evidence of its consumption extends back three or four thousand years, to Mesoamerican cultures before Columbus, such as the Olmec civilization, for example.
And it was also mentioned in the book that last year, anthropologists from the University of Pennsylvania reported the existence of cocoa seeds remaining on pottery excavated in Honduras, which may date back to 1400 BC, when it appears that the core of the fruit was used to make an alcoholic drink. Its time.
Although it is difficult to determine the true time of the onset of chocolate in total, it is evident that it was appreciated from the start. In the past in ancient Latin America, cocoa beans were valuable enough to be used as currency. Even one bean of cocoa could buy a plate of tamale, a popular Mexican food. While 100 grains can buy a healthy turkey chicken, this is what was mentioned in the Aztec document of the 16th century.
Chocolate magic and special powers
In the past, the Maya and Aztecs believed that the cocoa bean had magical, or even divine, powers suitable for use in the most sacred life rituals. As stated in the book Chocolate Experts , which was released in 2006, the Aztecs used to hold a dance party for the victims who felt very sad before their death, giving them a pumpkin of it, soaked with the blood of their former enemies to bring happiness to them.
There is also a legend that says that the Aztec king, Montezuma, received the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez, welcoming a giant banquet that included drinks extracted from cocoa beans, after he had made a dramatic mistake and was considered an incarnation of God instead of being a future colonizer!
The beginning of its spread as a distinctive drink
Chocolate did not suit the tastes of Europeans at first, but it became one of the most popular drinks in Spain after mixing it with some types of natural sweeteners such as honey or cane sugar. By the seventeenth century, our dear ones became a trendy drink in Europe, and they believed that it had healing, healthy and even aphrodisiac properties .
But it was always associated with the private celebrations of the wealthy, until the invention of the steam engine at the end of the eighteenth century contributed to making it more popular and widespread at all levels.
The first sweetened chocolate bar in history
In 1828, a Dutch chemist was able to reach a method for making chocolate powder by separating half of the natural fats - which later became known as cocoa butter - from liquid chocolate, crushing the remainder and treating the product with a group of alkaline salts to overcome the bitterness of the taste. This product became known as Dutch cocoa, which was the first step in the beginning of the manufacture of the solid type of it.
The credit for creating the first modern chocolate bar goes to Joseph Fry, who in 1847 discovered that he could make moldable chocolate paste by adding melted cocoa butter back into Dutch cocoa.
Cadbury - from Cadbury and the beginning of the marketing of chocolate as a kind of candy
In 1868, a small company called Cadbury was marketing boxes of chocolate candy in England. Milk chocolate entered the market a few years later, and was a pioneer in the industry before there was another name very popular in the field: Nestlé.
In the United States, chocolate acquired such a special status during the Revolutionary War that it was used as a substitute for soldiers' wages, and this is what we may not accept today for sure. Recent statistics have shown that cocoa bean simple still maintains its economic strength. The chocolate industry is considered one of the strongest industries in America and Europe until this moment, and the American or European citizen consumes a lot of chocolate and its derivatives on a monthly basis.
In the twentieth century, the word chocolate expanded to include a range of more affordable treats that contain more and more sugar and delicious additives than the cocoa it already has. They are often made from the beans that are firmer but less flavorful (forastro).
But recently the so-called (chocolate revolution) has happened again, as luxury, high-quality, handmade chocolates are most in demand even among the general public. This caused major companies like Hershey's to expand their artisan chocolate lines by purchasing smaller producers known for their premium chocolates, such as Scharffen Berger and Dagoba. , while the independent chocolate industry continues to thrive as well.
Just as food experts and celebrity chefs treat chocolate with great appreciation and infinite respect, we all receive it with great pleasure on all occasions and times, so nothing is better now after completing this article than eating a piece of chocolate with your regular cup of coffee.