The trip of the chocolate to Europe starts back in 1544, and since then the Mexican drink creates a passion that endures after nearly half a millennium.

Europe came late to the joys of chocolate. Native to Mexico, Central and South America, cacao cultivation dates to at least 1250 B.C., according to archaeologists.

Mayans grew cacao trees in their backyards and used the seeds to brew ceremonial drinks. In the fifth century, Aztecs consumed xocoatl (bitter water) flavored with vanilla and chili pepper. The highly valued bean served as currency in Aztec society. One turkey, for example, cost 100 cacao beans.

As far back as 1504, Christopher Columbus may have brought cacao beans to Spain from his fourth and final voyage to the Americas.

Hernan Cortes, the Spanish conquistador who subdued Mexico with luck and pluck (and guns, germs and steel), wrote in 1519 that chocolate is “the divine drink which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without food.”

Cortes brought cacao beans and chocolate-brewing apparatus back to Spain when he returned in 1528. And Dominican friars who introduced native peoples to Spanish royalty in 1544 also gave chocolate to their majesties.

Yet for all this, the great onrush of the continental cocoa craze is often traced to July 7, 1550, and July 7 is even gaining currency as Chocolate Day. So who are we to argue? It’s not brain surgery (though chocolate does have neural effects).

Whatever its original date of introduction in Spain, chocolate did not stay there. Spanish friars spread the gospel of Theobroma cacao throughout Europe as they traveled from monastery to monastery.

Hot chocolate became a hit with French royalty after cocoa enthusiast Marie Therese married Louis XIV in 1660. At the Palace of Versailles, courtiers regarded the drink as an aphrodisiac.

London’s first chocolate house opened in 1657. English cafe society believed the drink to be a cure-all medicine capable of treating tuberculosis. Initially flavored with coffee, wine and pepper, hot chocolate finally achieved liftoff in the early 1700s when English and Dutch impresarios hit on the idea of adding milk and sugar.

It was only a matter of time before mass-production technologies would transform bean-based treats from luxury to everyman staple. A century later, chocolate assumed solid form, courtesy of Fry and Sons.

The British confectioners figured out how to add sugar and cocoa butter to create a malleable paste that could then be packaged as “eating chocolate.” The same standardized processes for extracting cocoa butter to manufacture hard, durable candy are still used today, essentially unchanged since the Industrial Revolution.

Unwittingly, chocolate lovers through the ages embraced a source of natural caffeine that’s packed with flavonoid antioxidants (also found in tea, red wine and tomatoes) known for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

[button link=”http://www.melitropon.gr/en/nest-syrupy-sweets/” color=”green” newwindow=”yes”] For certain, no one can resist the temptation of chocolate! That is why, at Melitropon, we included this eternal temptation in our recipes! Taste, not just watch! [/button]

Chocolate lovers have the chance to taste our harmonious flavor combinations: chocolate baklava, chocolate cake, chocolate pie, brownies, chocolate cake or praline cake, chocolate nests or chocolate chanoumaki, chocolate kofto or chocolate kantaifi are just some of our choices that will pleasure even the most demanding customer!

Source: wired.com

Although the history of baklava is not well documented, its current form was probably developed in the imperial kitchens of the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. The Sultan presented trays of baklava to the Janissaries every 15th of the month of Ramadan in a ceremonial procession called the Baklava Alayı.

There are three proposals for the pre-Ottoman roots of baklava: the Roman placenta cake, as developed through Byzantine cuisine, the Central Asian Turkic tradition of layered breads, or the Persian lauzinaq.

The oldest (2nd century BCE) recipe that resembles a similar dessert is the honey covered baked layered-dough dessert placenta of Roman times, which Patrick Faas identifies as the origin of baklava: “The Greeks and the Turks still argue over which dishes were originally Greek and which Turkish. Baklava, for example, is claimed by both countries. Greek and Turkish cuisine both built upon the cookery of the Byzantine Empire, which was a continuation of the cooking of the Roman Empire. Roman cuisine had borrowed a great deal from the ancient Greeks, but placenta (and hence baklava) had a Latin, not a Greek, origin—please note that the conservative, anti-Greek Cato left us this recipe

Baklava was reserved for the wealthy and affluent of the Middle East and was a staple during the holidays and on special occasions. Each culture infused its own influences in how it was prepared to give it its own unique taste. For instance, in Armenia, Baklava is made with cinnamon and cloves while in Greece, it is generally made with 33 dough layers, referring to the years of Christ’s life. In many parts of Turkey, Baklava is often topped with ice cream (milk cream flavor), while in Israel orange and lemon rind is added to the syrup. This just goes to show how Baklava has become such a timeless tradition.

Thanks to the popularity of Greek and Middle Eastern restaurants in America, the popularity of Baklava has crossed waters and boundaries to now be a delicatessen and a favorite across the Ocean.

[button link=”http://www.melitropon.gr/en/little-pans-syrup-sweets/” color=”green” newwindow=”yes”] At Melitropon we prepare fresh, traditional baklava in pans or in portions, as well as delicious kofto (mini baklava pieces) with almond, nuts, chocolate or tiramisu, finger licking good![/button]

Visit our laboratory today and taste the rich, flavorful, syrupful, buttery baklava of Melitropon! You’ll always want more!

Source: Wikipedia