Smile for Chocolate

Many historians have estimated that chocolate has been around for about 2000 years, but it is likely older. Anthropologists have found cacao residue in pottery dating back about 3000 years ago. The Mayans and Aztecs used cacao bean. The Mayans of Central America discovered cocoa about 900 AD. Mayans grew cacao trees and ground cacao beans to make a bitter drink that was used in ceremonies and everyday life. The drink was served hot and was popular with kings and priests. Mayan chocolate was a spicy drink that mixed ground-up cacao with chile, vanilla, and other spices. Mayans also used cacao beans as a form of money. Spanish explorers took the cacao beans back to Spain and new recipes for the drink developed including the addition of sugar and changing the texture. By the 17th century, chocolate was a popular drink throughout Europe. In 1828, a Dutch chemist named Van Houten developed a method to remove most of the cocoa butter from processed cacao, leaving a powdered chocolate. His product became known as "Dutch cocoa," and it soon led to the creation of solid chocolate. The creation of the first modern chocolate bar is credited to Joseph Fry. In 1847, Fry discovered that he could make a moldable chocolate paste by adding melted cacao butter back into Dutch cocoa. By 1868, a company called Cadbury founded by John Cadbury was marketing boxes of chocolate candies in England. Milk chocolate hit the market a few years later, pioneered by the company called Nestle which was founded by Henri Nestle in Switzerland. The Hershey company was founded by Milton Hershey in the United States in 1894.