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Cocoa Loco

Find chocolate irresistible? Blame it on your royal ancestors

Calling all chocoholics.

The month of love is here and that means unbridled consumption of chocolate. As February brings in Valentine's Day and the need to woo our sweethearts with chocolate delights, our palates turn to the creamy, sweet confections. Belgian chocolates. French truffles. Gourmet Swiss Toblerone.

If talk of chocolate is making you loco for cocoa, don't chastise all those European chocolatiers. Curse your ancestors - the Aztecs, Toltecs, Mayans and even the god Quetzalcoatl. They are the discoverers of all things chocolate, the purveyors of your sweet addiction.

How exactly did this discovery happen? Ancient legend has it that Aztec gods sent Quetzalcoatl a small seed from the gardens of paradise to plant on his royal grounds. That seed was for a cacao tree. The Aztecs, Toltecs and Mayans found a way to convert the beans from the tree into a drink called chocolatl. Magical qualities were attributed to chocolatl. They claimed it had the power to restore vigor to weary warriors and lend supernatural sexual prowess to ordinary mortals.

Think about that as you nibble on those Valentine kisses.

However, scholars take a more scientific approach. They have found that the cultivation of cacao trees (Theobroma cacao) began nearly 3,000 years ago in Mesoamerica, a region which stretches from present-day Mexico to Costa Rica. Chocolate indulgence dates back to 600 B.C., according to researchers from the Hershey Food Corporation and the University of Texas at Austin, who uncovered traces of cacao in a ceramic vessel unearthed at a Mayan site in northern Belize. And we've been hooked ever since.

Back then, however, chocolate was largely a sacred pleasure, reserved for the elite. Moctezuma drank his chocolate from gold cups and legend has it that he sipped 50 cups a day. Sixteenth-century explorer Diego Garcia de Palacio described chocolate in a message to King Philip II of Spain as such: "The beverage which they prepare from the cacao was formerly so highly esteemed by the Indians, that no one was permitted to drink it, unless he were a great personage, a cacique, or a famous warrior."

It was also a drink reserved for important rituals such as warfare, marriage, festivals, and other rites. One of the earliest depictions of chocolate consumption was found on a Mayan funerary vase, which shows a woman preparing a chocolate drink during a ritual palace beheading.

Today, we don't need such risky occasions to enjoy the sweet delight.

In addition to its sacred uses, chocolate also had monetary value. During the reign of the great Aztec Emperor Moctezuma, cacao beans were a valuable commodity and used as currency. It was said that 10 cacao beans could buy a rabbit and 100 would get you a fair to middling slave. It was held in such high esteem, that along with gold and silver, Montezuma sent cacao beans to meet the ship of explorer Hernando Cortez in 1519.

Initially, the Spanish didn't take to the chocolate concoction. The Aztec recipe for chocolate primarily consisted of pulverized, fermented, roasted cacao beans with water and flavored with chilies. Women made it by first drying and roasting the cacao beans. Using a metate, they ground the beans with water, chilies and other spices. The paste was then formed into small cakes, which were broken up and mixed with hot water to produce the beverage. Explorer Gonzolo Fernandez de Oviedo wrote that when he saw the Aztecs drink chocolate mixed with achiote, their mouths, lips and whiskers turned red as if they were drinking blood.

Hard to be romantic when someone looks like that.

The cacao elixir was too important in the Aztec culture for the Spanish to ignore. Many believed chocolate had important healing powers and was a powerful aphrodisiac. Later during the Spanish Inquisition, authorities believed chocolate was a sinful tool for witchcraft. Inquisition records claimed that chocolate would be used to cast spells on people or to murder rivals.

Eventually, the Spanish overcame their aversion to the drink by sweetening it with vanilla, sugar and cinnamon. Chocolate was presented at the Spanish court. For almost 100 years, Spain guarded the secret of its chocolate beverage until the Spanish princess Maria Theresa brought the recipe with her to France when she married Louis XIV. In 1657, a Frenchman opened a chocolate shop and popularized the chocolate drink. Soon, hot chocolate houses appeared throughout Europe and eventually made their way to the American colonies. Think of them as the Starbucks of the times.

Today, three million tons of cacao beans each year are harvested for chocolate products around the world. Americans consume more than $12 billion worth of chocolate annually. Experts say that's about 12 pounds per person. Wouldn't that make Moctezuma proud?

So this month, celebrate your roots. Go ahead, enjoy your chocolate.

On February 2 through 4, take part in one of the largest chocolate festivals in the country - the city of Glendale's Chocolate Affaire. About 40 chocolate purveyors will be on hand with samples of chocolate delights that range from cheesecakes to chocolate pizzas.

Can't make it to the event? Visit the Seven Sisters Sweetshop 20701 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale) or chocolatier Bernard Callebaut's store (at Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd. and the 101) where cherries are hand dipped. For a special girls' night out, join Chat, Chew & Chocolate Feb. 5 at Drip Coffee Lounge for conversation and chocolate (cost is $20; register online at www.phoenixcc.com).

But as you indulge in all things chocolate, remember to thank your ancestors or to pay homage to Queztalcoatl for this sweet discovery.