Humans Begin to Use Cacao
Cacao has been known to the natives of Central and South America for thousands of years. It is likely that cacao was first discovered by the Olmec people, who may have begun using it as either currency or food as early as 1500 BCE. By 600 CE, the Maya had cacao plantations, and historians believe that the Aztecs adopted its use around 1200 CE. However, it remained unknown to the rest of the world until Europeans came to the Americas and met the Aztecs in the 16th century.
Cacao as Tribute During the Aztec Empire
The Aztec empire was made up of groups of indigenous people who called themselves "Tenochca" or "Mexica," and spoke a language called Nahuatl. The capital of their empire was at Tenochtitlan, which is on the same site as present day Mexico City. As they Aztec empire expanded during the 14th and 15th centuries, those who lived in areas controlled by the empire were forced to pay tribute to the emperor. Much of this tribute was paid in cacao, although gold, honey, beans, chilies, maize, and human beings (for sacrifice) were also considered acceptable.
Xocolatl, the Sacred Drink
To the Aztec, cacao was a sacred gift given to man by the gods. It was particularly associated with Quetzalcoatl, who, in a story that is similar to the Greek myth of Prometheus, was banished from heaven for sharing the secret of chocolate with humans. Quetzalcoatl showed the Aztec how to grind up the cacao beans and mix them with water and spices to make a sacred drink. This highly prized beverage, known as "xocolatl," was generally consumed only by the elite, and was also used during religious ceremonies.
The Spanish Learn of Cacao
Although Columbus first saw cacao in 1502 near the island of Guanaja (he didn't know what it was, but thought that the cacao beans looked like almonds), it wasn't until Hernan Cortes came to the court of Emperor Montezuma in Tenochtitlan that Europeans paid much attention to the small, brown bean. Montezuma was credited with consuming around 50 pitchers of xocolatl each day, and the fact that he did so before visiting his harem helped to establish the idea that chocolate is an aphrodisiac. Thinking that the Spaniards were visitors from the gods, Montezuma plied them with xocolatl. Soon after, with the aid of guns and small pox, a disease previously unknown in that part of the world and which the Natives therefore had no resistance to, the Spanish conquered the Aztecs. In the subsequent years, shiploads of cacao beans were sent to the Continent--the rise of chocolate as European beverage had begun.