The Mesoamerican period

Originally, cocoa could only be found in Central and South America in an area then known as Mesoamerica. The region extended across today’s Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.

The Olmecs

(1500 – 400BC) were the first people to inhabit the region and probably also the first to use cocoa in their food. Unfortunately, very little is known about their lives although they did leave behind a number of archaeological finds - including a type of hieroglyphics. By analysing this and the language spoken by a small group of their descendants, the Mixe-Zoquean tribe, linguists have established that the Olmecs probably called cocoa ‘kakawa’. It was used together with other local foods such as maize, chilli and beans.

The Mayans called cocoa, kakaw.

Primarily reserved for the elite, cocoa was a luxury food item used by the Mayans on special occasions such as feasts and festivals. It was also their currency. Back then, money did, quite literally, grow on trees! It was ground using a metate (a stone mortar, see photo) together with other basic foodstuffs. If it was to be extra fine, only flavourings were added, e.g. ikal is kakaw with chilli.

One reason much is known about the Mayans is that the Quiche Mayan scribes secretly rewrote and preserved hieroglyphic documents when the Spanish settled. One such document, the Popol Vuh, described their beliefs and entire religious structure, including important gods such as Ek Chuah, the god of merchants and cocoa.

Cocoa and the Toltecs

The Toltecs took control of Mesoamerica from c. 900AD, basing their empire on the remains of the Mayan civilization. They too had a penchant for cocoa. They believed that the tree was a gift from their priest god, Quetzalcoatl (the feathered serpent god). Quetzalcoatl had been banished by the other gods, but had bestowed the tree on the people as a gift when he vowed to them that he would return