Everybody just loves chocolate!
My first memories of chocolate was on the Sunday morning – every Sunday without fail – when my Dad would take out this heavy-bottom pot, start beating a tune with his steel ladle to wake up the kids. Then he would take out his tin of cocoa powder and proceed in concocting his special hot chocolate drink. It was a truly comforting drink, a wickedly creamy treat. Though I thought that was it, it was always the best. Growing older, I learned that chocolate wasn't limited to the chocolate drink. I became truly captivated from the small brown squares to cakes, fudges, chocolate truffles, pralines, caramels, and numerous chocolate creations. I just keep wanting and coming back for more.
I'm not alone … chocolate, it seems, started in 250-900AD with the Mayans who cultivated wild cocoa trees on the Yucatan Peninsula (now Southern Mexico). They harvested cacao fruit, roasting the beans and grounding it into a paste that when mixed with water made a frothy chocolate drink. The word chocolate is said to be derived from the Mayan “xocoatl”, “xoco” meaning foam and “atl” meaning water.
Yes, the Mayans were the first chocoholics!
Before 600AD, the Aztecs, who were unable to grow cocoa trees, traded cacao beans with the more subservient Mayans. The Aztecs adopted their beverage-making methods, adding flavors like chillies, spices, vanilla and honey.
The Aztecs' chocolate drink became a 'sacred' drink favored by rulers, priests and soldiers. Priests offered cacao seeds to their gods. The cacao trees were considered as a magical supplier of wealth and health. They served chocolate drinks during religious ceremonies. This refreshing and satisfying though still bitter (for our tastes anyway) drink was taken after a meal as an aphrodisiac. It became an army potion, a fortifying tonic.
Montezuma consumed fifty cups of this chocolate drink per day. Now, that's what I call a chocoholic! So call me Xocoatl from now. What makes you a chocoholic?
Love everything chocolate? Check out Flowers & Gift Basket Ideas … edible gifts, edible bouquets and not-so-edible flowers, and more ...
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