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CACAO Theobroma cacao
Chocolate, originally consumed as a beverage we now call cocoa, is a world-wide favorite flavoring found in ice creams, candy and baked foods. It comes from the cacao, a small tropical tree of Central America. Chocolate: An Illustrated History (HFHA Coll.)
Chocolate comes from beans contained in pods that grow on the trunk as well as branches of the tree. Chocolate: An Illustrated History (HFHA Coll.)
The word "chocolate" comes from the Aztec word "xocolatl" meaning "bitter water." The Aztecs considered chocolate the food of the gods and they prepared their sacred drink with spices, not sugar, as it was unknown to them. This 19th century French poster features a variation on an Aztec word. (HFHA Coll.) Chocolate: An Illustrated History
This Aztec man is depicted with the molinillo, a kind of whisk used to mix the frothy concoction. This was introduced by the Spanish and was not used by the natives. He has a chocolate pot at his feet and below, the cacao pod and vanilla flavoring beans. (Chocolate: An Illustrated History
HFHA Coll.)
A Native American of the 16th century pours cocoa in a way that would increase its frothiness. Book of Chocolate, Anthony Wild, Harper Collins (HFHA Coll.)
Europeans quickly became passionate about drinking chocolate, too. The Spanish were the first to take it up. This detail of a large tile mural in Seville, Spain depicts Spaniards preparing cocoa with a molinillo and pot. (Chocolate: An Illustrated History
HFHA Coll.)
Later Europeans experimented with sweetening the bitter beverage with sugar and milk. Chocolate bars were once as popular as coffee bars are now. Chocolate: An Illustrated History
People take many steps to process cacao beans into natural chocolate. The beans are removed from the pod, fermented, dried, roasted, cracked, and ground to separate cocoa butter from chocolate liquor. The chocolate liquor is refined and then workers add ingredients such as milk powder, sugar, etc. Finally the chocolate is conched, a process which blends the heated batch for 12 to 72 hours. Conching removes extra moisture and acids. Finally, small amounts of cocoa butter and sometimes lecithin are added to make the mix smoother. Chocolate: An Illustrated History
Much of the world's cacao is now grown in West Africa. An African woman wears a dress made from fabric decorated with cacao pods. Chocolate: An Illustrated History
