The spread of the cacao tree started during the age of Colonialism, as did the spread of cacao beans, and of chocolate itself.
The tree at the heart of this sublime subject, has grown wild in Central America since prehistoric times. The cocoa tree's scientific name couldn't be more apt; theobroma cacao is Greek for "food of the gods" and the first people to make use of it were the Maya, an ancient people who lived in the Yucatan Peninsula in South America, as long ago as 600 AD.
Why do we call it chocolate? The word chocolate is said to derive from the Mayan xocolatl which meant bitter water. Cocoa comes from the Aztec cacahuatl. The Mexican Indian word chocolate comes from a combination of the terms choco (foam) and atl (water) because for centuries early chocolate was only consumed as a drink.
The Maya harvested cocoa beans from the rain forest trees then later cleared areas of the forest to make way for the first known cocoa plantations. The Mayan knew a good thing when they saw it and worshiped the cocoa bean as an idol. The merchant god, Ek Chuah, was closely linked with cocoa and the beans were used as currency. Early explorers to the region found that four cocoa beans could get you a pumpkin, 10 a rabbit and 100 would buy you a slave. Cocoa beans also formed the basis of a drink; xocolatl was a rather bitter little potion made from roasted cocoa beans, water and spices. Cocoa's soothing qualities were also discovered early on and it was used for the treatment of coughs, fever and even discomfort during pregnancy.
Maya farmers traded their cocoa beans at market but wealthy merchants traveled further afield, some as far as Mexico, the land of the Aztecs…
The Maya harvested cocoa beans from the rain forest trees then later cleared areas of the forest to make way for the first known cocoa plantations. The Mayan knew a good thing when they saw it and worshiped the cocoa bean as an idol. The merchant god, Ek Chuah, was closely linked with cocoa and the beans were used as currency. Early explorers to the region found that four cocoa beans could get you a pumpkin, 10 a rabbit and 100 would buy you a slave. Cocoa beans also formed the basis of a drink; xocolatl was a rather bitter little potion made from roasted cocoa beans, water and spices. Cocoa's soothing qualities were also discovered early on and it was used for the treatment of coughs, fever and even discomfort during pregnancy.
Maya farmers traded their cocoa beans at market but wealthy merchants traveled further afield, some as far as Mexico, the land of the Aztecs…
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