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Chocolate in Europe
The Europeans eventually changed the bitter xocoatl drink into something more to their liking by adding suger to balance the bitterness. They also excluded the chilli and all the other strong spices from the New World . Utensils necessary for xocoatl making was brought to Europe for the very first time by Hernando Cortez in 1528. The first recorded shipment of chocolate to Europe for commercial purposes departed from Veracruz and reached Seville as early as 1585 and was to be followed by many. The shipment was also an initiative from Hernando Cortez who had conquered parts of Mexico in 1519. He did not like chocolate himself, but instantly realised the value of cocoa beans since they were considered currency among the Native Americans. After his conquest of Mexico , he had established big cocoa plantations in the name of Spain since the beans could be used for trading with the native population. There are records from the 16 th century were Hernando de Oviedo y Valdez, a member of the Pedririas Avilas expedition, states that he has used 100 cocoa beans to buy a slave.
By the 17 th century the modified xocoatl drink had become very much in vogue among the European nobility and was served not only because of its good taste but also as a sign of wealth and refinement. The first book devoted entirely to the art of chocolate making and drinking was written in Mexico in 1609 - ”Libro en el cual se trata del chocolate”. The European chocolate fashion naturally begun in Spain , and spread as the Spanish royalty started giving cocoa as dowry when intermarrying with other European royalty. Spain however managed to keep the preparation of chocolate a secret for over a decade, confining the precious knowledge to monasteries in Spain and Central America . In 1643 the Spanish princess Maria Theresa became betrothed to Louis XIV of France . She presented her fiancé with a chocolate filled ornate chest as engagement gift, and soon a royal chocolate maker was appointed. Other sources claim that the habit of chocolate drinking was introduced to the French court much earlier, when the Spanish princess Anna of Austria married Louis XIII in 1615.
he United Kingdom soon caught up with the continental fashions and in 1657 the first chocolate shop in London was opened by a Frenchman. One of the very popular coffee-houses in London , "At the Coffee Mill and Tobacco Roll", started to serve chocolate in cakes and rolls in 1647. In 1697 Heinrich Escher, the mayor of Zurich , visited Brussels and was charmed by the exotic taste of a nice cup of chocolate. He spread the word about it in his home country and this turned out to be a very important step in the history of chocolate since several of the most significant chocolate related innovations from this date took place in Switzerland . The Germans started to like chocolate comparatively late, during the end of the 17 th century. Frederick I of Prussia followed a strict protectionist policy in order to restrict the importation of foreign gods, and chocolate was certainly no exception since it was both grown and manufactured abroad. In 1704 he imposed a special tax on chocolate and those who wished to enjoy any cocoa bean based products had to pay two thalers for a chocolate-permit.
Copyright 2005 Chocolate-History.com
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