Chocolate: A Timeless Treasure
By: Rochelle Groskreutz
Did you know your favorite chocolate treat comes from a tree discovered more than 2,000 years ago? Ever since then, chocolate has been valued and enjoyed in many cultures around the world.
The yummy secret of chocolate comes from the cacao (kah KOW) tree. This tree was first found between 1500 and 400 b.c. in the tropical rainforests of the Americas. The cacao tree has large pods growing from its trunk. The seeds (called beans) inside these pods are used to make chocolate.
The first people who made chocolate were the ancient Olmec, Mayan, and Aztec cultures of Mexico and Central America. Chocolate in these times wasn’t a sweet candy; it was a spicy drink. Mayans and Aztecs ground the cocoa seeds into a chocolate paste they mixed with water, chili peppers, and other spices. They poured this mixture from cup to pot until it was well blended and foamy.
Not just anyone got to enjoy this chocolaty drink. Since cocoa beans were known as “the gods’ food,” the cocoa drink was saved for special occasions. Only important Mayan and Aztec people like royalty or priests were allowed to drink it.
An ancient cup of cocoa was not sweet. It wasn’t served hot, either. The Spanish changed the ancient recipe by heating and adding sugar or honey to their cocoa drinks in the 1600s. Thanks to the Spanish, this sweeter hot cocoa recipe spread throughout Europe. Early American explorers and settlers then brought this delicious drink to America and we’ve been enjoying it ever since. In fact, our third president, Thomas Jefferson, was a huge fan of hot chocolate.
Chocolate Money
Surely you’ve heard the saying “Money doesn’t grow on trees.” Well, it did in the 1500s in Mexico, where cocoa beans were used as cash. Here are some items you could buy with your cocoa beans back then:
· A good turkey hen sold for 100 cocoa beans; a male turkey for 200.
· A small rabbit cost 30 cocoa beans.
· One turkey egg was worth three cocoa beans.
· A large tomato was worth one cocoa bean.
Chocolate Medicine
In addition to its value as money, cocoa was used as a type of medicine. From the late 1500s through today, chocolate products in Europe and America have helped people feel better.
· People made pure cocoa paste into a drink to treat fever and liver disease (1577).
· Eating chocolate paste was supposed to be good for stomach problems (1604).
· Explorers Lewis and Clark drank chocolate to soothe a bad stomach during their American expedition (1803–1806).
· According to studies published by the American Cocoa Research Institute, cocoa has natural ingredients that can help improve blood flow, keep your heart healthier, and help protect your body against sickness (2002).
When those ancient civilizations found that first cacao tree, they were definitely onto something. Bet they never thought a tree growing “gods’ food” deep in the jungle would still be a delicious treasure today. In fact, it seems impossible to imagine a world without chocolate!
Photograph Copyright © 2010 Wikipedia
Copyright © 2010 by Rochelle Groskreutz