World Chocolate Day

Today is World Chocolate Day!

Chocolate is mainly produced from cocoa beans. The plants that produce these beans are native to the tropical areas of the Americas, mainly in South America. This plant was first domesticated around 5,300 years ago in what is now Ecuador by the Mayo-Chinchipe. They served it as a bitter drink mixed with spices and corn. This would spread to Latin America, where there is a modern descendant of this drink served in southern Mexico and Central America: Chilate. From there, it would spread further to Pueblo peoples in what is now the Southwest USA. 

Chocolate would be introduced to Europeans in the 16th century, thanks to Chistopher Columbus seized a canoe used by natives to trade, which had cocoa beans. However, it would be Spanish friars that would make the big impact, thanks to them introducing chocolate to the Spanish royals. It was originally a luxury item, enjoyed only by the rich, where sugar was added to counter its natural bitterness. But when the steam engine was invented in the 1700s, it became possible to mass-produce chocolate. It would also help lead to the rise of the transatlantic slave trade.

Improvements in technology, like Walter Churchman's mechanical cocoa grinder in 1729, and Dutch chemist Coenradd van Houten's press that removed half the natural fat from chocolate, made chocolate cheaper and easier to produce, also allowing its transition from strictly a drink. In the late 19th century, several chocolate companies were born. Some are still around today, like Cadbury and Hershey.

Chocolate has had a long history, and if you want to learn more, you can read here and here. Thanks for reading this blog entry and treat yourself to some chocolate! See you next time!