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The Golden Book of Chocolate:
A beautifully illustrated biography of chocolate with recipes and much more. Excellent gift idea. On sale now!
Death By Chocolate, Revised And Expanded
New revised version of a classic chocolate book.
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A History of Chocolate
The first uses of cacao are thought to be by the Mayan civilization in Central America from about 600BC. It was considered to be a gift from god; indeed the name cacao means god food. Later this formed the basis to the Latin name for the cacao tree ‘Theobrama Cacao’ (meaning food for the gods). As well as a drink enjoyed by Mayan society’s elite, it was used as a form of currency and also a unit of calculation.
Later the Aztecs who also held cacao in high regard, named it ‘Xocolati’ (meaning bitter water) after a drink they made by combining cacao with chillies, cornmeal and spices - Sounds tasty….?
After Hermando Cortes’s Aztec conquest, overthrowing emperor Moctezuma in 1519, the precious chocolate drink was brought to Spain. By the late 1500’s they were
adding sugar and flavourings to it.
London's first chocolate establishment was opened by a Frenchman in Bishopsgate mid 17th century. The drink now being made in a range of flavours, was expensive
and therefore the venue was only frequented by the wealthy.
By the mid 1700’s, the price of cocoa beans had fallen and the chocolate drink was now available to the wider market. Various gadgets for its preparation were arising including the first table mill for grinding the cacao beans, invented by a French inventor named Monsieur Dubuisson.
In 1765 the first American chocolate factory was set up in Dorchester Massachusetts by An Irish chocolate maker John Hanon, who imported cocoa beans from the West Indies and Dr James Baker. Together they founded the company ‘Walter Baker Chocolate.’ The term ‘baking chocolate’ is thought to have originated there.
The introduction of the hydraulic press in 1829 saw the beginning of chocolate mass production. Invented by Coenraad Johannes van Houten (or Conrad van Houten as he is commonly known) a Dutch chocolate maker whose pressing technique refined the flavour of the drink by pressing out some of the cocoa butter to make it smoother. He also added an alkalizing agent that modified the taste and appearance also enabling a better mix with water. His technique, known as ‘Dutching.’ is still commonly used in certain types of chocolate,
It is thought the first solid chocolate bar was made by J.S Fry and Sons who combined the pressed cocoa with large amounts of cocoa butter and sugar to make a substance that could be moulded to form a relatively crude bar (by today’s standards) The company later merged with Cadbury.
In 1871 a 19yr old entrepreneur by the name of Milton Hershey set up his own chocolate factory in Pennsylvania (USA)
Milk chocolate was introduced in 1875 by Swiss chocolate maker Daniel Peter, who added condensed milk to the mix. Later, His chocolate would be marketed by Henri Nestle's company.
Four years later the Swiss confectioner ‘Rudolf Lindt’ finally perfected his technique known as ‘conching.’ This method of refinement smoothed the chocolate particles and allowed the positive taste elements to emerge resulting in a finer/creamier taste.
By 1907 Milton Hershey using the leverage of industrialisation, was turning out 23million of his ‘Hershey’s Kiss’ chocolates per day. This one product led to his meteoric rise as a chocolate Giant.
The proceeding years have seen technological improvements in chocolate production and we now have a more scientific understanding of the way chocolate behaves in its many forms. We can now refine and temper it to higher standards, but essentially the late 19th century recipe and method hasn’t changed to any great extent. © Copyright Chocolatetray.com
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