Discovery of Chocolate

Christopher Columbus was the first to discover the cacao bean on the voyage to the New World. It was in 1502 when it was found, but was not until years later when Europe turned the cacao beans into xocolatl (bitter water). The cacao beans were thought to be given to humans by the gods. Chocolate was thought to spread geographically and then socially. Chocolate was likely to spread to France by the Spanish monks. The beans were also used as a form of currency for the Aztecs, a days wage for a porter would be 100 beans. The English picked up chocolate from raiding spanish ports, and Diplomats passed it on to Italy, Australia, and then Northern Europe. The Dutch especially liked chocolate and encouraged the trade of it. The secrets of chocolate took about 140 years to come all the way out of Spain.

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