JMo's Chocolate Chat

Spanish conquistadors meeting the Aztecs (gettyimages.com) Vintage engraving of Spanish conquistadors meeting the Aztecs 2  ENCOUNTERS  2 ENCOUNTERS: Chocolate encounters: Mexica and Spaniards Encounters in Mesoamerica between the local Mexica populations and the invading Conquistadors and Europeans from Spain resulted in the decimation of the indigenous people and conquering of traditional native lands and wealth, as well “discovering” chocolate and importing it to Europe.  The Mexica occupied Mesoamerica, Mexico and Central America, easily invaded from the Atlantic ocean by ships of the Spanish carrying Conquistadors and other Europeans from across the ocean.  What happened when the two groups interacted? What did each want out of the encounters? What behaviors led to the devastation of the native peoples and the occupation by the Spanish? In Central America, theMexica people of Mesoamerica had an Aztec Confederation and three part alliance between Tenochtitlan, Te...

Traditional cacao drink in a clay pot ( gettyimages.com) 3 COLONIAL CONSUMPTION:  Chocolate in Colonial Times: Consumption in Europe and the Americas After colonizing Mexico and Central America and “discovering” cacao and chocolate, Spain brought cacao beans and its chocolate drink back to Spain and the royal court. Chocolate had reached Europe. In Europe, chocolate became useful as a food and a medicine.  As a commodity, edible, and medicine, it quickly became popular and sought after among the elite of Spain. It was a luxury import item because it took so much effort to prepare, and as in Mesoamerica, the elite of Spain were the consumers. “We saw the first arrival of chocolate to Spain in the 1540s with a delegation of Maya natives who arrived bearing gifts, chocolate among them. It was exotic and a luxury.” (Lecture 3) Chocolate eventually became more and more accessible to middle class consumers at home, inns and public houses. Specific tools to be made and distributed ...

Cacao production building (gettyimages.com) 4 COLONIAL PRODUCTION Cacao in Colonial Times: Production in the Americas In colonial times, cacao beans were found to be a profitable but labor intensive cash crop that only grew within twenty degrees of each side of the equator, and only grew under certain conditions, such as under shade trees. This posed many difficulties with production, and the many ways found to process cacao were not always ethical. After the Spanish colonized Mesoamerica and Central America and eventually realized the kinds of crops that they could make a profit on, they needed labor to process and grow the cacao because it was so specific in its growth requirements.  The Portugues provided imported negro slaves purchased from Africa to the Spanish, along with the indigenous Mexica, provided their labor force for hundreds of years. The Spanish established Haciendas on large land grants from Spain, and had grants of labor and tribute. Large estates were called lati...

Chocolate grinder illustration from 1882 (gettyimages.com) 5 CHOCOLATE FACTORY Chocolate Factory: Technological Revolution             After three hundred years of European conquest of cacao and its value as a commodity,  mass production of chocolate began in the nineteenth century during the industrial revolution. Technology changed the lives of almost everyone on the planet, and their capability to speed up manufacturing, including the making of chocolate from cacao beans. The industrial revolution brought about new machines that could cope with the extensive grinding process of making chocolate, and a way was invented to make chocolate less greasy by removing amounts of the cocoa butter fat. As a product of the Americans, cacao was highly prized as a food, commodity, and medicine - but still a luxury for higher classes and elite. The Spanish had taken it from Mesoamerica and Central Mexico back to Spain, and from there it spread out to West...

A chocolate factory (gettyimages.com) 6 MODERN PRODUCTION Chocolate factory: Modern Production - Globalization of Production         Cacao beans grown and processed into chocolate and its derivatives has become a global production in modern times. The growth of cacao has spread over the world from Mesoamerica, Central America, and South America along within twenty degrees of the equator in Africa, India, Indonesia, and lower North America.  South America went through a lot of changes - decolonization, the abolition of slavery, wars of independence, developed new methods of cacao productions such as tenant farming and medianeros. South America went through a cacao boom in Ecuador, but also went through a decrease in cacao production. Other countries began to plant cacao farms and compete in the cacao market. (Lecture 6) Many European countries did land grabs in Africa, either by colonization or by treaty. This resulted in much of Africa belonging to ever...