Whether white, milk or dark, it’s hard to say no to a piece of chocolate… and if you can’t imagine life without it, be glad you weren’t born before the 16th century!
Until then, chocolate existed only in Central America, and in a very different form from what we know today. Cocoa beans were roasted, ground, mixed with water and whipped into a foamy drink: Xocolatl—a bitter, invigorating concoction.
For the Maya and Aztecs, cocoa was sacred—a divine gift so precious they called it the “Food of the Gods” (Theobroma cacao). Cocoa beans were used as currency, valued higher than gold, and chocolate was served at royal banquets, given to soldiers as a reward for victory, and used in sacred rituals.
The Origins of Chocolate in Europe
The first Europeans to encounter cocoa were members of Christopher Columbus’s crew, but it reached Europe around 1520 when Hernán Cortés visited the court of Emperor Montezuma in Tenochtitlan and returned to Spain with a cargo of cocoa.
Initially, its bitter taste meant it was used medicinally. Soon, however, Jesuit monks, skilled in the art of blending and infusions, began to replace ingredients like maize, honey, chilli and pepper with cane sugar and vanilla, creating a sweeter drink—the forerunner of modern hot chocolate. By the late 1500s, this indulgent beverage was a favourite at the Spanish court, and by 1585, Spain was importing cocoa regularly.
When chocolate first appeared in Europe, it was an exclusive luxury for the elite. At the 1615 wedding of King Louis XIII of France to Anne of Austria, daughter of Spain’s King Philip III, chocolate was introduced to the French court as a lavish gift.
Following France’s lead, Britain embraced chocolate in its “chocolate houses”, and as demand spread, European powers established cocoa plantations along the equator. Still, all chocolate was handmade—a slow, labour-intensive process. That was about to change with the Industrial Revolution.
Who Invented Modern Chocolate?
In 1828, Dutch chemist Coenraad Johannes van Houten devised a method for treating cocoa beans with alkaline salts, producing a powder that mixed easily with water—this became known as "Dutch processing".
Van Houten also invented the cocoa press, which extracted cocoa butter from roasted beans, making it possible to produce cocoa powder economically. This breakthrough made chocolate accessible and laid the foundation for all chocolate-making. The powder was combined with liquids and molded into solid form—the first edible chocolate.
In 1847, British chocolatier Joseph Fry created the first modern chocolate bar when he discovered that mixing cocoa powder with melted cocoa butter produced a moldable paste. And so, the modern era of chocolate began.