If the chances of you winning one million dollars had to depend on the answer to this question, I would hesitate a few seconds before booking that terrific all-included vacation to Dubai.
We all know that the more we want to go back in history, the more uncertainty we have to deal with. And the beginning of our beloved sweet pleasure is unfortunately no exception.
However, if you can’t be perfect, that doesn’t mean that you are excused from trying your best!
Therefore,get ready to take a plane and travel to the South of the Gulf of Mexico to reach the place that first saw the use of cocoa beans for the production of chocolate!
Ladies and gentlemen, here between Mexico, Guatemala and Belize once lived the populations that first had the pleasure to taste chocolate.
More than 3000 years ago, we find here the very first civilization of the Americas, the OLMECS. And you know what? Archaeologists found traces of cacao in their ceramics. Plus, it belongs to them the first linguistic reference to cacao ever: kakawa, how they originally pronounced it.
BINGO, we found our men!! But not really….
Traces of cacao in their ceramics or the use of the word cacao doesn’t mean that they were the first one to turn cacao into chocolate. For instance, they could have just crushed the cacao beans for who knows which purpose, maybe without even eating it or drinking it. Moreover, we don’t have much material on the ancient population of the Olmecs: they left us no writings that we are able to decode and their ceramics haven’t given us any more details about their use of cocoa beans yet.
This is why it is pretty much impossible to state who, between the ancient populations, really had the pleasure to taste chocolate.
The Olmecs? Maybe. Their immediate descendants, the MAYAS? Oh yes, you can bet!
Mayas just loved chocolate, and they treated it like the food of the Gods! It was consumed only by the elite class and it had a prominent role in very special occasions like festivities, weddings, sacrifices, initiations and funerals. They had a long list of cacao products: drinks, gruels, porridges, powders, and probably solid substances, to all of which could be added a wide variety of flavorings.
Unlike the Olmecs, we have many evidences that testify the use of cacao among Mayas (dishes, bowls, vessels, vases, books). The most famous example is probably the Princeton Vase, belonging to the Late Classic Maya (c. AD 750). Here it is shown a woman pouring chocolate from one vessel to another to raise the foam, considered the most desirable part.
With the advent of the AZTECS replacing the Mayas, the “chocolate culture” grew even stronger. Aztecs were known for being great cacao traders, and for using cocoa beans as cash. For more details about the strong relationship between the Aztecs and cacao, don’t miss my article Aztecs just could not get enough.
So, going back to our question, who first turned cocoa beans into chocolate?
Surely the use of cacao and the delight of chocolate have begun at least 3000 years ago among the Mesoamerican populations that inhabited the South of the Gulf of Mexico, and it is thanks to them if we can now enjoy the food of the Gods in our everyday life.
Do you have more details to add to this story? Or do you know a different version? Share it!
I did NOT get paid and did NOT receive any kind of favor for writing this article. These are my honest opinions at your service.
Dania says
January 23, 2015 at 4:59 PMGreat Sharon!!
claudio baer says
January 25, 2015 at 7:10 AMrastros de theobromina en vasijas.vasijas con inscripciones de vocablos,nos acercan a la teoria maya,y unos pocos miles de años antes,que no es poco,a los olmecas.con rastros de serpientes dibujadas en paredes…qutzalcoatl. Este dios quetzalcoatl,(pero hecho hombre)iba a ser quien traiga el cacao sagrado a la tierra,y lo iba a compartir con su pueblo amado.el pueblo tolteca.Los otros dioses aceptan el robo de la planta,pero nunca iban a permitir el pasar el conocimiento de manera prohibida.(VER OTRAS RELIGIONES…) el enseño a los Toltecas,a plantar este arbustito arbol,cosechar,fermentar,secar,tostar,descascarillar,moler o refinar, y mezclado con agua,cocerlo o no.desgrasarlo,y asi preparar el agua amarga.xocolatl. Pero…la forma de pasar esta informacion fue la que enfurecio a los dioses.y envian a tezcatlipoca,espejo humeante a castigarlo.pero este dios ,espejo,era quien veia el corazon y qutzalcoatl quien venia solarmente a hacer.solar-lunar.mientras tanto los mayas,en su periodo clasico…si no me equivoco de fechas,realizan similares rituales.quetzalcoatl,es kukulkan,el gobierno español de las zonas mayas de guatemala,refiere en un escrito,que se ponia bijo en la barba,para que parezca sangre .. cuando tomaba chocolate,pues estos indios eran afectos a ella.Entonces tezcatlipa cobra dimensiones .hablamos del cacao,ritual,el cacao sagrado,el cacao simbolizado…como en la biblia antiguo,y nuevo testamento.
Tad Van Leer says
January 25, 2015 at 9:02 AMSharon- actually the first one to invent “chocolate” was C.J. Van Houten. The first to cultivate and use cocoa were the Olmecs. What makes “chocolate” chocolate. He pressed the butter from the chocolate liquor and made a tablet which fits the current definition of “chocolate”. Henry Peters was the first to create milk chocolate. Both these improvements occurred in the 19th century. The earlier versions were cocoa drinks not chocolate.
FYI
Sharon says
January 25, 2015 at 9:15 PMTad, thank you so much for your comment, and I have to say you are absolutely right!
I know about Coenraad Van Houten and his extraordinary invention that allowed for the first time to turn cacao into a solid form. Also about Henry Peters and how he added Nestlè’s dry milk formula to cocoa, creating milk chocolate for the first time.
In this article I wanted to focus on who first had the idea to turn cocoa beans into something edible, either to eat or to drink, to let people know how long ago it all began. But it is good you reminded me that it is better to call them “cocoa drinks” rather than “chocolate”. I appreciate you took your time to correct my mistake, and since you seem to be an expert, I really look forward to more comments from you 🙂
maria almeida says
January 26, 2015 at 5:24 PMNa verdade, Van Houten foi o primeiro a utilizar uma prensa para extrair manteiga de cacau da pasta de cacau mas não foi o inventor do chocolate. Os ingredientes principais do chocolate sólido são pasta de cacau, manteiga de cacau e açúcar. A invenção de Van Houten foi, assim, fundamental para a produção de chocolate sólido pois permitiu a obtenção de manteiga de cacau a partir da fava de cacau. Este foi apresentado pela primeira vez ao mundo pela Fry (Bristol) (Coe and Coe, The true story of the chocolate).
Jorge Chávez says
May 6, 2015 at 8:21 AMSharon, what Tad tells, is absolutely right.
But I believe you got to reach for more valuable information. Please search for info about “PALANDA” and in the FAO studies about the genetic of cacao beans and their origins.
You will be surprised.
Sharon says
May 6, 2015 at 8:43 AMThank you so much Jorge for the great sources of info you are suggesting me, I will definitely check them out! And thank you for taking the time to read and comment, I truly appreciate it. As I already told Tad in my reply to him (just scroll up and you can see it), I know well who was the one to invent chocolate. Thanks to books like “The true History of Chocolate” and “Chocolate Wars” I was able to get to know the path that brought chocolate to us since 3000 years ago. My intention was to focus on who first had the idea to turn cocoa beans into something edible, either to eat or to drink, to let people know how long ago it all began. The word “chocolate” comes from the Aztec word “chocolatl”, meaning that even the cacao drinks made by the Aztecs can be called chocolate, since they were already using that word. So, I believe that the title “Who first turned cocoa beans into chocolate?” can still be considered appropriate.