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History For Chocolate Lovers
It is believed that the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) originally came from the Amazons and that it was taken to the Yucatan by the Mayas around the year 600 A.D. This was highly considered and greatly valued by the Mayas and the Aztecs, who used the grains, not just as a drink, but as money as well.
Cacao played a very important role in the Aztec mythology. Quetzacoatl, who was a god in the form of the snake with wings, it was believed, had taken the cacao seeds to Mexico from the Garden of Life, and was then induced through deceit by a rival god to drink a potion that destroyed his divine powers. After buying all of his treasures he disappeared promising his followers that he would return. When the Spaniard Hernan Cortes arrived to the coast of Mexico in 1519, the indigenous people believed that it was the reincarnation of the god of Quetzacoatl and was immediately received by the emperor Moctezuma who had a magnificent court.
Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who was one of the soldiers that accompanied Cortes, gives a very detailed description of the banquet that was given in honor of the Spaniard. According to his story, although most of the banquet was served in red and black Cholula ceramic, the cacao cups were made out of pure gold. He said that during the course of the meal that he saw the servants come in with over fifty big jars of this chocolate, which was very thick from which the emperor drank a little of himself. After the banquet the servants were then allowed to eat, and Diaz estimates that they served around one thousand plates of food and around two hundred jars of thick chocolate.
Cortes however did not return the kindness offered to him by his host. To the contrary, he proceeded to conquer Mexico and killed a number of Aztecs, including Moctezuma himself. He did however appreciate without a doubt some of the restorative qualities of cacao and when he retuned to Spain, he took back a few grains with him. These however were not the first fruits of cacao that came into Spain, since it is known Christopher Columbus after having disembarked in Nicaragua sixteen years earlier took some home on his way back. King Fernando, the catholic however, had not shown too much interest in these seeds though.
This was probably because he was not exactly aware of how to prepare or make them, and at the beginning “chocolate” as the indigenous Mexicans called it, was not very popular in Spain. It’s very unlikely that the way that it was prepared with the toasted ground grains and mixed with large quantities of chili powder was appetizing to the Spanish. However the arrival of the cacao grains coincided with the discovery of sugar and vanilla, substances that were added to it and turned it into something much better tasting.
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