Chocolate Meltdown

A bean a beverage a bar! There’s only one food cool enough to do all three. I’m talking about chocolate of course! Follow chocolate’s journey as it makes its way from the plantation to your palate.

When Money Grew on Trees

See money trees did exist at some point until someone went and ruined it by introducing paper! The money tree — aka the cacao tree — originated in Central America. The Mayas (who ruled the area from about 250 to 900 CE) were the first to use cocoa beans to create the world’s first version of hot chocolate. The Aztecs (who conquered the Mayas and ruled from about 1200–1500) picked up right where the Mayas left off. It’s believed that a chocolate drink has been around for about 3000 years.

The Aztecs called this concoction Xocolatl (pronounced shokolatul so it’s easy to see where we get its modern name from). But before you go lauding them for their excellence in culinary delights there’s something you gotta know. Xocolatl was very strong sharp and bitter! Ugh! It took a while before people would figure out that adding sugar and milk takes cocoa to the next level.

The Mayas and Aztecs loved their “xoco” so much that they used cacao beans as currency. A document from 1545 gives some prices: one small rabbit = 30 cacao beans; one turkey egg = 3 cacao beans; one good turkey hen = 100 full cacao beans or 120 shrunken ones; one newly picked avocado = 3 cacao beans; one fully ripe avocado = 1 cacao bean; one large tomato = 1 cacao bean; 20 small tomatoes = 1 cacao bean…