The Evolution of Chocolate:The Middle

So, if you read the fist part to this article trilogy, aptly titled “The Beginning,” you’d know that chocolate originally came from South America. The first people to eat, or in this case drink, chocolate, were the Aztecs over 2,000 years ago (Fig. 1). Christopher Columbus, and later on, the Spanish Conquistadores brought cocoa beans back to Europe, and as the drink grew in popularity, it was discovered how to mass-produce cocoa powder and soon after, make solid chocolate by incorporating condensed milk.

As confectionary experts began to perfect chocolate as a culinary medium, new flavors and ingredients were added, and chocolate itself was added to cakes and cookies etc. and brought about new sweet treats such as fudge (Fig. 2) (invented accidentally here in the states in the 1860’s although the actual date is disputed), chocolate chip cookies and other candies.

The turn of the century era was when most of our modern chocolate candies where invented. Milton S. Hershey released the first Hershey’s Chocolate bar in 1900, and other candies like the Mounds Bar, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Heath Bars came around in the 1920’s.

More recently, chocolate has entered art and competition. Chocolate sculptures have become popular and levels of realism have increased dramatically over the years (Fig’s. 3 and 4). If you’ve watched the Food Network, professional pastry chefs can compete for a whopping $10,000 prize in extreme competitions.

As time goes on more creativity has been incorporated into the world of chocolate, two of which involve a little bravery, one on the part of your palette, the other possibly involving your modesty if you’re a model. All coming soon in The Evolution of Chocolate: The Future.