Chocolate: Its Origins (2024)

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Chocolate: Its Origins? ›

Chocolate's 4,000-year history began in ancient Mesoamerica, present day Mexico. It's here that the first cacao plants were found. The Olmec, one of the earliest civilizations in Latin America, were the first to turn the cacao plant into chocolate. They drank their chocolate during rituals and used it as medicine.

Who invented chocolate? The history of chocolate begins its 4,000 years of history in ancient Mesoamerica, present day Mexico and the birthplace of chocolate. It's here that the first cacao plants, the plant which chocolate is made from, were found.

Chocolate history starts out around 1000BC in Latin America, where cacao trees grow wild. The first people to use chocolate were probably the Olmec of what is today southeast Mexico, and their word, “kakawa,” gave us our word “cacao.” Chocolate beans are the seeds of the cacao tree.

Guatemala is considered to be the birth place of chocolate! History says the first chocolate bar was created by the Mayans before it became an industrialized good in Britain and other countries. The Mayans believed chocolate was a 'food of the gods'.

We have the ancient Maya of Mesoamerica (which was made up of countries in what we now know as Central America, and southern Mexico) to thank for chocolate. Although the Maya weren't scoffing the bars we know and love today.

The four top chocolate-producing countries are Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Poland. Belgium is one of the largest producers, and much of the chocolate is still made by hand.

The ancient Olmec civilization—one of the first in Mexico—cultivated cacao beans as early as 1750 BC. Who invented chocolate? You could say that the Aztecs did—they created the first chocolate suitable for consumption. For most of chocolate history, it was something to drink, not eat.

The Mayans called the drink “chocolhaa” (“bitter water”) and Aztecs called it “Xocolatl.” From those words eventually evolved the word “chocolate.” Cacao was used in special celebrations such as those for funeral rituals, war, or harvests.

The Aztecs inherited a rich legacy of chocolate consumption from other Mesoamerican societies! The earliest archaeological evidence of cacao use dates back to almost 3500 BCE, in sites related to the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in modern-day Ecuador.

Its origins stretch back thousands of years to the early Mesoamerican cultures of North, Central and South America, where the cacao tree is native. The word “chocolate” itself is believed to be derived from the Aztec word “xocoatl,” which referred to the bitter drink consumed by the Aztec people.

Did Peru invent chocolate? ›

The results and solid evidence indicate that Chocolate originated in the Amazon basin 5,300 years ago. In fact, indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest have been cultivating Chocolate for more than 5,000 years. In the case of Peru, it was the Incas and their predecessors who grew cacao.

In fact, Guatemala is often called “the birthplace of chocolate,” where the ancient Mayans considered cacao, the plant and bean from which chocolate is made, a gift from the gods.

The cocoa bean was first domesticated at least 5,300 years ago in what is present-day southeast Ecuador (Zamora-Chinchipe Province) by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture, before being introduced in Mesoamerica. Originally prepared as a drink, chocolate was served as a bitter liquid, mixed with spices or corn puree.

Chocolate's 4,000-year history began in ancient Mesoamerica, present day Mexico. It's here that the first cacao plants were found. The Olmec, one of the earliest civilizations in Latin America, were the first to turn the cacao plant into chocolate.

In fact, chocolate has been cultivated for more than 3,000 years by indigenous communities in the Amazon rainforest. In Peru, it was the Incas and their predecessors who grew cacao. The Incas transformed Peruvian chocolate into an infusion considered medicinal and ritualistic.

Maya preparation of cacao started with cutting open cacao pods to expose the beans and the fleshy pulp. The beans were left out to ferment for a few days. In some cases, the beans were also roasted over an open fire in order to add a smoky flavour.

1565: The first record of how the cocoa drink is prepared was found in the notes of Benzoni, an explorer working for the Spanish army. The Spanish kept this secret from the rest of the world, with the hope they could keep their monopoly on the cocoa trade.

Adopting the Mesoamerican chocolate drink as their own, the Spanish were the first to sweeten the drink with cane sugar and cinnamon. However, the delicacy was only available to royalty and the elite, because the chocolate was at that time considered a symbol of luxury, power, and wealth.

In 1847, Joseph Fry discovered a way to mix the ingredients of cocoa powder, sugar and cocoa to manufacture a paste with a higher percentage of cocoa butter that could then be more easily molded into a solid chocolate bar. He is generally credited for the first mass-produced bar.

Cocoa beans are the main ingredient for making chocolate. Cocoa beans are produced in tropical zones around the Equator, where climate conditions are well suited for growing cocoa trees. About 70 percent of the world's cocoa beans come from four West African countries: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon.