Chocolate Emerges in Central America – Or Does It?

Chocolate has been around for millennia if the dating of pots uncovered at an archaeological dig are to be believed. The fruit pulp for sure was consumed as it is a much more natural substance to be consumed. The seeds/beans that come from the fruit are not a natural match for consuming as they are extremely bitter until they are fermented at the very least.

Once the peoples of Mesoamerica caught on to the fermentation part, they fell in love with the cocoa beans. Once we progress in time on to the 12th century, we find that the people descended from the Mokaya and other peoples of the area eventually became the Mayan and Aztec and those peoples have extended in Central and South America.  This kind of progress is natural and normal and not necessarily driven by disasters or pressures.

Both the Mayans and the Aztecs used cocoa beans in religious and sacred rituals. Clearly they knew and understood the value of the cocoa bean once allowed to ferment. Cocoa beans were also used by the Mayans to trade with other populations in the area. So we know from this that there was not a homogeneous population in the area at the time.

 The Aztecs attributed the creation of the cocoa plant/tree to their god Quetzalcoatl. In their mythology, it is said that Quetzalcoatl descended from heaven on the beam of a morning star carrying a cocoa tree stolen from paradise. The divine origins of the cocoa tree makes them an ideal offering to the Gods but also places them outside general population access. Given how coca trees grow, we can only assume they were under some sort of protection like swans in England.

In both the Mayan and Aztec cultures fermented, dried and ground cocoa beans were the basis for a thick, cold, unsweetened drink called xocoatl considered as a health elixir. Having experienced this drink, it is as far from modern chocolate as it may be possible to get with the same base ingredient. Since sugar was unknown to the Aztecs, different spices were used to add flavour, such as cinnamon or hot chili peppers. There are some who assert that honey may have been added but without archaeological evidence from this time period we can’t be sure.

Moving forward 300 years into the 15th century and we find European powers moving across the globe. Chocolate still isn’t anywhere near the form we now know it to be. Chocolate is also still localised to central and south America. In 1492 as many people know, Christopher Columbus sails to the ‘new world’ and brings back a few cacao beans to King Ferdinand. However, the cacao beans, despite their extremely high value, were mostly ignored in favour of the many other treasures Columbus found and brought back.

Chocolate is not, however, lost to the world. Despite not being initially seen as important. Columbus brought cocoa beans back with him because of their status as money and a divine food making it inherently valuable locally, however it is not treasured by the rest of the world. It is, of course, unsurprising that the value of cocoa beans is not initially recognised by people in the ‘old world’. Chocolate is still unknown, roasting isn’t necessarily something happening with beans and, of course, it isn’t a sweet food.

It will take over 20 years before Spain rediscovered the value of cocoa beans and starts on the path to discovering chocolate which will culminate in the delicious confection that we have today. But first Spain has to send Cortez to Central America and he has to rediscover chocolate.