Inside the fruit are the tree’s seeds, also known as cocoa beans.Ĭhocolate has been drunk as a beverage for thousands of years. The cacao tree produces a fruit about the size of a small pineapple. It also grows in South America, Africa, and parts of Indonesia. The Mexican Indian word chocolat comes from a combination of the terms choco (“foam”) and atl (“water”) as early chocolate was only consumed in beverage form.Ĭhocolate grows on trees, appearing in its raw state as melon-like pods (see photo on right) on the 40- to 60-foot tall trees known botanically as “Theobroma cacao,” which means “food of the gods.” This tropical tree has grown wild in Central America since prehistoric times. The word chocolate is said to derive from the Mayan word xocoatl cocoa from the Aztec word caahuatl. After being introduced in England, milk was added to the then after-dinner treat. It did not take long for Spaniards to begin heating the mixture and sweetening it with sugar. The original hot chocolate recipe was a mixture of ground cocoa beans, water, wine, and chile peppers. Hot chocolate is made from chocolate bars melted into cream. Hot cocoa is made from cocoa powder, which is chocolate pressed free of all its richness, meaning the fat of cocoa butter. The terms Hot Cocoa and Hot Chocolate are often used interchangeably, but technically they are as different as Milk Chocolate and bittersweet chocolate.
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