This presentation helps to know about the history of chocolates. Reference: The Indian Express

1. The bittersweet journey of
chocolate
By
S.Faizoor Rahman,
.

2. The First Chocolate
• The first chocolate ever consumed was a liquid
concoction made from crushed cocoa beans,
chilli peppers, and water.
• Quite bitter and spicy, this Mayan version was
quite different from the rich sweetness we
know today. In fact, the word ‘chocolate’
comes from the Mayan word ‘xocolatl’ which
means ‘bitter water.’

3. Chocolate as coins
• When the Aztecs conquered the Mayans, they
were forced to pay taxes to Aztecs in the form
of cocoa.
• From food, clothes, taxes, to offerings to gods,
everything was valued in terms of cocoa
beans.
• If you had a pocket full of cocoa beans, you
were rich and prosperous.

4. Chocolate’s maiden voyage to Europe
• Spain was the first stop of chocolate in Europe. It
is reported that Spanish conqueror Hernan Cortes
was introduced to chocolate by the Aztecs of
Montezuma’s court.
• When the daughter of Spanish King Philip III wed
French King Louis XIII in 1615, she brought her
love of chocolate with her to France.
• The popularity of chocolate quickly spread to
other European courts.

5. Bitter history of sweet chocolate
• The growing chocolate mania in Europe
demanded more and more cocoa and sugar
cane to prepare it.
• Growing them was a hard and back-breaking
job, which the Europeans didn’t want to do.
• This started the brutal and horrifying
industrialized black slave trade.

6. From aristocratic abodes to humble
homes
• In 1828, Dutch chemist Coenraad Johannes
van Houten, used the machine called, the
cocoa press which was used to seperate cocoa
butter from roasted cocoa beans to easily make
the cocoa powder that could be used to make
assorted chocolates.
• This brought the divine chocolate to humble
homes as well and mass-production started.

7. Chocolate goes to town
• In 1847, British chocolate company J.S. Fry &
Sons created the first solid edible chocolate bar
from cocoa butter, cocoa powder and sugar.
• The soft, velvet-textured chocolate with
superior taste was introduced by Rodolphe
Lindt in 1879, using his conching machine.
• The early boom in the chocolate industry came
in the late 1800s and early 1900s and was
ushered in by Cadbury, Mars and Hershey.