The cacao tree is native to the Amazon Rainforest and given its botanical name Theobroma Cacao or "food of the gods" by Swedish natural scientist Carl Linnaeus in his original classification of the plant kingdom. It was first domesticated 5,300 years ago in equatorial South America by the Olmecs. Historians believe they first discovered that the cocoa fruit was edible by observing rats eating it. They soon realized the tree produced a fruit with a thousand flavors and nearly as many uses. The Olmecs were almost certainly the first humans to consume chocolate, originally in the form of a drink. They crushed the cocoa beans, mixed them with water and added spices, chilies and herbs. They began cultivating cocoa in equatorial Mexico and over time, the Mayans and Aztecs developed successful methods for cultivating cocoa as well.
The cocoa bean was used as a monetary unit as well as for measurement. During their wars with the Aztecs and the Mayans, the Chimimeken people's preferred method of levying taxes in conquered regions was in the form of cocoa beans. For these civilizations, cocoa was a symbol of abundance. It was used in religious rituals dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god responsible for bringing the cocoa tree to man, to Chak ek Chuah, the Mayan patron saint of cocoa, and as an offering at the funerals of noblemen.
In 1502, Columbus got his first glimpse of cocoa beans on a native canoe during a stop-over in Nicaragua, but he did not appreciate its potential value. The true importance of this "brown gold" was not recognized until Hernando Cortez drank it with the Aztec emperor Montezuma, and brought it back to the Spanish court in 1528 along with the equipment necessary for brewing the drink.
Cocoa production advanced as people migrated throughout Meso-America but consumption of the drink remained a privilege for the upper classes and for soldiers during battle. By this time, the re-invigorating and fortifying virtues of cocoa were becoming widely recognized and embraced. Chocolate was introduced to Europe by the Spaniards, and became a popular beverage by the mid-17th century. They also introduced the cacao tree into the West Indies and the Philippines. Finally, in 1765, North America discovered the virtues of cocoa and thanks to the extended period of culinary and manufacturing innovation, chocolate consumption rapidly and continuously expanded.
