Chocolatology

History of Chocolate

1500-400 BC-Birth of the Cocoa Tree

Olmecs occupied a tropical Area in Central America on the Gulf of Mexico where the conditions were ideal for the cocoa tree and are the earliest known cocoa plantations were cultivated

600 AD- New Cocktail- At firs the white fruit of the cocoa pod was initially sought by the Mayans of South America. They discovered that grinding the seeds and mixing it with water produced a greater treat. They called this cocktail, “ cacahuati”

1000-1200 AD- The new currency. Cocoa beans were so valued that the people of central and South America began to use them as currency. The Aztecs used the beans to trade for goods and called the ritual beverage made from the beans, spices and water “xocolatl” The word chocolate was derived from. This cocktail was reserved for nobility and priests who believed it had a restorative and aphrodisiac power

So it Begins

1519-Hernando Cortez is

the New World explorer who is credited with recognizing the

potential of cocoa beans. When his quest for riches

turned up empty he turned to the cocoa beans seeing how it was being used. He realized that money was being grown

on trees and established cocoa plantations

1528- Cortez eventually took

the cocoa beans back to Spain and the

Spanish enthusiastically embraced it .

They change the Aztec formula removing the

spices out of the cold beverage

and replacing it with cane sugar, orange blossom

water, anise, almond and cloves and

served it hot

The New World discovery

1606- The Spanish kept their discovery a secret for a over a century until a Italian merchant, Antonio Calretti told the world of the Spanish Discovery and broke the Spanish monopoly of the chocolate trade

They word spread even faster in 1615 when Anna a Spanish Princess married Louis XIII of France and introduced to the French court. It soon become a status symbol and was drank by the aristocracy of Europe. High taxes on chocolate kept this pleasure to only the elite.

The Secret is out

1712- Chocolate comes to America; Boston Apothecary shops are selling chocolate from Europe

1697- The mayor of Zurich Heinrich Escher brought chocolate home from his many European trips

1674- London bakers began adding cocoa to their cakes and chocolate was now available in a solid form

1657- The first chocolate shop for drinking and socializing opened. Chocolate was being enjoyed by all levels of society

And we’re off….

1728 – In Europe factories begin to appear using the

same labor intensive methods to grind and churn

chocolate developed by the Spanish centuries

before

1753-The cocoa bean tree is given

the technical name Theobroma Cocoa, literally translated

to “food of the gods” by the

Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeeus

The Stats-in 1810 Venezuela

produced one half of all of the cocoa beans and

the Spanish consume one third of worlds

cocoa production

Production begins

1819- The first sophisticated chocolate factory was founded in

Corsier, Switzerland by Francois-Louis Cailier. The first commercially solid eating chocolate was finally available. Callier

Chocolate is still in existence today

1830-1845 Factories are popping up all over Switzerland trying to keep up demand. Innovations such a hazelnut

chocolate are produced

1849- Cadbury introduces the first box of small

chocolates

1875 Swiss Chocolate maker Daniel Peter , married to Fanny Cailier, solved the challenge of adding milk to

chocolate creating a new sensation Swiss Milk Chocolate

Chocolate as we know it

1879, Rodolphe Lindt opened an

chocolate factory in Berne, Switzerland. He developed the

process of conching refining chocolate the

process of making chocolate into a smooth textured

chocolate that melted on the tongue. He

borrowed and refined this technique from

his brother Randolph a pharmacist

1900 -Milton Hershey sold his first Hershey bar in Pennsylvania

using mass production techniques

allowing to make the bar less

expensive and appealing to the mass consumer

1913-The first

filled chocolate

were created by Sechaud

Fils in Montreaux

, Switzerlan

d

Milk Chocolate

1930- truffles bon bons and

chocolate bars, molded and

sculpted chocolate populate

chocolate shops world wide

1934- White Chocolate was developed in

Switzerland as a way of using excess cocoa

butter that was by product of the manufacturing of

chocolate

Present day

Source:Des Alpes Methodology-2006 Albert Uster Imports