History of Chocolate

The term chocolate is drawn from the Mexican native Nahuatl language. The influence of Mayan language cannot be ignored either. According to popular theory, the word ‘xocolatl’ in Nahuatl is the derivative from ‘xocolli’ that means bitter and ‘atl’ that refers to water. The Aztecs used to devour a drink called ‘Xocolatl’. The drink was linked with the Mayan God of fertility. According to Mexican philologist Ignacio Davila Garibi, Spaniards who took the Maya word ‘chocol’ and replaced the Maya term for water, ‘haa’ with the Aztec word ‘atl’, had coined the term chocolate. In more recent times, linguists Karen Dakin and Soren Winch Mann have come to the conclusion that the name ‘chicolati’ rather than ‘chocolati’ has been found in many parlances of Nahuatl. Many other languages of Mexico such as Zapotec, Mixtec and Popoluca and even languages spoken in the Philippines have borrowed this form of word. The frothing or beating sticks, which are used even nowadays in some spheres of cooking, are referred to in the word ‘chico-li’. As chocolate was initially doled out ceremonially with individual beater sticks, there is little doubt about the fact that the original form of the word was ‘chicolati’. The term ‘chicolear’, in many regions of Mexico, means ‘to beat or stir’.

The chocolate deposit found in an ancient Maya drinking vessel implies that drinking chocolate was prevalent among the Mayans as long as 2600 years ago. Chocolate was consumed in a bitter and zesty drink known as ‘xocolatl’ in the new world and was often used to ward off weariness. Throughout the pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, chocolate was hailed as a major delicacy. Although Christopher Columbus brought back some cocoa beans for Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, Herman Cortes largely introduced it to the inhabitants of Europe. In 1585, the first shipment of chocolate to the old world was from Vera Cruz to Seville. As the taste enhanced with each passing year, the European upper classes had labeled it as a luxury item by the end of the 17th century. In the 18th century, Doret invented the first form of chocolate bar. From 1826, Pierre Paul Caffarel sold it in large amounts. F.L. Cailler opened the first Swiss chocolate factory in 1819.

In 1828, the technique of taking out the fat from cocoa beans and the production of powdered cocoa and cocoa butter was patented. The man behind this, Coenraad Johannes van Houten, also developed the so-called Dutch process of treating chocolate with alkali for removing the bitter taste. In 1847, Englishman Joseph Fry prepared the first chocolate bar for consumption. 2 years later, the Cadbury brothers arrived on the scene. In 1875, Daniel Peter introduced milk chocolate to the market. Henri Nestle assisted him in removing the water content from milk to prevent mildewing.