Download Chocolate Comes from Cacao

Chocolate Comes from Cacao
All the chocolate we eat comes from one rather special plant—the cacao (kah KOW) tree.
These trees produce pods containing pulp-covered seeds. The seeds, once fermented and
dried, are processed into chocolate.
Cacao trees thrive beneath
the shady branches of taller
trees in the rainforest. They
won’t begin to bear fruit,
however, until they are at
least three to five years old.
Cacao trees produce
flowers year-round. Tiny
flies called midges pollinate
these small flowers.
Eventually, cacao pods will
sprout from the trunk and
branches of the tree.
Midges have the fastest
wingbeat of any creature on
earth—1,000 beats a
second! They’re so small
that they fit easily on the
head of a straight pin.
A cacao pod contains about
30-50 almond-sized
seeds—enough to make
about seven milk chocolate
candy bars!
The Maya Were Early Chocolate Makers
Before chocolate was a sweet candy, it was a spicy beverage. Some of the earliest known
chocolate drinkers were the ancient Maya of Central America.
The Maya civilization reached its height during the Classic Period (250-900 C.E.[A.D.]). During
this time, the Maya began gathering cacao seeds from rainforest trees and planting this
important crop in household gardens.
The Maya plucked the pods,
scooped out the seeds, and
ground them into chocolate
using a stone mano (MAH
noh) and metate (meh TAH
tay).
The Maya mixed chocolate
with cornmeal, chile
peppers, honey, and water.
They poured this concoction
from cup to bowl and back
again until a nice, thick
layer of foam formed on
top.
Maya priests presented a
chocolate drink at sacred
altars during special
religious ceremonies. They
also made offerings of
cacao seeds to the gods.
Anyone in ancient Maya
society could drink
chocolate. However, when
Maya aristocrats served
chocolate, they used
lavishly decorated cups
made by specially trained
artists.
The Aztecs Used Cacao Seeds as Money
By 1200, the ancient Aztecs had developed a taste for chocolate from their Maya neighbors to
the south.
Cacao became key to the vast trade empire of the Aztec people—not only as a luxury drink,
but also as money, an offering to the gods, and tribute to rulers.
Cacao wouldn’t grow in
Aztec territory, so Aztec
traders traveled to Maya
lands to purchase seeds.
Because cacao was precious
cargo, Aztec warriors often
protected traders on their
long journey.
Cacao seeds could be used
as money for shopping at
the market. Customers paid
with cacao to purchase
food, clothes, and even
kitchen tools like the pot
seen here. Some dishonest
merchants actually made
counterfeit cacao seeds,
too!
Chocolate was a special
drink reserved only for
wealthy Aztecs—merchants,
priests, decorated warriors,
or kings like the famous
Montezuma. (Some reports
say he drank 50 goblets of
chocolate a day!) People
also paid tribute to their
ruler with cacao seeds.
The Aztecs presented
offerings of cacao to their
god Quetzalcoatl (ket sal
koh AH tul), who is often
depicted as a feathered
serpent.
The Spanish Took Chocolate Home to Europe
In 1521, the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés led his country’s forces in battle to conquer the
Aztec empire. The Spanish victors carried many treasures back home with them—including
cacao seeds and the recipe for the Aztec chocolate drink.
Within 100 years, the popularity of this frothy beverage spread to the rest of Europe, where it
became a taste sensation only the wealthy could afford.
The Spanish invented a
wooden stirring stick called
a molinillo (moh lin EE oh)
to whip their chocolate into
a froth. They also added
sugar to sweeten the bitter
beverage.
The Spanish carried home
other American foods never
seen before in Europe, such
as corn, chile peppers,
vanilla, tomatoes, and
potatoes.
Like the Aztecs, Europeans
created special serving
dishes just for drinking
chocolate. (In fact, saucers
were invented specifically
to keep chocolate off of fine
clothes.)
Like the coffee shops of
today, chocolate houses
became popular places in
17th century Europe to
socialize and drink
chocolate.
Wealthy people drank
chocolate for breakfast. It
was considered the height
of good breeding to lie in
bed and leisurely sip a cup
of hot cocoa.
Mass Production Made Chocolate Candy Affordable
By the 1800s, new innovations and processes made it possible to create solid bars of chocolate
for eating, not just liquid chocolate for drinking.
New inventions, machines, and mass production made chocolate affordable to a much broader
public, not just the rich and famous.
Compared with the old
horse-, wind-, or humanoperated mills, the steamdriven chocolate mill
(invented in 1732) was a
huge improvement. It
made it much easier and
faster to grind up cacao
seeds and inexpensively
produce large amounts of
chocolate.
In 1828, Dutchman
Coenraad Van Houten
invented the chocolate
press. Still used today, this
machine squeezes out
cocoa butter and makes it
possible to produce solid
chocolate as well as cocoa
powder.
In 1847, the Fry & Sons
Company of Bristol,
England, introduced the
first chocolate bar meant
for eating as a snack.
Many people in Mexico still
enjoy making chocolate
using manos, metates, and
molinillos like the Maya,
Aztec, and Spanish.
Chocolate Is Still A Treasured Treat Today
While inventions made chocolate easier to produce, advertising made it something people
craved. Over the years, marketing campaigns helped to sell thousands of pounds of chocolate
each year by enticing people to try new brands and flavors.
In 1998 alone, Americans ate 3.3 billion pounds of chocolate. In fact, statistics show that the
average person in the United States eats about 12 pounds of chocolate each year!
Richard Cadbury (the
founder of England’s
Cadbury chocolate
company) introduced a
terrific money-making
tradition by creating the
first Valentine’s Day candy
box in 1868.
Robert Stroehecker is the
“father” of the first
chocolate Easter bunny—
yet another successful
holiday advertising icon,
which first appeared in
1890.
The United States Armed
Forces also helped make
chocolate a popular treat.
During both world wars,
the rations of U.S. soldiers
included this sweet for
extra energy. Today,
Army D-rations still
include 4 ounces of
chocolate