Cocoa

During the time of the Aztecs, cocoa was mainly used as a beverage. Wines and drinks were made from the white pulp around the seeds of the cocoa pod. The beans themselves are used to make hot or cold chocolate drinks. Both the Maya and the Aztec secular drinks used roasted cocoa beans, a foaming agent sugar, toasted corn, and water. Vanilla and/or chili were also used as an ingredient in the drinks. Cocoa beans were also used as a currency and as a tribute tax from peoples ruled by Aztecs. The oily layer floating in the chocolate drink cocoa butter was used to protect the skin against the sun. For the Aztecs, cocoa had a religious significance. Cocoa was believed to be of divine origin: the cocoa tree was a bridge between earth and heaven. Human sacrifices to propitiate God or the sun were first sanctified by giving him chocolate. Cocoa beans were given to priest's assistants at children's coming of age ceremonies. During marriage ceremonies, the couple drank a symbolic cup of chocolate and exchanged cocoa beans. Aztecs believed that drinking chocolate gave mortals some of Quetzalcoatl's wisdom. - God of learning and of the wind.