Chocolate - All About Chocolate - History of Chocolate

Chocolate: A European Sweet | 1600—1750

A EUROPEAN Obsession

Nearly 100 years passed before other European countries caught the chocolate craze. Were the Spaniards trying to keep chocolate to themselves? And how did news of chocolate spread? We’re not sure.

Eventually someone let the secret slip, and chocolate became the latest and greatest fad to hit the royal courts of Europe—a trend that lasted until the Industrial Revolution made chocolate available to a much broader public.

Continue to Obtaining Cacao

One legend says that a group of English pirates confiscated chocolate from a Spanish ship and introduced the drink to England. Another tale says Italian merchants purchased the secret of chocolate while on a business trip in Spain. A third claims that a royal princess of Spain who married King Louis XIII of France was the first to “spill the beans” about chocolate’s marvelous flavor.

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