Cocoa originated in Mexico, where the beans also served as money. This caused all kinds of problems for the Spanish conquerors, because they couldn't understand why the indians kept bringing them baskets of the stuff when all they wanted was gold.
Eventually, the monopoly on the processed chocolate ended up in Belgium (along with just about all the gold and other valuables shipped to Spain from the New World; this was because the Low Countries were the willing purveyors of the luxuries which the Spaniards bought with their ill-gotten tribute). It was just as well, because in Mexico it was mixed with water since dairy products were unknown and neither was sugar. In fact, they added CHILE to it for an extra kick. Modern chocoholics would not be very interested in the original recipes, and likewise the early Mexicans would have gagged on a truffle
12-27-2006, 01:38 AM
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