This web page will be talking about the history of chocolate and how it was used throughout the ages. Like other foods, chocolate has had a long history. Chocolate is a beloved food/desert so I wanted to share the history of this beloved snack to whoever that reads this.
The oldest known record of chocolate was residue of cacao, the seeds that are used to make chocolate, was dated to around 1400 B.C.E in Honduras. Ancient civilizations of the Americas were one of the first to use and eat cacao. Cacao are native to the Central and South Americas, and was believed to be eaten as chocolate first by the Olmecs.
Cacao was first used in drinks with no sugar, and was known as "the drink of the gods." It was a rare drink, and was only given to important, rich, and sick; though, some civilizations thought that chocolate is something that everyone can have. Civilizations that really admired chocolate, like the Aztecs, even used cacao beans as currency and thought that they were more valuable than gold!
By the 1500s, chocolate became an indulgence in the Spanish court and Spain started importing chocolate in 1585. As other countries visited Central America, they to brought chocolate back with them. Eventually, chocolate mania spread throughout Europe and even chocolate houses for the rich started appearing throughout Europe; Europeans also, started changing the hot chocolate recipe by adding cane sugar, cinnamon, and other common spices and flavorings. In 1641, chocolate was imported to Florida and the first chocolate house was opened in Boston in 1682. By 1773, chocolate was a major American colony import and was enjoyed by everybody. In 1828, cacao beans was turned into a powder, making it accessible to everyone. In 1847, the first chocolate bar was made; in 1876, milk chocolate was created. Though, chocolate was still hard and difficult to chew. So in 1879, a machine was created to make chocolate smooth and a melt-in-your-mouth consistency that mixed well with other ingredients. By the late 1800s and early 1900s many companies started mass-producing chocolate, these companies were Cadbury, Mars, Nestle, and Hershey.
Most modern-day chocolate is highly refined and mass-produced, though there are still chocolatiers that still produce chocolate by hand. Chocolate is now mostly eaten as bars, edible confections, in deserts, or in baked goods. Chocolate can still be eaten in drink-form, hot chocolate. Chocolate is still as popular as how it was in ancient times; in fact, chocolate is probably more popular now then in the past. Today, the average American eats 12 pounds of each year, and more than $75 billion is spend on chocolate worldwide each year.
