centuries. The history of chocolate spans from 200 B.C. to the present, encompassing
many nations and peoples of our world.
The scientific name of the cacao tree's fruit is "Theobroma Cacao" which means
"food of the gods." In fact, the cacao bean was worshipped as an idol by the Mayan
Indians over 2,000 years ago. In 1519, Hernando Cortez tasted "Cacahuatt," a drink
enjoyed by Montezuma II, the last Aztec emperor for help visit www.apples-recipes.com. Cortez observed that the Aztecs treated cacao beans, used to make the drink, as priceless treasures. He subsequentlybrought the beans back to Spain where the chocolate drink was made and then heatedwith added sweeten ers. Its formula was kept a secret to be enjoyed by nobility.Eventually, the secret was revealed and the drink's fame spread to other lands.
By the mid-1600s, the chocolate drink had gained widespread popularity in France.
One enterprising Frenchman opened the first hot chocolate shop in London. By the
1700s, chocolate houses were as prominent as coffee houses in England.
The New World's first chocolate factory opened in 1765 in the Massachusetts Bay
Colony. Sixty years later, Conrad Van Houten, a Dutch chemist, invented a cocoa press
that enabled confectioners to make chocolate candy by mixing cocoa butter with finely
ground sugar.
In 1876, Daniel Peter, a Swiss candymaker, developed milk chocolate by adding
condensed milk to chocolate liquor - the nonalcoholic by-product of the cocoa bean's
inner meat. The Swiss also gave the chocolate a smoother texture through a process
called "conching." for help visit www.bread-machine-cookbook.com The name was derived from a Greek term meaning "sea shell" and
refered to the shape of old mixing vats where particles in the chocolate mixture were
reduced to a fine texture.
Milton Hershey established the Hershey Chocolate Company in 1894, manufacturing
and selling Hershey's cocoa, Hershey's baking chocolate and Hershey's sweet chocolate
(known today as dark or semi-sweet chocolate). Hershey was called the "Henry Ford" of
chocolate because he mass produced a quality chocolate bar at a price everyone could
afford.
It has been indicated that the Spaniards Struck the word employing the Maya word chocol and replacing the Maya word for water which was haa with the Aztec word atl, consequently the word chocolate. It's more probable the term was made by the Aztecs who had used the familiar Mayan word for the "cocoa bean. The first accounts of chocolate to the known world were when Cortes reported the drink called xocolatl to the Spanish King.
An ancient Mayan pot found with chocolate residue shows the Mayans drank chocolate 2,600 years ago; this is the earliest accounting of the use of cacao. The goddess of fertility Xochiquetzal, was associated with chocolate by the Aztecs. The Aztecs drank a spicy, acid form of chocolate called xocatl that was often flavored with vanilla, chili pepper and annatto.
It was believed to combat fatigue which could be because of the theobromine content, which is like caffeine. Throughout pre-Columbian Mesoamerica chocolate was a luxury and the cacao beans were utilized as a form of money. Chocolate beverages were also blended with maize starch paste which thickened it, honey and different fruits.
Approximately 2/3s of the cocoa in the world comes from West Africa, and half of that's from the Ivory Coast. As with several food producers, cocoa farmers are curbed by the world market. Prices can vary for $945.00 to $5,672.00 a ton in just a couple of years.
Cocoa farmers, unlike those who invest in merchandising cocoa, can not desert their trees or reduce yield as readily as investors can dump their stocks. It has been stated that 90% of cocoa farms on the Ivory Coast have resorted to slave labor when prices drop in order to stay in business.
It has been alleged for some time that Many of the chocolate producing countries use slave labor to manufacture and produce their chocolate. These are allegedly those on the Ivory Coast and the slaves are young boys between 12 and 16 years of age from countries like Benin, Togo and Mali.
These young boys are commonly seen begging as they travel and are enticed by promises of compensated work, education and living accommodations, what they find instead is forced labor and sever abuse as they work on the cacao farms.
The worlds greatest producer and exporter of cocoa beans, the Ivory Coast and West Africa provide nearly half of the cocoa the world consumes. On the more distant plantations, these circumstances of slavery and victimization are hard to detect. A UNICEF report in 1998 evidenced that some of the Ivory Coast farmers did indeed use children who had been in bondage from adjacent countries that were poorer.
Both Meenakshi Gupta & Garland Choate are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Garland Choate has sinced written about articles on various topics from Cooking Tips, Pets and tax. Garland Choate (GR) is a retired Airline Captain who now publishes articles from the USVI. Find many great articles on chocolate at