Short History of Chocolate

Aztec Indian legend held that cacao seeds had been brought from Paradise and that wisdom and power came from eating the fruit of the cacao tree. Because of a spelling error, probably by English traders long ago, the cacao beans became know as the cocoa beans.

The Spanish general, Hernando Cortes, landed in Mexico in 1519. The Aztecs believed he was the reincarnation of one of their lost gods. They honored him by serving him an unusual drink, presented in a cup of pure gold. This unusual drink was called "chocolatl" by the Aztecs.

When Cortes returned to Spain, he took the cocoa bean with him and there is was mixed with sugar and vanilla. this sweet drink became fashionable and soon there were chocolate houses in all the capitals of Europe.

A delicate tree, cacao is only grown in rain forests in the tropics, usually on large plantations, where it must be protected from wind and intense sunlight. The tree is harvested twice a year.

Milk chocolate was invented in 1876 by a Swiss chocolatier, Daniel Peter (1836-1919) of Vevey, Geneva. Daniel Peter successfully combined chocolate with powdered milk to produce the first milk chocolate. Today, the finest chocolate is still made in Switzerland, and the consumption of milk chocolate far outweighs that of plain chocolate.

Chocolate was introduced to the United States in 1765 when John Hanan brought cocoa beans from the West Indies into Dorchester, Massachusetts, to refine them with the help of Dr. James Baker. The first chocolate factory in the country was established there.