Theobroma Cacao

"Chocolate should always be taken seriously. However, the way it is served should not."

----- Aaron Maree

Theobroma Cacao, or the cocoa tree, has successfully worked its way through time, writing its name in the history books of the Maya Indians, the Aztecs of Mexico and the Inca of Peru. The humble fruit was used as currency, offered to the gods and worshiped as a pleasurable drink.



The expensive luxury of drinking chocolate was introduced into the courts of England, France, Spain, Italy and Germany during the seventeenth century with the first chocolate house being opened in London in 1657. However, the chocolate of today was not discovered until the Dutch began pressing cocoa butter out of the cocoa beans. This produced a new, less fatty cocoa drink and allowed the cocoa butter to be pressed into bars.




Today, this decadent, seductive, mysterious and completely irresistible delicacy has become a part of many people's daily lives. It has become known as a feel good food. We use it in desserts. We enjoy it by itself, in many forms and concentrations of cocoa. We mix it with seemingly bizarre partners to enrich the flavour, accentuate the taste and heighten the experience. We bake it. We melt it. We use it as a sauce. Is there anything that this treasure, good enough to appease the gods, cannot be used for?

I think not.