The drink from the cocoa tree came about 3000 years ago. It is believed that it was first invented by the Olmec Indians, whose civilization existed in the II century BC in south-eastern Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. In the I century A.D. the Mayan civilization replaced the Olmec civilization.
Having inhabited the Yucatan Peninsula of Central America, the Mayans discovered cocoa trees here and, like the Almecs, smashed the plantations of this plant and began to prepare a drink from its seeds. Considering cocoa a divine gift, the Mayans prayed and sacrificed to the cocoa god Eck Chuja. Cocoa beans were also used as a special currency.
In the XII-XIV centuries, there was an Aztec state on the territory of modern Mexico. Having conquered the neighboring tribes, the Aztecs paid tribute to them, which included cocoa beans, which were used to make the drink, as well as a bargaining chip. The Aztecs had special units of measurement for cocoa tree grains. One bag contained about 24 thousand cocoa beans, which was equal to 3 xypuipilis. The palace of the famous Aztec Emperor of Montezuma was daily supplied with about 40 thousand bags of cocoa beans.
For the Emperor of Montezuma, a chocolate drink was prepared in the following way: roasted cocoa beans were grilled with milk corn grains and then mixed with honey, vanilla and agave juice.
The ancient legend of a Mexican gardener named Quetzalcoatl, who was endowed by the gods with the talent to plant beautiful gardens, has survived. One day Quetzalcoatl raised an unsightly tree, which he called cocoa. Its cucumber-like seeds of fruit tasted bitter. But the beverage made of them was invigorating and depressing. And people began to appreciate cocoa for its weight in gold. Quetzalcoatl became rich, and, corrupted by riches, though he was equal to the almighty gods. For this, the gods punished him, depriving him of his intellect. In a fit of rage, the gardener mercilessly destroyed all but one of the plants. This plant was a cocoa tree.
In 1519, Conquistador Hernan Cortés conquered part of Mexico and its capital Tenochtitlán. The Spaniard was interested in the huge stocks of dried cocoa beans he discovered in the storerooms of the Montezuma king's palace.
Although the Spaniards did not like the bitter beverage made of cocoa beans, they appreciated its aroma and tonic effect.
Returning to Spain, the conquistador, hoping to appease the king, who had already heard rumors of his atrocities, brought him cocoa beans and a recipe for making a drink. The royal couple liked the chocolate (renamed chocolate) very much, and this drink quickly became fashionable with the Spanish nobility. The chocolate was enriched with cane sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, which made the drink much tastier.
It is believed that the first European to taste chocolate was Christopher Columbus.
In 1502, the people of Guyana treated the famous traveler to a hot cocoa bean drink. But Columbus didn't like the hot bitter beverage seasoned with unknown smelly herbs.
It should be noted that cocoa beans were very expensive at the time. They were used as currency. For example, a slave could be bought for 100 cocoa grains. Chocolate was considered a cure-all for many diseases and was used as a medicine. However, chocolate was also used for criminal purposes. The bitter taste and strong aroma of chocolate masked the taste of poison well.
At first, the cocoa bean beverage was only recognized as a male beverage because it was very strong and bitter. But the English guessed adding milk to the chocolate in 1700 made it lighter and tastier. Since then, women and children have loved the chocolate drink.
Since the supply of cocoa beans was insufficient, the Spaniards were hiding the secret of cocoa seeds from other countries. It was only in the 17th century that the rest of Europe's population learned the secret of this wonderful drink.
The Catholic Church forbade eating anything enjoyable during fasting. Therefore, for a long time, there were debates about whether it was possible to drink chocolate during fasting. In 1569, the bishops of Mexico organized a special meeting on this occasion, which decided to send to the Vatican father Gerolamo di San Vincenzo, so that the dispute was resolved by the Pope himself. Pope Pius V was at a loss. He had never tasted chocolate and did not even know what it was. Gerolamo gave him a cup of cocoa. Daddy pounded the drink, wrinkled and said a historical phrase: "Chocolate does not breakfast, it can not be such a nasty thing to please someone.
The Italians were the first to invent the chocolate license. In the Netherlands, cocoa beans were smuggled, and the Holy Roman Emperor (16th century) Charles V even wanted to introduce a monopoly on cocoa grains.
But the main contribution to the spread of chocolate in Europe was made by Anna of Austria, the daughter of the Spanish King Philip III and the wife of the French King Louis XIII. In 1616 she brought a box of cocoa beans to Paris, and soon chocolate became popular throughout Europe. But despite its popularity, chocolate remained very expensive. For a long time, only aristocrats could afford to enjoy this wonderful drink.
Over the years, the number of cocoa plantations has increased significantly, and industrial chocolate production has improved, making the product affordable and widely available. In 1659, the Frenchman David Chailly opened the world's first chocolate factory, and in the middle of the XVIII century in France the first confectionery shops appeared, where visitors were offered their favorite drink. By 1798, there were already about 500 such establishments in Paris. And in England, the famous Chocolate houses became more popular than tea and coffee salons.
Until the beginning of the XIX, century chocolate was consumed only in liquid form, until the Swiss Francois Louis Caillé created in 1819 the world's first bar of solid chocolate. In 1820, a chocolate factory was built near the town of Vivi.
Soon chocolate factoan to open all over Europe. The technologies of the manufacturing of solid chocolate were constantly improved. Nuts, candied fruits, various sweets, wine, and even beer were added to the recipe of hard chocolate.
In 1875, the Swiss Daniel Peter mixed cocoa mass with condensed milk. This is how milk chocolate appeared, or, as it was called, Swiss chocolate. At the same time, Rudolf Lindt developed machines for rolling cocoa mass, which removed excess moisture from the chocolate mass and made it thick and tender.
As for Russia, the first chocolate factories were opened in Moscow at about the same time as in other European cities - in the middle of the XIX century. However, the production of bar chocolate in our country was controlled mainly by foreigners, as there were few domestic specialists at that time. The largest companies then were the German company Einem (later Red October) and the French family company A. Sioux and K°. Of the domestic enterprises, the most famous was the Babayevskaya factory, founded by Alexei Ivanovich Apricotov.
Today, the world production of chocolate and chocolate products is more than 4 million tons, the largest producers and consumers of which are the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan. For example, chocolate consumption in Switzerland is 19, in the USA - 13, and in Russia - 4 kilograms per capita per year.