S4C - DUDLEY

CHOCOLATE

With Christmas fast approaching we'll all be thinking of food, wine and of course chocolate, and it's chocolate which provides the subject for this programme. Joining Dudley is Sara Gibbard -Jones, a freelance product developer specialising in chocolate. Together they visit London, Belgium and New York in search of the best chocolate in the world.

Recipes

ABOUT CHOCOLATE

THE HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE

The mere thought of indulging in a bar or even a piece of chocolate causes most (if not all!) of us to salivate. However, the vast majorities of people who regularly indulge their sweet tooth and satisfy their cravings are unaware of the origins of chocolate and how it came to dominate confectionery industries all across the globe.

The earliest record of chocolate dates back thousands of years when high temperatures, rainfall and humidity began combining to provide an ideal climate for the cultivation of chocolate in its plant form – the Cacao tree.
Prior to the Aztecs, the Cacao tree was worshipped by the Mayan civilisation, believing that it was divine in origin. Cacoa is an ancient Mayan word meaning ‘god food’ hence the generic Latin name for the tree Theobrama Cacao, which means ‘food of the gods’.
The Mayans brewed a bitter-sweet drink by roasting and pounding cocoa beans with maize and capsicum peppers. The mixture was then left to ferment and was reserved for use in ceremonies and for the consumption by the wealthy and religious elite.
The Aztec version of this drink, xocolatl, was described as a finely ground, soft, foamy, reddish, bitter with chilli water, aromatic flowers, vanilla and wild bee honey. This chocolate drink was then whisked until frothy and served cold.
Considered as a luxury and aphrodisiac, large quantities of xocolatl, or chocolat as it became known, were consumed by the Aztecs. So much so in fact that the Aztec Emperor, Montezuma, was reported to have consumed around 50 jars of chocolate per day!
Cocoa was also considered by the Aztecs to be a commodity of substantial value and was often used as a form of currency. Indeed, it was mentioned that a good slave could be bought for approximately 100 beans! Cocoa beans were even held in greater esteem than precious metals such as gold and silver.
Cocoa trees were not found on the high altitudes surrounding the Aztec kingdom and thus the beans were generally acquired through tributes (taxes), trade and the spoils of war.
The first record of cocoa coming to Europe is when Christopher Columbus returned from his fourth visit to The New World between 1502 and 1504.
At first the cocoa beans were regarded only as a botanical interest and it’s genuine use remained unknown for a number of years. The neglect was due to the excitement surrounding all the many other treasures Columbus had brought back.
It wasn’t until the Spanish Conquistadors landed in Mexico and pillaged the Aztec kingdom in 1519, led by Don Hernan Cortes, that the commercial value of cocoa was realised.
Cortes returned to Spain in 1528 with galleons loaded with cocoa beans and equipment to make the chocolate drink. It wasn’t long before the Spanish replaced the ‘bitter’ ingredients with cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar to sweeten. Additionally, they learnt that the drink tasted even better when served hot.
So scarce was the supply of cocoa beans that the Spanish kept their chocolate drink recipe a secret for nearly a century. On capturing Spanish vessels returning with supplies of beans, English and Dutch sailors failed to recognise their worth by mistaking them for sheep’s droppings and threw them overboard.
The Spanish opened factories that ground the roasted beans into chocolate powder and, by maintaining complete secrecy, exported it across Europe where it inevitably became popular.