The History of Chocolate: From Mesoamerica to the World

The food of the gods was born in Mexico

Before Lindt bars, Belgian chocolates or Nestlé cocoa powder existed, chocolate was a sacred Mesoamerican drink reserved for priests, warriors and nobility. Its history begins more than 4,000 years ago in the tropical jungles of what is today southern Mexico and Guatemala, where the first Mesoamerican peoples discovered that the seeds of the cacao tree could be transformed into something extraordinary.

The word "chocolate" comes from the Nahuatl xocolātl, possibly from xococ (sour/bitter) and atl (water). That etymology tells us a lot: the original chocolate was not sweet. It was a bitter, spiced, often spicy drink, completely different from the chocolate we know today.

The Olmecs: the first chocolatiers

The oldest evidence of cacao use dates to the Olmec civilisation (1500 BC) on the Gulf coast of Mexico. Remains of theobromine (the active compound of cacao) found in Olmec vessels confirm that this civilisation was already processing and consuming cacao 3,500 years ago.

The Olmecs probably consumed cacao in a more primitive way - perhaps the sweet pulp surrounding the seeds inside the pod, fermented to produce an alcoholic drink. The process of toasting, hulling and grinding the cacao seeds to make a paste would come later.

The Maya: the ceremonial drink

The Maya took cacao to another level. For them, cacao was a gift from the god Kukulkán (the Feathered Serpent) to humanity. The cacao drink (kakaw in Mayan) was central to religious ceremonies, weddings, funerals and political negotiations.

The Mayan preparation was elaborate: the cacao seeds were toasted, hulled, ground on a metate (grinding stone) into a paste and dissolved in hot water. To this was added chilli, vanilla, achiote (for red colour) and sometimes honey from the melipona bee (a stingless bee native to Yucatán).

The most prized feature was the foam. The Maya poured the drink from one vessel to another from a height to create a foamy layer - the foam was considered the most valuable and spiritual part of the drink. Mayan vessels decorated with scenes of chocolate pouring are some of the most beautiful works of art of Mayan civilisation.

The Aztecs: currency and power

For the Aztecs, cacao was not only food and drink - it was currency. Cacao seeds were used as money throughout the empire: a tomato cost one cacao bean, an avocado three, and a slave around 100. Counterfeiting cacao beans (filling empty husks with clay) was a serious crime.

The emperor Moctezuma II supposedly consumed 50 cups of xocolātl a day, served in gold cups. The Aztec drink was more complex than the Mayan: in addition to chilli and vanilla, it could contain magnolia flowers, allspice, sapote seeds and even hallucinogenic mushrooms in ceremonial contexts.

Aztec warriors received tablets of compacted cacao paste as a field ration - an energetic food, light to carry and highly calorific. It is, literally, the first "energy bar" in history.

The Spanish conquest and the journey to Europe

When Hernán Cortés arrived at Moctezuma's court in 1519, he tried xocolātl and was impressed, although the bitter, spicy version did not delight him. The Spanish made a crucial modification: they added cane sugar. This simple change transformed chocolate from a bitter ceremonial drink into an accessible sweet pleasure.

Chocolate arrived in Spain around 1528 and for almost a century was a Spanish secret. The Hieronymite monks were the first to produce chocolate in Europe, in their monasteries. The Spanish court adopted it with passion - it is said that 16th-century Spanish nobles were addicted to hot chocolate.

From Spain, chocolate spread to Italy, France, England and the rest of Europe. Each country adapted it: the French refined it, the Swiss invented milk chocolate (1875), the Dutch developed cocoa powder (1828) and the English created the first solid chocolate bar (1847).

Mexican chocolate today

While Europe industrialised chocolate, Mexico kept its artisanal tradition. Modern Mexican chocolate remains faithful to its roots in many ways:

Table chocolate

The tablets of Mexican table chocolate (brands such as Abuelita, Ibarra or Mayordomo) are made with cacao, sugar and cinnamon - sometimes with ground almond. They are grainy (not smooth like European chocolate) because the grinding is deliberately rustic. They are dissolved in hot milk to make hot chocolate and whisked with a wooden molinillo to create the foam the Maya so valued.

Oaxacan chocolate

Oaxaca is the capital of Mexican artisanal chocolate. In the Mercado 20 de Noviembre in the city of Oaxaca, you can watch them grind the cacao in front of you on stone mills, mixing it with the proportions of sugar, cinnamon and almond you choose. Each family has its recipe. Oaxacan chocolate is more rustic, more intense and more aromatic than the industrialised kind.

Champurrado

Champurrado is a thick drink of chocolate with corn masa (chocolate atole). It is one of the most comforting drinks in Mexico: creamy, dense, with a flavour of cacao, cinnamon and corn. It is drunk especially in winter and during the Christmas posadas.

How to make Mexican hot chocolate in Spain

It is surprisingly easy and the result is incomparably better than any instant cocoa:

• Option 1 - With a tablet: Buy an Abuelita or Ibarra chocolate tablet in Mexican shops. Heat a litre of milk (do not boil), break the tablet into pieces and dissolve it, stirring constantly. Whisk with a balloon whisk until frothy. Serve hot.
• Option 2 - From scratch: Heat 1 litre of milk. Add 100g dark chocolate (70% cacao), 2 tablespoons sugar, a cinnamon stick and a pinch of powdered chilli de árbol (optional). Stir until dissolved. Whisk to make foam. The touch of chilli transforms the experience - it does not burn, it just adds warmth.

Cacao as an ingredient in Mexican cooking

Chocolate is not only for drinking. In Mexican cooking it appears as an ingredient in:

• Mole poblano and mole negro: The chocolate adds depth and a subtle bitterness that balances the chillies and spices.
• Mole coloradito: A touch of chocolate at the end of cooking.
• Encacahuatado: A peanut sauce with a little chocolate.
• Manchamanteles: Some versions have a small piece of chocolate.

In all these cases, the chocolate does not sweeten - it acts as a flavour bridge that unites the chillies, the spices and the acidic ingredients into a harmonious whole.

"Chocolate is Mexican. Everything else is a version." - Popular saying

Explore our chocolate recipes to discover how this ancestral ingredient enriches sweet and savoury dishes. Find authentic Mexican chocolate in our recommended shops and try moles with chocolate in Mexican restaurants that honour this age-old tradition.