A Brief Account of the History of
Chocolate
It's known that the Aztecs and Mayans created a drink made
from the beans of the cacao tree. They called the beverage
cocoatl. In 1528, the conquering Spanish brought the concoction
known as chocolate (cho-co-LAH-tay) back to Spain. In 1615,
chocolat (sho-co-LAH) debuted at a royal wedding in France.
From there, it made its way to England in 1662 as chocolata.
In 1765, chocolate was introduced to the US by John Hanan. He,
with the help of Dr. James Baker refined the first batch in
Dorchester Massachusetts. Later, the first chocolate factory in
the United States was established.
Ever Wonder How Chocolate is
made?
It all begins on a plantation within 2 degrees of the equator.
1 cacao tree, planted in the shade of a larger tree, will produce
5 pounds of chocolate per year (each seedling takes 5-8 years
to mature, so starting a plantation can take a while).
At harvest time, plantation works gather, split and dry the
cacao beans until they have reached a moisture content of only
7%. The average harvest requires 400 fermenting trays, 50
long-handled pod whoppers, 25 machetes, and a lot of burlap.
The dried pulp and other debris is removed from the beans. The
beans are then sorted, selected and roasted. The outer shell is
removed and the nibs are left to be crushed by a mill. The heat
generated liquefies the pulp, resulting in what is referred to as
“chocolate mass”. This mass is then sweetened and
cooled into bricks to be used by chocolatiers like Stephany's
Chocolates.
