chocolate is a food that people can simply THINK of chocolate and feel satisfied. Chocolate is produced from the cocoa tree found in the Amazon and the forests of Central and South America. these “chocolate beans” grow inside cocoa pods and are then transformed into a liquid chocolate. there is an ongoing debate about where the chocolate was made and who made it. some think it was the Aztecs, some think it was the Mayans but some think the Olmecs were the people who made the chocolate. the Maya were located in what is now southern Mexico and Central America. the first evidence of the Mayan use of chocolate is found in Colha, northern Belize, around 600 BC chocolate was used in several drinks. these drinks would have been served to royalty and newly married couples. Chocolate played an important role in the ancient Maya and was depicted on vases, murals and other works of art. it was used as a gift to the gods and presented at royal burials to ensure peace and comfort in the afterlife. in the Maya, chocolate was also used as money. It is believed that the Aztecs produced and consumed the first form of chocolate as a bitter-tasting drink made from ground cocoa beans made with water and sometimes wine. this drink was thought to be the cure for diarrhea, dysentery and was an aphrodisiac. the Aztecs believed that wisdom and power came from the fruit of the cocoa tree. Cocoa beans were used as currency, when the Aztecs conquered the tribes, they demanded to be paid in cocoa. documents dating back to 1200 AD show details of cocoa delivery imposed on all conquered tribes. later, during the era of colonialism, the cocoa tree spread, as did the cocoa bean and so did chocolate... middle of paper... sugar and then changing it with cocoa butter to make a solid. other people began to build on Van Houten's success and create new chocolate products. In 1849, English chocolate maker Joseph Storrs Fry produced what was perhaps the world's first eating chocolate. today the Swiss are famous for their chocolate and are very worthy of it. In the late 19th century, the Swiss developed several processes that largely contributed to the creation of the solid chocolate that we all eat and enjoy today. In 1879 two important developments occurred. The first was when Daniel Peter, a Swiss chocolate manufacturer, had the idea of ​​using milk powder to produce a different and new type of chocolate, milk chocolate. the second is when Rodolphe Lindt invented a process called "conching" which significantly improved the quality of chocolate candies by making them more blendable.