| Athena Review Vol.2,
no.2
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A Brief History of Chocolate, Food of the Gods | | | | |
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Of
the many agricultural wonders produced in the New World, few ultimately
proved as popular or as sweet as chocolatl. In the Aztec’s Nahuatl
language xocoatl or cacahuatl means “bitter water” (with atle or atl
for water). A related Nahuatl word, cacao (source of the English word
cocoa) refers to the bean itself, and is also used today to designate
the ever-popular hot drink made from chocolate powder. The plant’s
botanical name, Theobroma cacao, literally means “food of the gods.” To
its many devotees, chocolate is exactly that.
Europeans first
tasted chocolate in 1519 when the Aztec emperor Moctezuma greeted
Cortés and his army with a drink of chocolatl in Tenochtitlán (today’s
Mexico City). At that time, the cacao bean was ground into a paste and
mixed with spices, vanilla (Vanilla planifolia, another New World
plant), and a small amount of honey. The resulting beverage, poured
into special goblet-shaped cups from a height to create foam, was
relatively bitter but highly regarded. Primarily reserved for the
nobility in the Postclassic society of the Aztecs, Mixtecs, and their
neighbors (fig.1), it could also be drunk by other esteemed persons,
including long distance traders (pochteca) and warriors. According to
the chronicler Bernal Díaz who travelled with Cortés, the emperor
Moctezuma “was served, in cup-shaped v essels of pure gold, a certain
drink made from cacao.” After the emperor had dined, his retinue was
provided with “over two thousands jugs of cacao all frothed up...”
Fig.1:
Scene from the Nuttall Codex where a cup of foaming chocolate is
exchanged at the marriage in AD 1051 of two Mixtec nobles, 8 Deer and
13 Serpent (after Miller 1975).
Cacao beans were both a
valuable commodity, and a major form of currency and tribute payment in
the Aztec empire (AD 1376-1520), which encompassed most of Mesoamerica
when the Spaniards arrived. The twin, neighboring towns of Tenochtitlán
and Tlatelolco each had large, well-organized markets visited by all
the surrounding townspeople. Regulated by special government officials
who insured that weights, measures, and prices matched the quality of
goods, the Aztec market included both vendors of prepared chocolate
(frequently, women), and dealers of raw beans. One of the main sources
on Aztec life, the 1578-1580 Florentine Codex by Fray Bernardino de
Sahagún (1499-1590), reports in Book 10 that the seller of fine
chocolate beverages, meticulous in her preparations, produces “the
drink of nobles” infused with chili water, flowers, vanilla, and honey;
“she makes it form a head, makes it foam...” The honest cacao seller
would divide the beans into separate piles according to their origin.
Dishonest dealers, meanwhile, used various ruses to sell counterfeit
beans, artificially coloring inferior lots of cacao, or even disguising
worthless amaranth dough or avocado seeds with cacao hulls to fool
customers.
For currency the Aztecs used certain luxury
goods such as cotton cloaks, gold dust encased in quills, and most
notably, cacao beans themselves. The Spanish chronicler Bernal Díaz
reported that gold was placed in transparent tubes or goose quills
whose length and thickness established “how much so many mantles or so
many gourds full of cacao were worth...” López de Gómara, Cortés’
private secretary, states that “the most important fruit of all, which
is used for money, is one that resembles the almond, which they call
cacahuatl, and we cacao.”
Unable to grow the tropical cacao
locally at their capital in the temperate highlands of Central Mexico,
Aztec emperors incorporated a large portion of the rich cacao-producing
Pacific coastal province of Xoconochco (Soconusco) as well as other
tropical lowland areas from on the Gulf Coast from Vera Cruz and
Tabasco to Yucatán, Honduras, and El Salvador. Tribute to Tenochtitlán
from its many vassal towns are depicted on remarkable painted
manuscript known as the Codex Mendoza (fig.2). This major source of
information on Aztec tribute was composed for Don Antonio de M endoza,
who served from 1535-1550 as first Spanish viceroy of New Spain.
Written in the Aztec pictographic system by a native tlacuilo, or book
artist, with Spanish notations, the third section is on the daily
life of the Aztecsand the second contains a copy of the Tribute Roll of
Moctezuma.Fig.2: Tribute items from the Aztec Codex Mendoza. The two
left baskets show cacao mixed with maize flour. One flag stands for
twenty baskets, while feathers each represent 400 cacao beans (thus,
1600 per basket). At right are two baskets each with a symbol for 20 baskets of sage and maize
flour.
Long before the Aztec Empire, Mesoamerican lowland
civilizations including the Olmec (1150-300 BC) and Maya (200 BC-AD
1550) raised and traded cacao as a valuable commodity. Cacao was grown
both in house gardens and in plantations from Guatemala and El Salvador
on the Pacific Coast to the Chontal province of Acalán (“Place of the
Canoes”) on the Gulf coast, described in the Letters of Cortes. Along
the Candaleria river basin in present day Campeche, Acalán’s rulers
maintained large cacao plantations. The capital city of Acalán,
Itzamkanac, was visited in1524 by Cortés who saw many temples, some
dedicated to the god Ykchaua (Ek Chuah in Yucatán), patron of merchants
and cacao producers. As reported by Gómara, the lord of Acalán was a
great merchant who maintained commercial interests with the Gulf Coast,
northern Yucatán, and the Gulf of Honduras where a Chontal quarter was
located in the trading port of Nito.
Archaeological
evidence for use of cacao, while relatively sparse, has come from the
recovery of whole cacao beans at Uaxactún, Guatemala (Kidder 1947) and
from the preservation of wood fragments of the cacao tree at Belize
sites including Cuello and the Pulltrouser area (Hammond and Miksicek
1981; Turner and Miksicek 1984). In addition, analysis of residues from
the interiors of four ceramic vessels from an Early Classic period (ca.
AD 460-480) tomb at Río Azúl in northeastern Guatemala has revealed the
presence of theobromine and caffeine. As cacao is the only known
commodity from Mesoamerica containing both of these alkali compounds,
it seems likely that these vessels were used as containers for cacao
drinks. In addition, cacao is named in a hieroglyphic text on one of
the vessels - a stirrup-handled pot with an intricately locking
lid.
The cacao tree: The neotropical Theobroma genus in
the Sterculiaceae family (which also includes the African cola nut)
contains 22 species. Today, the most common of the cultivated species
is Theobroma cacao L, with two subspecies and three forms. Origins of
domesticated cacao are still in doubt, with the wild cacaos falling
into two groups. The South American subspecies spaerocarpum, has a
fairly smooth melon-like fruit. In contrast, the Mexican and Central
American subspecies cacao has ridged, elongated fruits. At some unknown
date, the subspecies T. cacao cacao reached the southern lowlands of
Mexico and was later domesticated by the Maya and other groups.
The
cacao tree is usually planted in hot and humid areas with rainfall
above 2,000 mm per year. The tree is very delicate when it is young and
must be shaded from the hot sun. For this reason, the seedlings are
planted beneath large shade trees of different species (often in the
Leguminosae family) known as “madre de cacao,” shielding the saplings
from the sun. The cacao tree, which matures at a height of 6-12 meters,
is cauliflorous, with flowers and fruit developing directly on the
trunk and the branches. The fruit ripens throughout the year, in the
form of melon-shaped pods which must be broken open to extract the
precious beans, 20-40 per pod. To process the beans, the
mucilage covering them must be removed. Cacao beans are fermented for a
number of days when first harvested, then dried in the sun. In the
areas of the world where cocoa beans are grown commercially today (West
Africa, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, and the West Indies) expanses of
drying beans on concrete patios are a common sight. Once dried, the
beans are washed and roasted, which develops the flavor and cracks the
shell. The nib or meat of the bean can then be ground into a thick
paste, commonly known as chocolate liquor of which about 53% is cocoa
butter. Further processing and refining then includes conching, or the
kneading of the heated liquor for up to 72 hours, and the addition of
various products such as sugar, milk solids, and emulsifiers.
When
Cortés returned to Spain in 1526, he may have brought several precious
cacao beans as the earliest introduction of chocolate in the Old World.
The first commercial shipment occurred in1585 when a load of beans was
sent from Veracruz to Seville. For almost 100 years, preparation of the
drink remained a Spanish secret, until it was finally introduced into
Italy in 1606, and from there into France. The beverage soon became
very popular, and chocolate houses spread all over Europe. In the
17th-18th centuries, chocolate was thought to be both nourishing and an
aid to digestion. In the late 17th century, chocolate houses appeared
in London, alongside (or identical with) already flourishing coffee
houses. Coffee/chocolate houses were often the scenes of gambling,
political intrigue and general dissipation - so much so that one scene
from Hogarth’s paintings of the “Rake’s Progress” was set in White’s
Chocolate House.
In the 18th century the idea of mixing
chocolate with milk instead of water was hit upon. Credit for this
happy invention goes to Sir Hans Sloane, personal physician to Queen
Anne. This energetic gentleman was also President of the Royal Society
and a founder of the British Museum. His secret recipe, eventually sold
to a London apothecary, at a later date was acquired by the Cadbury
brothers, whose name appears today on some of England’s most popular
chocolate bars. Chocolate is also a prime ingredient in some
quintessential American desserts - chocolate chip cookies, brownies,
chocolate ice cream, and devils food cake. And in winter time, thoughts
of childhood and snowy days make us long for a large cup of richly
satisfying, hot chocolate - the gift of the gods, invented in ancient
Mesoamerica.
(Written and researched by Randi L. Rust)
Chocolate Bibliography
Baggett, N. 1991. The International Chocolate Cookbook. New York, Stewart, Tabori & Chang.
Coe, S.D., and M. D. 1996. The True History of Chocolate. New York, Thames & Hudson.
Coggins, C. C., and O. C. Shane III (eds.). 1984. Cenote of Sacrifice. Austin, Univ. of Texas Press.
Cortés, Hernando. 1928 (orig.1519-26). Letters (tr. J. Bayard Morris). London. George Routledge & Sons.
Gómara,
Franciso López de. 1964 (orig 1552-4). Cortés: The Life of the
Conqueror by his Secretary (tr. L.B. Simpson). Berkeley, Univ. of
California Press.
Gómez-Pompa, A. , J. Salvador Flores, and M.
Aliphat Fernández. 1990. “The Sacred Cacao Groves of the Maya.” Latin
American Antiquity 1(3).
Goodbody, M., et al. 1989. Glorious Chocolate. New York, Simon & Schuster.
Hall, G. D., et al. 1990. “Cacao Residues in Ancient Maya Vessels from Rio Azul, Guatemala.” American Antiquity 55(1).
Hammond,
N., and C H. Miksicek. 1981. “Ecology and economy of a Formative Maya
site at Cuello, Belize.” Journal of Field Archaeology 8(3).
Kelley, D.H. 1976. Deciphering the Maya Script. Austin, Univ. of Texas Press.
Kidder, A.V. 1947. The Artifacts of Uaxactun, Guatemala. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. 576.
Lundell, C.L. 1937. The Vegetation of the Peten. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Pub. 478.
Ross, K. 1978. Codex Mendoza. Fribourg, Productions Liber SA.
Sahagún,
Fray Bernardino de. 1578-80. Florentine Codex (tr. C. E. Dibble &
A. J.O. Anderson). Bk 10. Santa Fe, School of American Reserach &
Univ. of Utah.
Schele, L., and M.E. Miller. 1986. The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. Fort Worth, Kimbell Art Museum.
Steggerda, M. 1931. “Physical Anthropology in Yucatan.” Carnegie Inst. Wash. Yearbook 30: 124-5.
Steggerda, M. 1931. “Results of Physical tests Given to Maya Indians in Yucatan, Mexico.” Eugenical News 16: 205-210.
Stuart, D. 1988. “The Rio Azul Cacao Pot.” Antiquity 62.
Turner,
B.L. II, and C.H. Miksicek. 1984. “Economic Plant Species Associated
with Prehistoric Agriculture in the Maya Lowlands.” Economic Botany 38:
179-193.
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