The Essence of Chocolate (brief introduction)

The Essence of Chocolate The pure indulgence of chocolate has become America's favorite. In the beginning chocolate, which is derived from a cacao bean, was worshipped as an idol by the Mayan Indians over 2,000 years ago. Dating back to the 1500's, the last Aztec emperor, Montezuma II, was consuming a drink called "Cacahuatt". Chocolate was a delicacy that only the rich and important could indulge in, it was treated as a "treasure". After Hernando Cortez …

…first chocolate factory opened in 1765 in the Massachusetts Bay area. By the mid 1800's a cocoa press had been invented enabling chocolate candy to be made with cocoa butter and refined sugar. In 1894, Milton Hershey established the Hershey Chocolate Company manufacturing and selling Hershey's cocoa, Hershey's baking chocolate and Hershey's sweet chocolate. Mr. Hershey was called the "Henry Ford" of chocolate because he could mass produce a quality bar at a price everyone could afford.