There aren't many foods that people completely adore, and chocolate is one of them. Being so creamy and decadent, it's not hard to see why it's so adored! While it may seem like there isn't much to know about chocolate, there's a whole world out there about the production, history, and meaning of this tasty treat that most of us don't know about. Read on to discover the enormous impact of chocolate on the human race itself. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayChocolate may be the "food of the gods," but for much of its 4,000-year history, it was consumed rather as a bitter drink than an edible treat. Anthropologists have found evidence that chocolate was produced by pre-Olmec cultures living in what is now Mexico as early as 1900 BC! The ancient Mesoamericans who first cultivated cocoa beans found in the rainforests of Central America fermented, roasted, and ground them into a paste that they mixed with water, vanilla, honey, chili peppers, and other spices to make a chocolate drink. Olmec, Mayan and Aztec civilizations discovered that chocolate was an energizing and mood-enhancing drink, which led them to believe that it possessed mysterious and magical qualities. The Maya worshiped a cocoa god, EK-CHUAH, and reserved chocolate for rulers, warriors, priests, and nobles during sacred ceremonies. When the Aztecs began to dominate Mesoamerica in the 14th century, they craved cocoa beans, which could not be grown in the arid highlands of central Mexico, the heartland of their civilization. The Aztecs traded with the Maya for cocoa beans, which were so sought after that they were used as currency. In the 1500s, Spanish explorers searching for gold and silver in Mexico returned with chocolate instead. The Spanish modified the bitter drink with brown sugar and cinnamon to make it sweeter, but one thing remained unchanged; chocolate was still a delicious symbol of luxury, wealth and power. Chocolate was drunk by royalty, and only the Spanish elite could afford the expensive drink. Spain managed to keep chocolate a sweet secret for nearly a century, but when the daughter of the Spanish king, Philip III, married the French king Louis XIII in 1615, she brought her craving for chocolate with her to France. Chocolate's popularity soon spread rapidly to other European countries, and aristocrats consumed it as a magical elixir with enormous benefits. To satiate their growing thirst for chocolate, European monarchies established plantations in equatorial regions around the world to grow cocoa and sugar. When diseases brought by European explorers reduced the native Mesoamerican population, slaves were imported to work on plantations and maintain chocolate production. Chocolate remained an aristocratic elixir until Dutch chemist Coenraad Johannes van Houten invented the cocoa press in 1828, which revolutionized chocolate production. The cocoa press could squeeze fatty cocoa butter from roasted cocoa beans, leaving behind dry lumps that could be pulverized into a fine powder that could be mixed with liquids and other ingredients, poured into molds, and solidified into a delicious chocolate. Van Houten's innovation ushered in the modern era of chocolate by allowing it to be used as a confectionery ingredient. This resulted in a sharp drop in the prices of chocolate so that it could be purchased by everyone. In 1847, a British chocolate company known as JS Fry & Sons created the first edible chocolate bar.