Chocolate: Mexico’s Gift to the World
Everyone’s favorite dulce, chocolate, is running the show this week.
Did you know that the concept of chocolate as a sweet treat is fairly new? Chocolate comes from the cacao tree, and in pre-hispanic times, cacao was mixed with hot water to create a hot chocolate drink for the rich and important people in Mesoamerican society.
Chocolate was important to the Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs – not just in terms of food or drink, but as money and power too. If you look back into the legends of these civilizations, this much is evident.
For example, Quetzalcoatl, one of the most well-known Mesoamerican gods was said to have brought the first cacao seed among humans. Prior to this, chocolate was seen as the food of the gods.
Over time, as cacao plants were introduced to other parts of the world, including Europe, other ingredients were added, like sugar and milk, and so it evolved into the chocolate that you know and love today.
In this episode, Jim and May cover the history and cultural origins of one of the world’s favorite foods.
Links:
- Junajpu: Award-winning Guatemalan Chocolate con Chile
- Our Trip to Guatemala
- Mesoamerica Timeline
- History of Chocolate (Video in English)
- How Modern Chocolate is Made (Video in Spanish)
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