Early History
Explore the early history of chocolate through this online display.
The Cocoa Bean
The cocoa bean, that we have come to know and love in the form of Cadbury Dairy Milk, originates from southern and central America- the regions spanning from central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. The cocoa tree has been cultivated in South America for over 4000 years.
For a long time, humans never regarded chocolate as anything but a beverage. Ancient American tribes drank chocolate - albeit slightly different from the hot chocolate powder that we buy from Tesco today.
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The Mayan and Aztec tribes were the very first consumers of the cocoa bean. Their name for the cocoa bean was xocoatl (pronounced chocolatl).
Pure cocoa straight from the bean, untamed by sugar, offers a powerfully bitter, peppery shock to the palate. Mexican chocolate was a compound of grounded cocoa bean mixed with red chilli pepper and cinnamon, achiote, vanilla and water. It was then whipped into a froth and drunk either cold or at room temperature.
Fun Fact
The native Aztec drink ‘Octli’ is a mildly alcoholic drink made from the Agave plant. As drunkenness was frowned upon in Aztec society, chocolate was the perfect replacement!
A bust and mosaic mask of the Aztec God, Quetzalcoatl. ©The British Museum
Aztecs believed in an polytheistic society; a belief in multiple gods that control different aspects of the world, similar to Roman and Greek Mythology.
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Huitzilopochtli, was the sun god and champion of war,
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Tlaloc was the God of Rain and Storms
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Tezcatlipoca was the God of Night.
One of the most beloved gods in Aztec mythology was Quetzalcoatl, a feathered serpent god, who it is claimed planted the first cocoa tree in Mexico.
Quetzalcoatl symbolized good health and wealth, the deity of wind and rain, knowledge as well as being the ;inventor' of books. Quetzalcoatl was born the son of a god and a virgin mortal, endowed with all knowledge and wisdom in the world. He came to Mexico and gave the Aztec’s their calendar, showed them how to grow maize and most importantly, brought the seed of the cocoa tree. This cocoa seed that was brought to earth by the god, was then spread by monkeys, birds and men across America. The cocoa tree became known as ‘Cacahuccuaauhuitl’.
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The cocoa tree became an incredibly valuable asset in the Aztec Empire, and considered nutritious enough to sustain a man on a long days walk!
Emperor Montezuma, ruler of the Aztec Empire (1502-1520), reportedly had over 50 personal jars of chocolate and a further 2000 for his household.
Cocoa was also used as currency!
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The daily wage of a porter in central Mexico was 100 beans, in perspective relative commodity prices in 1545 were:
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o One good turkey was worth 100 beans
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o A small rabbit was worth 30 beans
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o One turkey egg was worth 3 beans
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o An avocado newly picked was worth 3 beans
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o One large tomato was equivalent to a single cocoa bean
Cocoa use in Human Sacrifice
Aztec ritual of Human Sacrifice portrayed in the Codex Magliabechiano.
Before the sacrificial ceremony, the Aztecs would provide a cup of chocolate to the victim to drink, which would make them happy before death!
It was believed that the victim’s heart would turn into a cocoa bean after drinking the chocolate and the heart would then be torn from the body and used as a sacrificial offering. It is unknown whether they believed the heart physically turned to a cocoa bean or acted as a metaphor.
In the name of their Aztec gods, Huitzilopochtli, the sun god and Quetzalcoatl, the giver of chocolate, the Aztec's would perform human sacrifice.
When it came to human sacrifice, the Aztec’s outdid everyone!
Tearing human hearts out by the thousands.
Aztecs believed their gods sacrificed themselves to fertilize the earth and allow humans to thrive.
In return, the Aztecs repaid the gods with routine human sacrifice!
Both blood and cacao were considered sacred in Mesoamerica.
As cocoa beans were a gift from god then in return, blood must be given.
Cacao was also thought to be a ‘metaphor for the heart torn out in sacrifice’. To emphasize this point, the chocolate was sometimes dyed blood-red.
The Aztecs considered the cocoa bean to be a sacred gift from god. Continue to follow the story of the cocoa bean to find out if Europeans felt the same.
