Imagine sitting at the desk and trying to study that difficult subject, the one that for some reason is being so strongly rejected by your brain. Does not sound very enthusiastic, right? Now, imagine doing the same thing, but at the same time taking a bite of your favorite chocolate bar, which slowly melts on your tongue filling your mouth with that delicious taste… Sounds totally different, isn’t it? Majority of people like chocolate, but only few have ever thought about how exactly this incredibly tasty treat came to be in the form we know it today. Christopher Klein, in his article The Sweet History of Chocolate, summarizes the journey of this modern delicious treat. The story of chocolate takes us back to Mexico of early 1900 BC, and at …show more content…
Later on, vanilla, chili peppers, honey and other spices were added to diversify this invigorating drink, which was extremely valuable among Aztec, Olmec and Mayan civilizations, who believed that it possessed spiritual qualities due to its mood enhancing ability. The Mayans worshiped a god of cacao, and a drink made of cacao beans was a privilege of rulers, warriors and nobles. The Aztecs liked it so much that, when in the 14th century they started to dominate Mesoamerica and were unable to cultivate cacao plants in the dry highlands of central Mexico, they used cacao beans as a currency to trade for goods with the Mayans. Spanish conquistador Herman Cortes brought cacao beans to Europe in the 1500s, were it was still consumed as a royal drink but with addition of cane sugar and cinnamon. For more than a hundred years Spain kept the chocolate drinks’ recipe a secret, until it made its way to France, when a daughter of Spanish King Phillip III got married to the French King Louis