They believed that cocoa was given to them by their gods. Like the Maya, they enjoyed the caffeinated kicks of hot or cold flavored chocolate drinks in elaborate containers, but they also used cocoa beans as currency to buy groceries and other goods. In the Aztec culture, cocoa beans were considered more valuable than gold.
Why is chocolate important to the Mayans?
The cocoa bean and drink were used in a variety of religious rituals honoring Mayan gods, with liquid chocolate sometimes replacing blood and considered divine sustenance. The Mayans even had a cacao god.
What is Mayan Chocolate?
Mayan chocolate was very different from the chocolate we know today. It was a liquid made from crushed cocoa beans, chili peppers, and water. (There was no sugar in Central America.) They poured the liquid from cup to cup until a frothy froth appeared at the top.
Where was chocolate first used?
Ancient Mesoamericans believed that chocolate was an energizer and an aphrodisiac with mystical and medicinal properties. The Maya, considering cocoa a gift from the gods, used chocolate for sacred ceremonies and funerary objects.
What did the Mayans call chocolate?
Archaeologists believe that chocolate, or xocolatl as the Maya called it, was being cultivated in Mesoamerica as early as 900 AD. The Mayans and later the Aztecs made a drink from the beans of cacao pods that was used for a popular everyday drink, but also for rituals and healing practices.
How did the Maya make money?
The ancient Maya never used coins as a means of payment. … Instead, it was assumed that, like many ancient civilizations, they mainly engaged in bartering, exchanging items such as tobacco, corn, and clothing.
What sweets did the Mayans create?
Centuries later, the Mayans praised chocolate as the drink of the gods.
Who is the god of chocolate?
IXCACAO: MAYAN GODDESS OF CHOCOLATE The history of the goddess of chocolate is long and complicated. She was worshiped as a fertility goddess, with different names and different roles in the ancient cultures of Mesoamerica.
Did the Mayans Invent Chocolate?
The history of chocolate dates back to the ancient Mayans and even earlier to the ancient Olmecs of southern Mexico. The word chocolate may conjure up images of sweet treats and delicious truffles, but today’s chocolate is nothing like yesterday’s chocolate.
Who made chocolate and why?
The creation of the first modern chocolate bar is credited to Joseph Fry, who discovered in 1847 that he could make a malleable chocolate paste by adding melted cocoa butter to Dutch cocoa. In 1868 a small company called Cadbury was marketing boxes of chocolates in England.
Who ate chocolate for the first time?
Chocolates The 4,000-year-old history began in ancient Mesoamerica, now Mexico. This is where the first cocoa plants were found. One of the first civilizations in Latin America, the Olmec were the first to turn the cacao plant into chocolate. They drank their chocolate in rituals and used it as medicine.