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Chocolate Bytes: For the Love of Chocolate

The Lure and Lore of Chocolate

by Heather on July 25th, 2007

aztecsI really like fieldmuseum.org’s section on chocolate, and especially the Lure and Lore of Chocolate page:

Aztec (1250-1521)
“In their sacred life, the Aztecs occasionally mixed achiote (ah chee OH tay), a red powder made from the seed of the annatto tree, in their chocolate drinks. Some scholars believe this practice may have had a symbolic connection to rituals of human sacrifice.

“The Aztecs also believed that cacao seeds came from the white-bearded god, Quetzalcoatl (ket sal koh AH tul), who brought cacao to Earth from paradise.

“In their secular life, the Aztecs restricted the drinking of chocolate to the elite classes of society, such as rulers, soldiers, and honored merchants. Cacao seeds were so valuable that the Aztecs actually used them as a form of money—and conquered peoples even paid their tribute with these seeds!”

Check out the site for other great articles, including The Romance of Chocolate and Science says it’s all in your head.

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POSTED IN: Chocolate, Chocolate History, Chocolate Links, Chocolate Online

4 opinions for The Lure and Lore of Chocolate

  • marye
    Jul 25, 2007 at 3:40 pm

    if we used chocolate for money what would the economy look like during heavy PMS times? WQW!

  • Heather
    Jul 25, 2007 at 3:48 pm

    Oh you’re not kidding! That would totally not fly these days!

  • Jennifer
    Jul 26, 2007 at 1:46 am

    In college I took a web writing class and we had to design a website on… chocolate. You would have died. I had to research all that history and it is really interesting. In fact I should just email it to you there’s some pretty cool chocolate stuff in there — stuff you likely already know. But at least all that research wouldn’t go to waste. Is that little guy made of chocolate?

  • Heather
    Jul 26, 2007 at 2:05 pm

    That’s a good question! My first thought was that it was made of chocolate but then I’m not sure chocolate would look even *that* good after so long! :D

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