History of chocolate
"Xocoatl", the forerunner of chocolate, was made by the Maya, and then the Aztecs, from Cocoa beans that were grilled, ground on flat stones, mixed with various spices (vanilla, pepper, chilli pepper, musk, cinnamon, cornflour). This drink had the virtue of being restorative, fortifying and supposedly aphrodisiac.
Cocoa beans were also used by the Maya and Aztecs as trading currency.
In one of his voyages to Mexico, Cortez was received by the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma with a gigantic golden cup filled with xocoatl. Initially this bitter drink was not very prized by the Spaniards, more attracted by gold than by the indigenous culture. The priests of Oaxaca then had the idea of adding cane sugar and a little vanilla: they had invented chocolate.
1529: Cortez introduces chocolate to Spain
1615: Spanish-born Anne of Austria, the wife of Louis XIII, introduced chocolate to the Court of France.
1674: the first plain chocolate is made in London under the name "Spanish style chocolate roll"
1815: Conrad Van Houten creates a cocoa powder factory in Amsterdam
1819: Cailler builds a factory in Vevey in Switzerland
1824: Antoine Brutus Menier develops the world's biggest factory at Noisiel
Breathtaking rise in cocoa production during the 20th Century:
1900: 115,000 tonnes of cocoa
1999: 2,600,000 tonnes of cocoa
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