From the history of chocolate "Where did it come from?

The word chocolate probably came from the Aztec word xocolātl - which means "bitter water"

The first mention of chocolate can be found in the Olmec culture ( 1500 - 400 BC), the first of the cultures of the Gulf of Mexico, whose members of the OLMÉK Indians were the first to process wild cocoa beans.

Ultimately, the production of chocolate, as such, is attributed to the Maya (600 BC), who settled in this area, and as such were the first real consumers and lovers of this bitter liquid, which was brewed from cocoa beans.

It was a bitter fermented drink, Cocahuatl , where Xocolath (pronounced " shokollatl") was often associated with various religious ceremonies and rituals, as the Aztecs worshiped gods, which they associated with unexplained natural events.

At the same time, the Aztecs used cocoa beans as currency, and thus used cocoa as a luxury commodity with which they could trade, and thus spread the popularity of cocoa throughout Central and South America.

From history it is written…

15th and 16th centuries

In 1502, Christopher Columbus discovered these cocoa beans on the island of Guanaja, but the true potential of this commodity remained undiscovered at the time.

In 1527, Hernán Cortéz, a Spanish colonizer, brought cocoa beans to Spain, where local monks improved the cocoa drink by adding sugar and spices, but kept the recipe itself secret for more than a century. At that time, only members of the royal family and the rich enjoyed a drink.

17th century

The marriage of Louis XIV, King of France, and Maria Theresa, Queen of Spain, brought chocolate in 1660, still consumed as a hot drink at the French court. Because of the healing effects that were attributed to it, chocolate was further spread by missionaries across Europe. From 1650, the first chocolate factories began to appear in London.

18th century

Chocolate, as a hot beverage for the aristocracy, remains very popular in Europe. Despite its undeniably positive effect on health, chocolate is considered a drink for adults only and is not served to children, which is hard to believe today.

The first bar of chocolate saw the light of day in 1847, when the "Joseph Fry & Sons" chocolate factory mixed together cocoa butter, cocoa powder and sugar.

Where is chocolate grown?

It originates from the tropical region of South America, where it was probably grown as early as the 5th century. Today, it is grown in the tropics around the world, but the largest producers of cocoa are Ivory Coast, Ghana, Indonesia, Ecuador, Cameroon and Nigeria.

Obsah obrázku talíř, ovoce, ořech, rostlina Obsah obrázku země, kousek, čokoláda, ořech

Obsah obrázku strom, exteriér, země, rostlina

What is chocolate?

Chocolate is made from fermented, roasted and ground grains of the tropical cocoa tree Theobroma cacao. The grains come from cocoa capsules (beans). Cocoa beans are actually fruit seeds. They are a basic component of chocolate, which, however, stands at the very end of the process. By processing these points, the final product is known as "chocolate" (intensely flavored bitter food, there is a definition of chocolate in many dictionaries).

Obsah obrázku ovoce, ořech, krájené

Cacao seeds contain a substance called Theobromine. Like caffeine, it has stimulating effects on the human body. Cocoa beans themselves grow on a small evergreen tree called Theobromacacao. The fruits of cacao grow to a weight of 200-800 g. The total ripening lasts up to half a year. As the cocoa beans ripen, they turn their skin yellow, red, or even brownish-purple, when they can be harvested. The pods are harvested by hand, with the help of a special machete. Collectors must be very careful. About 30 fruits are obtained from one tree, which contain about 30-40 cocoa beans Criollo and Forastero are among the highest quality cocoa. An important part of production and processing for the final taste and aroma of chocolate itself is the long process of purification, fermentation and roasting. The cocoa mass is then separated into cocoa butter and the dried "cocoa powder" portion.

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