| Chocolate |
When one thinks of chocolate they usually think of some small European nation proudly displaying all manner of foil wrapped delicacies. But in reality the world can thank Mexico for the joy that is chocolate. The Olmecs of the Gulf Coast region of Mexico, near present day Veracruz, were the first to extract chocolate from the cacao bean as early as 1500 BC. Chocolate was drunk in liquid form for over 3000 years before anyone decided to eat it. Chocolate was made by grinding dried cacao beans into a thick paste then adding hot water. It was often drunk straight or with added spices such as chiles or sweets such as fruit juices or honey. It was the Spanish who first added milk and sugar to the bitter concoction to create what we think of as chocolate today.
The cacao bean was a precious commodity in pre-colonial Mexico and was used as currency as well as drink. The Aztecs confiscated cacao beans in the form of “taxes” from conquered nations where the plant flourished. (The cacao plant is difficult to cultivate and only grows in very wet, hot tropical climates.)
Chocolate was considered a very expensive and refined drink, like a cognac. It was only used by the priviledged classes, such as royalty, nobility and warriors of the emperor on special occassions and religious feast days. Hernán Cortés was first served chocolate as a drink in 1519 from Monctezuma and it’s widely believed that the expeditions of Cortés are what first brought chocolate to Europe. In the Spanish period chocolate was considered highly addictive and its consumption was frowned upon by the church but its popularity never diminshed. European desire for chocolate was a huge driving force in the colonization of Mexico.
Solid chocolate didn’t come around until the 19th century when a Dutch chemist invented the process of separating the cocoa butter fat from the mixture. After much experimentation with ingredients the first chocolate bar was introduced in 1847 and the Europeans have ruled the chocolate bar market ever since.
Chocolate candy remains the world’s favorite confection but in Mexico it still favored as a drink. Hot chocolate mixed with milk in large steaming pots is a common site in Southern Mexican markets. The Oaxaca city market has an entire section devoted to chocolate stands. A steaming cup of chocolate, a perfect compliment to breakfast on a cool morning. Chocolate is also used in cooking to create traditional Mexican dishes, the most famous being mole. Mole is a complex sauce usually served with chicken that is central to all traditional Mexican cooking and has been since pre-hispanic times. Chocolate, although not as obvious here as in other parts of the world, is a great Mexican tradition and worth every minute of its 3500 years in the making.
January 2003
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