who invented chocolate when and where
Answers
Marco Polo invented chocolate
Explanation:
The story of chocolate begins with cocoa trees that grew wild in the tropical rainforests of the Amazon basin and other areas in Central and South America for thousands of years. The Maya Indians and the Aztecs recognised the value of cocoa beans - both as an ingredient for their special 'chocolate' drink and as currency - for hundreds of years before cocoa was brought to Europe.
Christopher Columbus is said to have brought the first cocoa beans back to Europe from his fourth visit to the 'New World' between 1502 and 1504. However far more exciting treasures on board his galleons meant the humble cocoa beans were ignored.
It was his fellow explorer, the Spanish Conquistador Don Hernán Cortés, who first realised their commercial value. He brought cocoa beans back to Spain in 1528 and very gradually, the custom of drinking the chocolate spread across Europe, reaching England in the 1650s.
London Chocolate Houses became fashionable meeting places for the elite of London society wanting to savour this new luxury beverage.
As the popularity of chocolate grew, so did the number of cocoa growing countries in the world.
Cocoa trees need specific climatic conditions to thrive. Cultivation, harvesting and curing ready for transport to chocolate manufacturing countries is a labour-intensive business, as mechanisation has still proved impractical. (See What is Chocolate)
In 1853, heavy import duties that had made chocolate prohibitive were reduced and chocolate and cocoa became available to the wider population. A number of businesses began manufacturing cocoa and drinking chocolate, including John Cadbury of Birmingham. (See The Story of Cadbury)
Cocoa and the Mayan Civilzation
Aztec & Mayan Civilization
It was the Maya Indians, an ancient people whose descendants still live in Central America, who first discovered the delights of cocoa as long ago as 600 AD.
The Mayan people lived on the Yucatan Peninsula, a tropical area in what is now Southern Mexico, where wild cocoa trees grew. They harvested cocoa beans from the rain forest trees, then cleared areas of lowland forest to grow their own cocoa trees in the first known cocoa plantations.
A drink called 'chocolatl' made from roasted cocoa beans, water and a little spice was their primary use, but cocoa beans were also valued as currency. An early explorer visiting Central America found that four cocoa beans could buy a pumpkin; 10 could buy a rabbit.
Because cocoa beans were valuable, they were given as gifts at ceremonies such as a child's coming of age and on religious occasions. The Mayans had very many complicated religious beliefs with many gods. Ek Chuah, the merchant god, was closely linked with cocoa and cocoa fruits were used at festivals in his honour. Merchants often traded cocoa beans for other commodities, cloth, jade and ceremonial feathers.
Mayan farmers transported their cocoa beans to market by canoe or in large baskets strapped to their backs. Wealthy merchants travelled further, employing porters to carry their wares as there were no horses, pack animals or wheeled carts in Central America at that time. Some ventured as far as Mexico, the land of the Aztecs - introducing them to the much-prized cocoa beans.
The Aztec Empire and Cocoa
Aztec Man
Aztec Man
The Aztecs were an ancient nomadic people who founded a great city in the Valley of Mexico in 1325 - Tenochtitlan. The rich prosperous city and its culture were destroyed by the Spanish in 1521, and was later rebuilt by the Spanish conquerors and renamed Mexico City.
'Chocolatl' was consumed in large quantities by the Aztecs as a luxury drink. The Aztec version of this much-prized drink was described as "finely ground, soft, foamy, reddish, bitter with chilli water, aromatic flowers, vanilla and wild bee honey."
Because of the dry climate, the Aztecs were unable to grow cocoa themselves, so they obtained supplies of cocoa beans from 'tribute' or trade. 'Tribute' was a form of taxation paid by provinces conquered by the Aztecs in wars.
By the time the Spanish invaded Mexico in the 16th century, the Aztecs had created a powerful empire: their armies were supreme in Mexico. Tributes in the form of food, cloth and luxury items such as cocoa beans flowed into Tenochtitlan.
The Aztecs were very superstitious; they had many gods and believed that their world was constantly threatened by catastrophe. Quetzalcōātl, the creator god and provider of agriculture, was associated with cocoa beans. According to an old Mexican Indian myth, Quetzalcōātl was forced to leave the country by a chief god, but he was lovingly remembered by his devoted worshippers who hoped that he would return. Until that time they still had his legacy - the cocoa tree.
When the Spanish conquistador Don Hernán