History of chocolate

Where and when did the magic begin?...

Thousands of years ago is the answer, in

the ancient Maya and

Aztec civilizations of Central America.

Cocoa trees grew wild in the jungle, and they used them to make a spicy, rather bitter drink for special occasions. Centuries later the Aztec Empire fell, and the Conquistador Hernan Cortés brought cocoa beans back across the ocean to Spain.

Gradually chocolate spread across Europe – it was the fashionable choice of Kings and Queens, the nobility and the rich, just like caviar or champagne today. At the end of the 19th Century milk was added, and at last someone devised a way of making chocolate to eat as well as to drink. But it wasn’t until the 20th century that chocolate became affordable for everyone.

So chocolate has been on an epic journey, but its popularity is enduring: prized once by Aztec warriors and today by millions of people around the world.

Cocoa and civilisation maya.

Ever wished chocolate grew on trees? Well it does! Cocoa trees grew wild in the Amazon and tropical rain forests of Central and South America for thousands of years – way before it ever reached us in Europe.

Cocoa beans were prized by the Maya Indians as far back as 600 AD. They roasted the beans, and added chilli and other spices to make a drink called ‘xocoatl’. It wasn’t much like our drinking chocolate though.

The Mayan drink ‘xocoatl’ means “Bitter Water.”

Mayan Indians lived in what’s now Southern Mexico, the tropical Yucatan Peninsula. At first they harvested cocoa beans from wild trees in the rainforest. Then they started growing their own trees by clearing bits of the forest – which shows how important cocoa was to them.

They didn’t only drink the cocoa, they used it as currency too. Here’s an idea of what it was worth:

4 cocoa beans could buy a pumpkin
10 could buy a rabbit
100 could buy a slave

And merchants used cocoa beans to trade for cloth, jade and ceremonial feathers. Just think, if someone hadn’t invented coins and notes, you could have been going to the shops with a pocketful of cocoa beans instead!

Like money and jewellery these days, cocoa beans were valuable and were given as gifts at religious ceremonies and other important occasions.

‘Cocoa fruits were used at festivals for Ek Chuah, the merchant god’.

So how did these ancient people get their cocoa beans from one place to another? With no horses, pack animals or wheeled carts in Central America, instead farmers would travel along the rivers by canoe, or strap big baskets to their backs.  Wealthy merchants would employ porters, and could travel further with their cocoa beans – as far as the Aztec kingdom.

Chocolate spreads across Europe and Recipes

The conquistador Hernan Cortés was the first European to realise cocoa beans were valuable – but someone had brought them back before him. Christopher Columbus stole some from a Mayan trader and brought them over between 1502-1504. He knew they were worth something, but didn’t understand what they were or what to do with them.

Cortés knew better, and brought them to Spain in 1528. Because cocoa beans were in short supply, chocolate was top secret in Spain for 100 years and the only people allowed to process cocoa beans were monks. They added cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar – leaving out the chilli that the Aztecs liked – and realised it was nicer served warm.

The rest of Europe was still in the dark. English and Dutch sailors had found cocoa beans in captured Spanish ‘treasure’ ships coming back from the New World, but they didn’t know what they were and threw them overboard, angry that they’d wasted their time. Some of them thought they were sheep’s droppings!

Guillermo Montoya Vázquez.
7°B

Chocolate Recipes


Baileys Souffle with Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients:

Chocolate Sauce:

1 cup whole milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 large egg yolks
1 whole large egg
3 tablespoon superfine granulated sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur (or to taste)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for dusting ramekins
5 large egg whites, at room temperature.1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 bars (1.5 ounces each) Godiva Dark Chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.


Baileys Soufflé:

1 cup whole milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 large egg yolks
1 whole large egg
3 tablespoon superfine granulated sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur (or to taste)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for dusting ramekins
5 large egg whites, at room temperature



Make Sauce:

1. In medium saucepan, combine milk, cream, sugar and butter and bring to gentle boil over medium-high heat.2. Remove from heat and add chocolate.  Let stand for 30 seconds to melt chocolate; whisk until smooth.  Whisk in vanilla extract.  (Sauce may be
stored, covered, in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  Re-warm in saucepan over low heat before using.)

Make Soufflé:

1. Place milk in medium saucepan.  Using paring knife, scrape interior of split vanilla bean to remove tiny vanilla bean seeds. Add seeds and pod to milk.  Over medium-high heat, bring milk to gentle boil.  Remove from heat and remove vanilla bean pod, discard. 

2. In medium bowl, whisk together 2 egg yolks, 1 whole egg, and superfine sugar until well combined and lightened in color.  Whisk in flour and cornstarch until blended.  Gradually whisk in hot milk. 

3. Return entire mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and starts to boil.  Allow mixture to boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and transfer to medium bowl.  Place bowl in larger ice bath and whisk mixture until completely cool.  Whisk in Baileys Cream Liqueur.

4. Position oven rack in center of oven.  Heat oven to 325°F.  Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat.  Evenly brush interior of six 5-ounce ramekins with thin layer of melted butter.  Lightly dust buttered surfaces with sugar.

5. With an electric mixer, beat egg whites at high speed until soft peaks form.  Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff and glossy peaks form.  

6. Gently fold meringue into cooled egg mixture in 1 cup additions.  Spoon mixture into ramekins, filling them almost to the top.  Smooth top surfaces with a small, offset metal spatula or back of spoon to level.  

7. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes, until soufflés have risen about 2-inch above rim and are lightly browned.  Serve immediately with chocolate sauce generously poured into center of each warm soufflé.

Frozen Peppermint Soufflé

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
8 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 cup finely crushed peppermint candies or candy canes
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup Godiva Liqueur

Crushed peppermint candies or candy canes for garnish

1. Fold waxed or parchment paper strips lengthwise and spray with vegetable cooking spray. Secure around six 6-ounce ramekins to make 2-inch collars, using tape. Place ramekins on a baking sheet.

2. Combine sugar and water in saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves. Raise heat to medium-high and boil syrup without stirring for 8 minutes or until it registers 240°F. on candy thermometer. When temperature reaches 230°F., start preparing the egg yolks.

3. Beat egg yolks in mixing bowl for 2 to 3 minutes or until well blended and slightly thickened, using electric mixer at medium-high speed.

4. Gradually add hot syrup in a slow stream and beat for 5 to 8 minutes or until mixture is thick and completely cool. Beat in peppermint extract. Fold in peppermint candies.

5. Whip cream and Godiva Liqueur in mixing bowl until it forms soft peaks, using electric mixer at medium-high speed. Stir one-fourth of whipped cream into egg yolk mixture to lighten it. Gently fold in remaining cream. Spoon mixture into prepared ramekins. Freeze until firm, about 4 hours or overnight.