Cocoa: the food of the gods
Cocoa, which is prepared from the cacao bean,
the fruit of the cacao tree, was first used much
earlier. The Olmecs, the first highly developed
culture of Central America, lived in present-day
Mexico over 3000 years ago. The hot, humid
climate there was ideal for cultivating the
sensitive cacao tree.
The Mayas, who settled in the region a few
centuries after the disappearance of the
Olmecs, used cacao beans to prepare a bitter
and highly spiced drink. This beverage was
drunk and sacrificed in sacred rituals
performed by their priests, kings and nobility.
But the Mayan civilization also came to a
mysterious end, and they were replaced by
the Toltecs in approximately 900 AD, and
then the Aztecs. These two cultures adopted
the tradition of the holy beverage, which they
named “xocoatl” (xoco = bitter; atl = water).
For the Aztecs, this bitter, spicy drink was
a source of wisdom and energy, an
aphrodisiac and a soothing balsam. The
couples usually drink a foamy cacao drink
on their wedding day. The cacao bean
also served as currency at the time and
was offered to the gods as a sacrifice.
The first European to come into contact with
cocoa was Christopher Columbus. In 1502, on
his fourth journey to the New World, he first
tasted chocolate - and found it to be too bitter
and spicy. Several years later, in 1528, the
Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés
brought this brown gold and the recipe for the
exotic drink to Spain.
The Spanish added sugar and other ingredients
to the unique energizing beverage – which they
called chocolate.
In 1615, the drink was first tasted in France, and
from there, it spread to the other royal courts and
refined society of Europe. And until the beginning
of the Industrial Revolution, the consumption of
chocolate – still in the form of a hot drink – was
a privilege reserved for the wealthy.
Then came the era of the chocolate pioneers in
Italy, Belgium, Germany, Holland and, of course,
Switzerland, as well as other countries, who
turned their ambitious visions and ingenious
ideas into reality. It was their ability to discover
techniques and recipes for producing a solid
form of this popular beverage which, in time,
made solid chocolate available to everyone.
A great many pioneers have made important
contributions to the modern history of
chocolate, but the most earth-shaking of all
innovations was probably the conching process,
invented by Swiss chocolate-maker Rodolphe
Lindt in 1879. Thanks to his procedure, the
previously brittle, sandy and somewhat bitter
material began to melt in the mouths of its
chocolate lovers everywhere and was elevated
to one of the world's most sublime pleasures.
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