Chocolate

Chocolate is a psychoactive food made from the seeds of the tropical cacao? tree, Theobroma cacao. Chocolate contains theobromine, small quantities of anandamide?, an endogenous cannabinoid? found in the brain, as well as caffeine and tryptophan?.

The Aztecs associated it with Xochiquetzal?, the goddess of fertility. In the New World, chocolate was consumed in a drink called xocoatl?, often seasoned with vanilla, [chili pepper]?, and pimento?. Xocoatl was believed to fight fatigue, a belief that is probably attributable to the caffeine content. The drink was said to be an acquired taste. [Jose de Acosta]?, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in Peru and then Mexico in the later 16th century, said:

Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant to taste. Yet it is a drink very much esteemed among the Indians, where with they feast noble men who pass through their country. The Spaniards, both men and women, that are accustomed to the country, are very greedy of this Chocolaté. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot, some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that 'chili'; yea, they make paste thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh.

Christopher Columbus brought some cocoa beans to show Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, but it remained for [Hernando de Soto]? to introduce it to Europe more broadly.

The first recorded shipment of chocolate to the Old World for commercial purposes was in a shipment from Veracruz? to Seville? in 1585. It was still served as as beverage, but the Europeans added sugar to counteract the natural bitterness, and removed the chili pepper. By the 17th century it was a luxury item among the European nobility.

In 1828, [Conrad J. van Houten]? patented a method for extracting the fat from cocoa beans and making powdered cocoa? and [cocoa butter]?. This made it possible to form the modern chocolate bar. It is believed that [Joseph Fry]? made the first chocolate for eating in 1849.

/Talk

External Links

http://www.exploratorium.edu/exploring/exploring_chocolate/