cacao

It was Christopher Columbus who got a taste for a chocolate drink in Nicaragua and was so impressed he took some beans back with him and gave them to the king of Spain. It was a closely guarded secret until 1519 when a conqueror was given a taste of the drink and realised this was something that should be shared. He promptly turned some beans over to Spanish monks who began perfecting the technique of roasting and grinding and it was these monks who first began introducing sugar, which they found improved the taste drastically. Not surprisingly, the mix became a huge hit and this was Europe’s first introduction to the world of chocolate, as we know it today. While chocolate was first introduced to the Spanish court after the voyage of Columbus to the new world, it was some time before chocolate became known throughout Europe. By the early 1600’s, trade routes between Europe and the new world were well enough established that shipping large quantities of cocoa beans to Europe became feasable. In 1606, an italian explorer named Carletti introduced cocoa to Italy, still in the liquid form containing hot peppers and spices. From there, the drink quickly spread to the aristocratic societies of Germany and Austria. Chocolate, in any form, was still to much of an expensive South American luxury to be consumed by the working class. Around this time, chocolate was introduced to southern France by spanish clergy. It did not find its way directly to the commoners, however, instead being confined to the monastaries for some time. Chocolate was introduced to the french court no later than 1660, with the marriage of Maria Theresa of Spain to Louis XIV. Maria took with her a maid specifically to make chocolate for her. The spread of chocolate from the french court to the rest of french high society took no more than a few years. By 1687 there were at least three chocolate makers in Paris, selling their hand-made wares in their own shops, and by 1692 french wine merchants were complaining that chocolate (along with tea and coffee) was cutting into their business. In England, the first evidence of chocolate’s presence comes from a printed advertisement in 1657, announcing that chocolate could be had at Bishopsgate in London. Chocolate seems to have spread quickly through England. Just five years later in 1662, the king’s doctor Henry Stubbe wrote a book praising the beneficial qualities of chocolate, called The Indian Nectar. Stubbe writes in the book that chocolate had spread as far as Turkey and Persia (modern day Iran).