Before chocolate was a candy what was it?

Answer 1

Around 2000 years ago, the people of Mesoamerica, the Maya, found the cacao tree in the Amazon rainforest. The seeds of the tree could be processed to make chocolate. The Maya took the trees rainforest and harvested, fermented, roasted and ground the seeds into a paste. 1000 years later, when the Aztecs ruled most of Mesoamerica, traded with the Maya for cacao and often demanded tributes to be paid in cacao beans, a form of currency. Both Mayan and Aztec priests presented cacao seeds as offerings to the gods in religious ceremonies. When the spanish conquered Mexico in 1521, they saw the Aztecs drinking chocolate, recognised the value of cacao and took some home, mixing it with cinnamon and sugar in a drink. For 100 years, the drink was a Spanish secret, but after this time the rest of Europe began to drink it, but because of the low supply it was a drink for the wealthy. In the 1800's, the first mass produced solid candy bars were made. They were affordable to the general public, and modern chocolate was born.