Chocolate's European Debut

16th — 17th Centuries 

Columbus likely was the first European to discover cacao beans but it took some time before Europe discovered chocolate. Columbus saw how natives cherished the beans, but he thought they were a type of almond. Though he did bring them back to Spain with him, cacao and chocolate went unnoticed for some decades because the Spanish didn’t know what to do with them—until Cortes’ conquest of the Aztecs and Mexico.

Cortes Courts the Cacao Bean

Around 1519, Hernan Cortes arrived at the great court of the Aztec king, Montezuma. He and his crew witnessed Montezuma’s 50-cup-a-day chocolate ritual, discovered the royal storehouses brimming with beans and observed the custom of using cacao as currency.

One of the conquistadors had this to say about the power of chocolate: “This drink is the healthiest thing, and the greatest sustenance of anything you could drink in the world because he who drinks a cup of this liquid, no matter how far he walks, can go a whole day without eating anything else.”

Cortes himself didn’t take to the bitter brew, but realized its value. He wrote to King Carlos I of Spain that chocolate was a "drink that builds up resistance and fights fatigue." Cortes later became a New World land owner, with plantations in Mexico, Haiti and Trinidad. Cacao was one of the crops he raised. Legend has it that it was Cortes who first cultivated cacao in West Africa on one of his many travels between Spain and the New World.

A Sweet Trend

After the Spanish conquered the Aztecs and began building settlements in the New World, they adapted many of the dining habits of the natives, including chocolate. Incoming colonists brought sugar and other European delicacies to South and Central America, and the Spanish settlers, after some experimentation, began drinking chocolate hot and sweet.  The trend traveled across the Atlantic but it still took a while for chocolate to catch on in Spain. It wasn’t until the end of the 16th century that it started to achieve popularity, and then only with the upper crust, mostly because of the expensive cacao bean tax. The Spanish had a lock on chocolate in Europe. They controlled the cacao growing regions, and they kept its existence a secret. But interaction between the royal courts would spread chocolate across Europe.

Royal Wedding: The 17th Century Court of France

It took a royal wedding to make chocolate a star. When the Spanish princess, Maria Theresa, came to the French court at Versailles to marry King Louis XIV in 1660, she brought her precious cacao beans with her, as well as her chocolate-loving ladies-in-waiting, and a crew of retainers just to make it.  Hot chocolate was served at the wedding to the cream of European society. It eventually caught on at Versailles and Louis XIV came to love it. His personal recipe included an egg yolk to guarantee a rich thick concoction.

Medical Marvel

Much was made of the medicinal properties of chocolate by doctors and health experts on both sides of the Atlantic. It was thought of as a cure-all for everything from stomach upset to a fever and chills, and was described as an elixir of life. Chocolate was consumed for its health benefits instead of as a sweet treat. Some of chocolate’s rave reviews from physicians and medical experts of the 17th Century are:

• “Chocolate, well known, is an invention so noble, that it should be the nourishment of the gods, rather than nectar or ambrosia.” - Joseph Bachot
• “Good for the stomach if drunk in small quantities." - Valverde Turices
• "Chocolate gives comfort." - Hurtado
• "Chocolate is one of the most wholesome and precious drinks that have been discovered to this day." - Stubbe
• "Chocolate nourishes and preserves health entire, yet causes a pleasant and natural sleep and rest." - Hughes
• "Chocolate calms insomnia" - de Blégny
• "Chocolate preserves health and prolongs the lives of old men." - de Quelus

Early European Preparation and Equipment

Chocolate was served hot in liquid form. The 17th century saw the European additions of milk, sugar, and eggs as well as spices and flavorings such as vanilla, anise, rosewater, ground nuts, and ambergris. Europeans added their own touches to the preparation of the rich brew:

• The metate stone slab was often imported from Mexico and used to grind the roasted, shelled cacao beans.
• The molinillo was a Spanish wooden whisk or beater, used to make chocolate frothy and create foam, and is still in use today in Mexico and South America. In France it was known as the moussoir.
• The mancerina was a special saucer that secured the chocolate cup to prevent spills.
• The chocolatiere was a French chocolate pot that made it easier to prepare and pour the concoction.

England's Triple Threat

Coffee, tea and chocolate all arrived in England at the same time: coffee from Africa, tea from Asia and chocolate from America (specifically Jamaica, which became an English colony in 1655, and was home to thriving cacao plantations). While chocolate was an aristocratic treat in France, democracy prevailed in England; if you could pay for it, you could indulge. Hot chocolate was served in “chocolate houses,” not unlike coffee houses you see on every street corner today. Forerunners of English pubs, chocolate houses were places where politics were discussed and debated. While chocolate was more expensive than coffee, tea was the costliest of the three. And all three beverages were usually served up with loads of sugar.

Sinfully Delicious

As chocolate increased in popularity, it fell under religious scrutiny. For nearly two centuries, Catholic Ecclesiastics hotly debated whether chocolate was a food or a drink, and whether imbibing it during fasts was a sin.

Meanwhile, the strict and conservative Protestant Pilgrims who fled England for the Netherlands in 1690 took up residence next to a chocolate house in Amsterdam. The partying next door so offended their austere beliefs that they dubbed chocolate “Devil’s Food.”  When they later immigrated to Plymouth in North America, they outlawed chocolate completely from their colony. Years later, dark chocolate cakes in Amsterdam were named “Devil’s Food Cakes” in honor of the stern Pilgrims.