Mercedes Taylor
Mr.Herb
Honors World Literature
10 January 2017
How to: Aztec Hot chocolate
The Aztecs have a very famous recipe for hot chocolate or Xocolatl ( from the Nahuatl words meaning “bitter water”) as it was called by the Aztecs (Fiona Mair). Although, the chocolate they made in those times is quite different from the chocolate they make today. The Aztecs were known for their cocoa. The cocoa plant was very important to the Aztecs. They used it for many things like currency, for wines and of course hot chocolate. If it weren’t for the Aztecs, who introduced hot chocolate to the Spanish who brought it home and shared their version of it around the world we wouldn’t have the hot chocolate we had today. The recipe for making hot chocolate is very simple and not very time consuming. Before, learning how to make hot chocolate like the Aztecs did, a brief history of hot chocolate and the cocoa bean itself and its cultivation is in order. …show more content…
For the Aztecs cocoa wasn’t just a food item or a trade product it also had a religious significance. Cocoa was in fact believed to be of divine origin. The Aztecs believed that the cocoa tree was a bridge between earth and heaven. Human sacrifices to propitiate God or the sun were first sanctified by giving him chocolate. Cocoa beans were also used during other occasions such as children's coming of age ceremonies and during marriage ceremonies after the couple drank a symbolic cup of chocolate an exchange of cocoa beans would occur. Hot chocolate wasn’t only drank during ceremonies it was also a beverage for the privileged. A belief the Aztecs had about chocolate was that drinking it gave mortals some of Quetzalcoatl’s ( or the god of learning and the wind ) wisdom ( International Cocoa Organization
Mr.Herb
Honors World Literature
10 January 2017
How to: Aztec Hot chocolate
The Aztecs have a very famous recipe for hot chocolate or Xocolatl ( from the Nahuatl words meaning “bitter water”) as it was called by the Aztecs (Fiona Mair). Although, the chocolate they made in those times is quite different from the chocolate they make today. The Aztecs were known for their cocoa. The cocoa plant was very important to the Aztecs. They used it for many things like currency, for wines and of course hot chocolate. If it weren’t for the Aztecs, who introduced hot chocolate to the Spanish who brought it home and shared their version of it around the world we wouldn’t have the hot chocolate we had today. The recipe for making hot chocolate is very simple and not very time consuming. Before, learning how to make hot chocolate like the Aztecs did, a brief history of hot chocolate and the cocoa bean itself and its cultivation is in order. …show more content…
For the Aztecs cocoa wasn’t just a food item or a trade product it also had a religious significance. Cocoa was in fact believed to be of divine origin. The Aztecs believed that the cocoa tree was a bridge between earth and heaven. Human sacrifices to propitiate God or the sun were first sanctified by giving him chocolate. Cocoa beans were also used during other occasions such as children's coming of age ceremonies and during marriage ceremonies after the couple drank a symbolic cup of chocolate an exchange of cocoa beans would occur. Hot chocolate wasn’t only drank during ceremonies it was also a beverage for the privileged. A belief the Aztecs had about chocolate was that drinking it gave mortals some of Quetzalcoatl’s ( or the god of learning and the wind ) wisdom ( International Cocoa Organization