The charms of Chocolate

How did cacao evolve into what we know as chocolate today?

The moment it was mixed with sugar still remains a mystery. Sugar cane was brought from the East by Marco Polo and then transplanted to Jamaica, but from there...

What are the historic origins of cacao consumption?

Mesoamerican civilizations report such consumption, but in a totally different form from ours. Cacao appears there as a generator of force or power, as humoral medicine did in other civilizations. The cacao tree is a tropical plant living in shade in the wetlands of the Orinoco. Monkeys, who eat the sweet pulp of the fruit, are credited with the transit to the wetlands of Central America. The actual plant cultivation dates back to the conquest of New Spain by Cortés, in what is today Venezuela. The Portuguese cultivated cacao in Brazil and transplanted it to their African colonies-from São Tomé to Príncipe, to Bioko and to the Gulf. From there, the French took over its cultivation in the Ivory Coast via Ghana. It could then be found in Madagascar, Ceylon, Indonesia, Vietnam, Samoa and beyond.