CHOCOLATE HISTORY

Theobroma Cacao - Food of the Gods

The following quote from the "Historia General y Natural de las Indias" (General History and Nature of the Indies) by Fernàndez de Oviedo (1535) describes where cacao originally came from according to Mayan myhthology "Cocoa was more than a simple food. It was a divine food. Quetzalcoalt, the sacred king of the Toltechi, high priest and king of Tula, was the gardener of paradise where the first men lived. From there, he brought the cacahuaquehitl or cacaotero to his country."

"The True History of Chocolate"

This is the title of a book written by Coe and Coe. The authors a husband and wife team, both Harvard academics, intended to document the definitive history of chocolate in this book (as there are many versions of the history of chocolate). Michael Coe a meso-american expert finished the book after his wife Sophie died of cancer while working on the book. For Sophie the history of chocolate was her passion and she spent hundreds of hours tracking down centuries-old manuscripts in the libraries of Europe and North America.

The coe's refer to the pre-mayan culture of Olmecs, particularly the group based in Izapa in Xoconusco (Soconusco), Mexico as the place where the criollo variety of cacao was originally domesticated by this culture sometime between 400 B.C. and A.D.100. There are still small pockets of these original heirloom varieties of criollo cacao in semi-abondoned plantations around the ruins of Izapa, just outside Tapachula in Xoconusco. The region of Xoconusco and the cacao grown there was so prominent in their account of the true history of Chocolate that the coe's referred to it as "the diamond in the crown of the Aztec empire". The adjacent map shows the boundaries of the Aztec empire and the major cacao growing regions of the time just before the spanish conquest. You will notice the Aztecs conquered the small region of Soconusco even though it was far removed from the main part of their territory, just to be able to control the prized cacao grown in the region.

We are currently working on a project with the Mayan Network of Organic Organizations in Mexico to restore this original variety of criollo cacao and the traditional system of Permaculture that the Mayans and the Olmecs before them used to cultivate this cacao. The raw cacao beans and nibs that we sell here are from Xoconusco and are the fruits of this project.

Cacao and Traditional Mesoamerican life

Cacao was considered sacred by the mayans and was the major offering in most of their ceremonies. Even though the cacao bean was central to Mesoamerican life, only the very wealthy and powerful could afford to use it. The Mayan and Aztec priests and royalty drank copious amounts of a drink made from the fermented and crushed cacao seeds. This drink was called xocoatl or "bitter water" in Nahua. Later in Europe xocoatl became "chocolate." Xocoatl was used for ceremonies and religious observances. Priests used it as a part of their prayer offerings. Kings drank it for breakfast. Marriage vows were sealed by drinking xocoatl. It was a major part of every feast. During the 15th century, Nezahualcoyotl's court in Texcoco is recorded as consuming "four xipuipillis" or 32,000 beans each day. In the market place, the beans were accepted as standard currency. On market day, three beans would purchase a turkey egg, 100 beans a slave or a dugout canoe, 65-300 beans a cotton mantle. Cacao beans continued to be used as standard currency until 1887 in Mexico.The cacao of soconusco was considered the finest, best quality cacao by the aztec royalty and the largest annual taxes of cacao were collected from this region.