Farmers grow cocoa trees in the shady areas of rainforests near the Earth's equator. These trees can be difficult to grow. They require an exact amount of water, warmth, soil and protection. After about five years, cocoa trees start producing large fruits called pods. The seeds inside these pods are harvested to make chocolate. Today we travel around the world exploring the history of chocolate. Its story begins with a plant whose scientific name, Theobroma cocoa, means "food of the gods". People have been enjoying the rich flavor of chocolate, a product made from this plant. Most people know that chocolate is made from cocoa and that the origins of chocolate can be traced back to Central and South America. For centuries, the natives there regarded cocoa as a gift from the gods. But how did chocolate go from being the food of the gods to being the food of love? Historians believe the Maya of Central America first learned to farm cocoa plants around two thousand years ago. The Maya took the cocoa trees from the rainforests and grew them in their gardens. They cooked the cocoa seeds, and then crushed them into a soft substance. They used the cocoa bean as the main part in a dark, bitter drink that we would call "chocolate". They believed that chocolate had mystical characteristics -- but cocoa also had commercial  value. In fact, cocoa beans were used as a form of currency that was worth its weight in gold! The explorer Christopher Columbus brought cocoa seeds to Spain after his trip to Central America in 1502. But the Spanish explorer Conquistador Hernando Cortez was the first European explorer to realize cocoa's commercial possibilities. When he arrived in the New World in 1519, he soon established  his own cocoa plantation. In 1529, Cortez returned to Spain and introduced chocolate -- as a drink mixed with sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon -- to European society. The wealthy people of Spain first enjoyed a sweetened type of the chocolate drink. Later, the popularity of the drink spread throughout Europe. The English, Dutch and French began to plant cocoa trees in their own colonies. Chocolate remained a drink that only wealthy people could afford to drink until the eighteenth century. During the period known as the Industrial Revolution, new technologies helped make chocolate less costly to produce. It caught on -- especially with the noble people, who enjoyed hot chocolate as an aphrodisiac (a kind of medicine). As its popularity spread, people found new ways to make and use chocolate. These days, chocolate is enjoyed as both a tasty treat and a romantic indulgence everywhere. According to historians, cacao trees were first planted in_.
South America Central America Spain. Africa