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Chocolate and Colombus
The fourth time Christopher Columbus sailed to the American continents he went to what is today known as Nicaragua . He landed in Nicaragua on the 30th of July in 1502 and it was now that he became the first European ever introduced to the cocoa bean. He brought some beans back to Europe as a gift for the Spanish rulers Ferdinand and Isabella ho had sponsored his journeys, but nobody really appreciated the beans and they where viewed as a mere curiosity from the New World without any practical use. The ships returning to Europe preferred to bring home more valued objects than bitter beans.
It was Hernando de Soto who much later introduced cocoa more broadly to the European society. Hernando de Soto was a Spanish navigator and conquistador. He was not only found of chocolate but also participated in the conquest of Nicaragua, Panama and Peru and organized the biggest exploration of the 16 th and 17 th century through the Southeast and Midwest parts of what is today known as the USA. Before he went on his expedition into the USA he returned to Europe , where he married Ines de Bobadilla in Sevilla. She belonged to one of the most prominent families of Castilia and had good connections to the Spanish court. It is easy to understand how a new drink popular in the de Soto household quickly became trendy among the other rich and influential families in Spain .
However, most Europeans who got the chance of trying found the xocoatl drink too bitter and disliked the taste. Jose de Acosta, who worked in Peru and Mexico as a Jesuit missionary during the 16 th century, wrote:
“Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant to taste. Yet it is a drink very much esteemed among the Indians, where with they feast noble men who pass through their country. The Spaniards, both men and women, that are accustomed to the country, are very greedy of this Chocolaté. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot, some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that "chili"; yea, they make paste thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh.”
Copyright 2005 Chocolate-History.com
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