The History of Chocolate

A Chocolate Glossary:
cacao: the domesticated plant and all its products, before processing. chocolate: the seeds of the cacoa plant after processing, whether liquid or solid. cocoa: the defatted powder made from cacao.

The terms seed and bean are used interchangeably. The source of chocolate, the seeds of the cacao tree, have figured prominently in many different cultures, first in prehistoric Central America, then in Mayan and Aztec civilization, then around the world, spread by the great colonial powers. Chocolate lovers might swear that the cacao tree's major contribution has been gastronomic, but it has also played an important part in religious, medical, economic, and social history.

The chocolate tree , Theobroma cacao, evolved in the tropical rain forests of South America's Amazon region. Evidence of cacao usage dates back as far as 1000 BC, when wild forms of the tree were cultivated by Mesoamerican Indians in small, diversified gardens in what are now Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras, as well as the Yucatan peninsula. Much later, in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Aztecs cultivated cacao in the central highlands of Mexico.

The first known picture of a chocolate drink being made, which dates from 750 AD, shows the liquid being poured from one vessel to another to raise foam. The foam was considered the choicest part of the drink. In pre-Conquest Mesoamerica, chocolate took the form of a vast array of drinks, porridges, and powders flavored in many ways. Cacao seeds were ground with water, chili peppers, black pepper and other spices, vanilla, and cornmeal to make a bitter drink.