The Cacao Tree and Chocolate

chocolate is a food that people can just THINK about chocolate and feel satisfaction. chocolate is made from the cacao tree which is found in the amazon, and the forests of central and south america. these “chocolate beans” grow inside of cacao pods and then are made into a chocolate liquid. there is an ongoing debate on where chocolate was first made and who made it. some think that it was the aztecs, some think it was the mayans but others think that the olmecs were the people who made chocolate. the mayans were located in present-day southern mexico and central america. the earliest evidence of the mayans using chocolate is found at colha in northern belize around 600 B.C.E chocolate was used in several different drinks. these drinks would be served to royals and newlywed couples. chocolate was an important role in ancient maya and was depicted on vases murals and other pieces of art. it was used as a present to the gods, and presented at royal burials to ensure peace and comfort in the afterlife. in maya, chocolate was also used as currency. aztecs are believed to made and consume the first form of chocolate as a bitter tasting drink made of the ground cacao beans made with water and sometimes wines. this drink was thought to be their cure for diarrhea, dysentery and to be an aphrodisiac. the aztecs believed that wisdom and power came from the fruit of the cacao tree. the cacao beans were used for currency, when aztecs would conquer tribes, they demanded to be payed in cocoa. records dating all the way back to 1200 C.E. show the details of cocoa delivery forced on all conquered tribes. later on, the cacao tree had spread during the age of colonialism, so did the cacao bean and so did chocolat...

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...sugar and then change it with cocoa butter to make a solid. other people started to build off of Van Houten’s success, and creating new chocolate products. In 1849, English chocolate maker Joseph Storrs Fry produced what was perhaps the world's first eating chocolate. today, the swiss are famous for their chocolate and and very worthy of it. in the late 19th century, the swiss developed several processes that contributed largely to creating the solid chocolate candy that we all eat and enjoy today. two major developments occurred in 1879. the first one is, when daniel peter, a swiss chocolate manufacturer had the idea of using powdered milk to make a different and new kind of chocolate, milk chocolate. the second one is when rodolphe lindt invented a process called “conching” which largely improved the quality of chocolate candy by making it more blendable.