The Chocolate History Guide
We as humans have always had a taste for chocolate, as the cacao tree has been cultivated in Mexico, Central and Southern America for about 3 millennia.
Though back in those days it did not come in different shapes with delicious fillings, it was used as a beverage.
Facts About Chocolate History
- The first use of Chocolate
- The History of Chocolate in Europe
- The History of the First Chocolate Gift
- Chocolate - An Aphrodisiac?
- The First Chocolate House in Britain
- The Progression of Chocolate
- The Birth of Chocolate as We Know It
The First Use of Chocolate
Research has dated the earliest use of chocolate to the Aztecs some 3,100 years ago. Traces of cacao were found in remnants of celebratory cups and the white pulp from the cacao beans may have been used as fermenting sugars suggesting that the first chocolate drink may have been an alcoholic beverage. Imagine a spicy frothy beer that tastes of chocolate!
This also may be the bases of the origin of the word chocolate as the Aztecs have a word, ‘xocoatl’, meaning, ‘bitter water’. The Spanish that invaded Mexico could not pronounce this word and changed it to, "chocolat".
Another possibility comes from the Mayan word cacao which translates into, "God food" and the modern generic Latin term for the cocoa tree is, ‘Theobrama cacao’, meaning, "Food of the Gods".
Cacao was not only drank by these tribes it was smoked – the beans were mixed with chilli pods and then burned over the glowing embers of a fire and the smoke inhaled, it was said that the pungent smoke had amazing healing properties and could cure any ailments including malaria.
Cacao was also a valuable commodity, even then, and it was used as currency by the Mesoamericans. A person would have paid 100 cacao beans for a turkey or a slave.
Even back in those times people were expected to pay taxes to the Emperor and these were paid in beans and known as,’ tributes.’
Chocolate is known to-day to have certain properties that release a feel good factor in us and the Aztecs considered chocolate to have an aphrodisiac effect; one Aztec Emperor named Montezuma is reputedly said to have drunk 50 cups a day and is quoted as saying of the drink:
“The divine drink which builds up resistance and fights fatigue.
A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without food.”
Maybe this is where Mars got the inspiration behind their famous slogan, “A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play!”
The History of Chocolate in Europe
Columbus is said to have encountered cacao beans in 1502 when he observed some tribesmen carrying them onto a canoe, he is reported to have said:
"They seemed to hold these almonds [referring to the cacao beans] at a great price; for when they were brought on board ship together with their goods, I observed that when any of these almonds fell, they all stooped to pick it up, as if an eye had fallen."
Some twenty years after Columbus first saw the cacao beans, the Spanish conquistadors led by a man named Hernando Cortez invaded Southern America and brought about the downfall of the Aztecs. After defeating the Aztec Emperor, Montezuma and entering his palace Cortez was surprised not to find gold and silver as he expected but cacao beans. The Aztecs regarded them more valuable than gold or any precious gems.
Nevertheless Cortez decided to bring the beans back with him to Spain; maybe he had acquired a taste for the bitter brew. The first official import of cacao beans was in 1585 and arrived in Seville from Veracruz. The Spanish actually improved on the Aztec recipe by adding sugar and vanilla to sweeten the taste.
The Spanish realised they had struck gold with this fantastic drink and opened the first chocolate factories. They ground and roasted the beans and improved on the flavours of the drink and it proved to be so popular that they were able to export it to other countries.
It was however a closely guarded secret so much so that in 1579 English pirate crews boarded a ship carrying cacao beans and found what they thought was sheep droppings and not the much sort after gold bullion. They were so disgusted that the burnt the ship, cargo and all. If only they had known that that cargo was worth much more than gold or silver!
The History of the First Chocolate Gift
Chocolate was and still is the, ‘must have’ gift to give. It was given as part of a dowry by Ann of Austria, who was the daughter of King Philip of Spain, to her husband King Louis XIII and so chocolate was introduced to the French court in 1615.
Then in 1643, it was given as an engagement present to King Louis XIV, of France, the Sun King, by his fiancée the Spanish Princess, Maria Theresa. It was said to have been presented in an ornate chest, could this have been the first box of chocolates?
Louis XIV was an amazing ruler and a bit of an entrepreneur, he appointed Sieur David Illou as a chocolatier, to make and sell chocolate. This made the Palace of Versailles the home of chocolate. Legend has it that in his 72nd year King Louis XIV was still making love to his wife, could there be some basis in the fact that chocolate is an aphrodisiac?
When Marie- Antoinette married Louis XVI, who was also known as the Sun King, in 1770, she brought with her, her own chocolate maker who used to make her chocolate flavoured with orchid bulbs to give her strength, orange blossom to calm her nerves and sweet almond milk to aid her digestion. She was responsible for creating the post, Chocolate maker to the Queen, before she was executed in 1793.
Chocolate - An Aphrodisiac?
This idea that chocolate is an aphrodisiac seems to have caught on especially in France as there are documented cases of other famous French people using chocolate in this way, for example; Madame du Barry who was a French courtesan, had many lovers and clients in Parisian society and counted Louis XV of France among them, gave chocolate to her lovers to increase their stamina so they may keep pace with her!
Madame du Pompadour, another famous mistress of Louis XV, was another who used chocolate to attempt to raise her passion after her mother told her she was a ‘cold fish’.
Giacomo Casanova, who was reputedly the ‘world’s greatest lover’ is said to have seduced many women by offering them champagne and chocolate.
The Marquis de Sade, who was an author and French aristocrat, was imprisoned for non-lethal poisoning of prostitutes reportedly he used chocolate to administer the poison.
French literature and works of art of this era all have an erotic theme to them and many believe this to be the influence of chocolate!
The First Chocolate House in Britain
The first chocolate house was opened in 1657 by an anonymous Frenchman. It was called The Coffee Mill and Tobacco Roll and can boast possibly the first known advertisement for chocolate it reads;
“In Bishopsgate Street in Queenshead Alley, at a Frenchmans house, is an excellent West India drink called chocolate to be sold, where you may have it ready at any time, and also unmade, at reasonable prices”.
Chocolate was very popular at English court, Charles II was said to have enjoyed it immensely but he still imposed an excessive duty on it that worked out to be 10 – 15 shillings per pound. So it was only the wealthy and elite that could afford to drink chocolate.
In 1674 chocolate was brought into use as a food and was served in establishments in chocolate rolls and cakes and as pastilles and were marketed as ‘Spanish style puddings.’
The Progression of Chocolate
As the industrial world moved on, inventors produced machinery that would make the creation of chocolate easier and more refined. A French inventor named Dubuisson, in 1736, invented a raised table that was heated with charcoal which enabled the cocoa beans to be ground more easily. This technology was then helped in 1765 when James Watt invented the steam engine.
America was to get its first taste of chocolate when Irishman John Hanan imported cocoa beans from the West Indies with the intention of refining them. He landed in Dorchester Massachusetts and along with Dr. James Baker opened a chocolate mill and by 1780 they were making the now famous Bakers chocolate.
In 1800, at the turn of the century, a Swiss man, Antione Brutus Menier opened the first industrial sized chocolate factory. Menier started his working life in pharmaceuticals as sold chocolate as a medicine. He was also responsible for selling the first block of chocolate which came wrapped in decorative yellow paper.
Another Swiss man Francois Louis Callier who was the pioneer of Swiss chocolate as we know and love it opened his factory in 1819. This was in Corsier, near Vevey and in 1825 he opened another factory which he sold to his son and son-in-law, Daniel Peter. Fifty years later in 1875 Daniel Peter decided to form a partnership with a neighbouring factory Henri Nestle who made condensed milk. This combination was to see the birth of milk chocolate.
Conrad Van Houten was responsible for making a hydraulic press in 1928 which made the process of extracting cocoa butter easier. This created a type of cake that could be easily ground into powder which has become the basis of all chocolate products since.
The Birth of Chocolate as We Know It
The award for the first chocolate bar as we know it goes to a name we all know as the company is still around to-day. Fry’s! Yes J. J Fry’s and sons were the first creators of a chocolate bar. Back in 1847 J. J Fry mixed melted cocoa butter to sugar and cocoa powder and found that it could be moulded and so the chocolate bar was born. The factory was in Union Street, Bristol and a few years later in 1866 the now famous Fry’s Chocolate Cream was created. Not only did Fry’s bring us the first chocolate bar they also have delighted children of all ages at Easter because in 1873, it was Fry’s who gave us Easter Eggs as we know them. Just for lovers of the famous and delicious Fry’s’ Turkish Delight’, which I must say is one of my personal favourites it was invented in 1914.
Cadbury comes onto the scene in 1849 when they showed a display of chocolates in Bingley Hall, Birmingham. Though they had been selling drinking chocolate since 1824 when John Cadbury, a grocer sold it in his shop. John’s son George was responsible for creating the famous Bourneville village, four miles outside Birmingham. Diary Milk was launched in 1905 to compete against the Swiss chocolate and the chocolates that Cadbury’s are famous for Milk Tray was launched in 1915.
The Great Exhibition was the brain child of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria and was held in a massive glass dome built especially at Crystal Palace in Hyde Park in London. It was to be a showcase of inventions and creations to show how far Britain was advancing in the industrial world. Obviously chocolate was on display and one can only imagine the sights and smells that were experienced that day. Visiting Americans got to try firsthand the chocolate creams and hard candies that were on show.
At the beginning of the 19th century Prime Minister of Britain, William Gladstone finally reduced the import tax on cocoa beans, which had not been lowered since Charles II was King back in the 1600’s, making chocolate cheaper to make so it would become available to all.
Manufactures of chocolate powder had been looking at ways to make the powder go further and some had even stooped so low as to add brick dust to make it stretch, the government would not allow this and this saw the introduction of the Food and Drugs Act in 1860.
The Valentine’s Day gift of a box of chocolates was the idea of Richard Cadbury when he came up with the first heart shaped box of chocolates in 1861, then in 1868 his brother George started the mass production of boxes of chocolates.
As we know chocolate to-day has a melt-in-your-mouth texture and we have a process called ‘conching’ to thank for that. ‘Conching’, involves the heating and rolling of the chocolate, this is done for 72 hours and the result is a smoother and creamier chocolate. It was invented by Rodolphe Lindt from Berne, Switzerland. Of course the name Lindt is synonymous with Swiss chocolate.
Sears and Roebuck were the first people to publish a chocolate recipe for chocolate brownies in their catalogue in 1897.
In 1912, the Belgian company Neuhaus who had been making chocolate since 1857, found a new technique, it was invented by Jean Neuhaus Jr. He discovered how to fill chocolates and he named this Praline, the world has never looked back. In 2000, King Albert II bestowed the title of Accredited Supplier to the Belgian Crown on the Neuhaus Company making them the premier in Belgian chocolate.
The next year in 1913, a Swiss named Jules Sechaud, invented a machine that made this process easier and no doubt quicker.
