Chocolate is made from roasted cocoa beans. Cocoa trees san reach 12 metres of height and each pod yields 25 and 40 seeds. Chocolate, both sweet and bitter, is fascinating. The cocoa beans were first cultivated in South America and they are widely planted in the Caribbean and the equatorial area nowadays.
The Maya Indians first grew cocoa trees and made chocolate drinks from ground cocoa beans. The drinks were served only at ceremonies such as weddings, funerals or when a child was born.
Later, the aztecs recognizes the value of cocoa beans in exchange of goods. For example, three cocoa could buy a slave. Cocoa beans were regarded as a gift from God. People believed that they became wiser and more powerful after eating cocoa beans.
Cocoa beans were taken from Spain by Hernando Cortez in sixteenth century. Then the practice of drinking chocolate spread across Europe, but it was restricted among the aristocrats only. Most people believed that chocolate had magic power and some even thought that it was an aphrodisiac. Chocolate is very popular and is widely served in restaurant and sold in gift shops nowadays.
COCOA BEAN
