The chocolate residue found in an ancient Maya pot suggests that Mayans were drinking
chocolate 2,600 years ago, which is the earliest record of cacao use.
The Aztecs associated chocolate with Xochiquetzal, the goddess of fertility.
In the New World, chocolate was consumed in a bitter and spicy drink called xocoatl,
often seasoned with vanilla, chilly pepper, and achiote, (which we know today as
annatto). Xocoatl was believed to fight fatigue, a belief that is probably attributable
to the theobromine content.
Chocolate was an important luxury good throughout pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and
cocoa beans were often used as currency.
Christopher Columbus brought some cocoa beans to show Ferdinand and Isabella of
Spain, but it was Hernán Cortés who introduced it to Europe more broadly.
The first recorded shipment of chocolate to the Old World for commercial purposes
was in a shipment from Veracruz to Seville in 1585.
At the end of the 18th century, the first form of solid chocolate was invented in
Turin by Doret.
In 1819, F. L. Cailler opened the first Swiss chocolate factory.
In 1828, Dutchman Coenraad Johannes van Houten patented a method for extracting
the fat from cocoa beans and making powdered cocoa and cocoa butter. Van Houten
also developed the so-called Dutch process of treating chocolate with alkali to
remove the bitter taste. This made it possible to form the modern chocolate bar.
It is believed that the Englishman Joseph Fry made the first chocolate for eating in 1847, followed in 1849 by the Cadbury brothers.
Daniel Peter, a Swiss candle maker, joined his father-in-law's chocolate business.
In 1867, he began experimenting with milk as an ingredient. He brought his new product,
milk chocolate, to market in 1875.
In March 2008, Choco Devilz was launched to knock you off your feet and fill your
mouth and hands with chocolates!!!
