Timeline of chocolate.

First grown

1500 BCE

The Olmec Indians are believed to be the first to grow cocoa beans as a domestic crop. Cacao trees have grown wild for possibly 10,000 years.

The Mayans

300 BCE

The consumption of cocoa beans is restricted to the Mayan society’s elite, in the form of an unsweetened cocoa drink made from the ground beans.

Earliest cocoa plantations

600

The Maya migrated into northern regions of South America and Mesoamerica, establishing the earliest known cocoa plantations in the Yucatan

Goddesses

800

Ancient Mexicans believe that Tonacatecutli, the goddess of food, and Calchiuhtlucue, the goddess of water, are guardian goddesses of cocoa. Each year they perform human sacrifices for the goddesses, giving the victim cocoa at his last meal.

Adding spices

1200

The Aztecs called it cacahuatl, meaning warm or bitter liquid. Xocolatl is flavored with local spices, including chilli, cinnamon, musk, pepper and vanilla, and thickened with cornmeal. Then frothed in a bowl with a molinillo and served at room temperature.

Cacahuatl popularity

1300

Cacahuatl becomes popular among the Aztec upper classes. The Aztecs see cacao as a gift of the plumed serpent god Quetzalcoatl, the god of light.

Hernan Cortez

1500

Spanish explorer Hernan Cortez builds a cocoa plantation to “grow money” in the name of Spain, beginning a Spanish cocoa monopoly that lasts two centuries

Secret of chocolate

1528

Monks, hid it away in Spanish monasteries, they were appointed as the processors of the cocoa beans to keep chocolate a secret for nearly another century.

Meaning of Chocolate

1560

The word “chocolate” supposedly translates to the Spanish word chocol, meaning “hot,” and the Aztec atl, meaning “water,” to produce chocolatl. The proper pronunciation of tl is “te.”

Sweetening chocolate

1585

Mexicans are the first to sweeten chocolate with honey, cinnamon and cane sugar, making the drink popular.

Spread of chocolate

1600

From Spain, chocolate spreads to Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The word of chocolate further spreads throughout Europe.

Medicinal properties

1653

Chocolate was found as having largely medicinal properties. The first official statement about chocolate was made by Bonavontura Di Aragon, describing the use of chocolate as stimulating the healthy functioning of the spleen and other digestive functions.

Therapeutic properties

1675

It was believed it to have therapeutic properties but because the taste is unpalatable, it was boiled the beans in milk and sugar, creating the first milk chocolate drink—“hot cocoa.” The recipe was bought back to England and was sold to an apothecary who markets the product as “milk chocolate.”

Steam engines

1795

Dr. Joseph Fry of Bristol, England, employs a steam engine to grinding cocoa beans, an invention that leads to the manufacture of chocolate on a large factory scale. 

Production of cacao

1810

Venezuela is producing half the world’s cacao, and one-third of all chocolate products produced in the world are being consumed by the Spanish

Eating chocolate

1847

Francis Fry, then head of the firm J.S. Fry & Sons, discovered a way to mix some of the cocoa butter back into the dutched chocolate and adds sugar, creating a paste that can be moulded. He calls this “eating chocolate”. Cadbury brothers are selling a similar product two years later.

Americans

1851

The first time that Americans are introduced to bonbons, chocolate creams, hard candies and caramels. Daniel Peter accidentally came across the idea of making milk chocolate, using condensed milk.
The milk had then been perfected by his neighbour Henri Nestlé, a food scientist. Daniel Peter and Henri Nestlé form the Nestlé Company, which later becomes the world’s largest producer of chocolate.

Hershey Chocolate

1900

Milton Hershey creates a model factory town town called Hershey ville dedicated to the production of chocolate. The specialty is the Hershey Kiss.

White chocolate

1930

Nestlé made the first white chocolate, named Galak, although, it was called different names, such as Milky bar or Alpine White, in different countries.

Exotic flavours

2000

Exotic spices such as saffron, curry and lemongrass are commonly found in chocolate, as are everyday kitchen foods such as basil, goat cheese and olive oil.