Page 482 - Chocolate Cake Doctor

464 C H O C O L A T E C A K E G L O S S A R Y

Nuggets of Chocolate History

hocolate has progressed from a for early chocolate was consumed only
C primitive potion enjoyed by Aztec as a beverage.
royalty, to a luxurious drink sipped solely
• Chocolate’s popularity, mostly as a
by wealthy Europeans, to a mainstream
beverage, swept across Europe, but
foodstuff enjoyed by ordinary people.
only after the Spanish added sugar to
Whether chocolate appears in the form
it to make it more palatable.
of baking cocoa, or in a cake mix, or in a
milk chocolate candy bar, it transports • In 1657 chocolate was introduced into
the eater to someplace sublime. England as a beverage, served in a
Here are a few interesting notes about “chocolate house.” It was only afforded
chocolate’s colorful history: by the wealthy, and it was said to be
so expensive that it was like “drinking
• It was first brought to Europe in 1528
money.”
by the Spanish explorer Hernando
Cortez, who had learned about choco ate • The first American chocolate factory
l
from the Aztecs in Mexico—specifically was opened in 1764 near Dorchester,
Emperor Montezuma, who reportedly Massachusetts, by Irish-American
downed goblets of frothy drinking John Hannon and his business
chocolate laced with dried chile pep - partner, Dr. James Baker.
pers. The Aztecs ground the cacao
• In 1828 Dutch chocolate maker Conrad
beans with corn kernels and seasoned
J. van Houten patented a method for
them with vanilla, honey, flower petals,
pressing the fat from roasted cacao
chiles, and other spices. Christopher
beans. The pressed mass was dried and
Columbus is said to have brought back
then ground into cocoa powder, the
the first cacao beans, from his fourth
forerunner of our instant cocoa. He
visit to the New World, but they were
found that by adding cocoa butter to
overlooked in favor of other treasures.
the ground cocoa, along with some
• The word “chocolate” is Mexican (from sugar, the mixture could be molded
the Mayan and Nahuatle languages) in and cooled in forms. Voilà! Chocolate
origin. It refers to “water” and “foam,” candy.