by Sharmal Kelambi

Created on: February 24, 2011

Chocolate is one of the well known flavors of today’s world. It is being consumed all over the world, both adults and children alike. However the origin of chocolate took place in Central America, almost 4000 years back. It is believed that Olmec Indians-whom passed most of their culture to Mayans-were the first people to discover this wonderful flavor, which came from the seeds of the cacao tree.

- Cacao in Central America

Cacao tree was naturally growing in the rain forests of South America in the region of Amazon and Orinoco river basin. Olmec Indians took these plants from the rainforest and grew them on their back yards. That was from 1600 to 300 BC. It is believed that even back then, they knew of the cacao seeds that were contained in the pods of the cacao trees. Then in 300 BC it was passed on to the Mayan civilization. The Mayans thought that the cacao tree had divine powers and named it, the food of the Gods. The scientific name of cacao tree is Theobrama cacao, which means the same thing what Mayans called it, the food of the Gods.

Mayans passed the secret of cacao to Aztecs, who lived further north. Both Mayans and Aztecs used chocolate drinks in religious festivals. The drink was bitter and frothy as it lacked sugar, which was unknown to both these civilizations. Instead they added vanilla, pepper and various other seasonings. The drink was a favorite of the priests and the nobles and Aztecs used cacao beans as a mean of currency. In fact, when the Spanish explorers attacked Mayan cities, they were surprised to see cacao beans stored in the safe houses instead of silver or gold, as they would have hoped.

- Chocolate the Name

The name chocolate is believed to have derived from the Aztec name, ‘Xocolatl’.  The records of this word dates almost back to 1100 BC. ‘Xococ’ means bitter or sour and ‘alt’ means water or drink. Spanish learnt of this name but they couldn’t pronounce it properly, so they named it ‘chocolate’ instead. The name was later changed to chocolate by the British.

The word cacao too has its own tale. It is believed that the British found it hard to spell as cacao and they changed it to cocoa instead. Nowadays, both cacao and cocoa are accepted in equal terms.

- Chocolate to Europe

The first person who carried cacao beans to Europe was Christopher Columbus, in year 1492. But these were overlooked over the rest of the treasures he had to offer. It was Herman Cortez, who

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