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The History of Cocoa and Chocolate
The Spanish didn't like it but immediately understood its importance, and that its energy-giving nutritious value was worth a fortune.Henrnán Cortés was the firts navigator to bring cocoa to the Court of Charles V, king of Spain; from then on, cocoa fruit became the monopoly of spanish trade. The cocoa plants aroused lively interest among the botanists of that time; one of them, Girolamo Benzoni, after travelling in the Americas, wrote the book "A History of the New World" where he describes how the Aztec people used to grow cocoa and prepare chocolate in great detail. Like the colonists, he didn't appreciate this beverage either. But when somebody had the idea of adding sugar (after that the Spanish people introduced sugar cane cultivation), everyone appreciated the dark creamy beverage. Then honey, aniseed, cinnamon, vanilla or other flavourings were also added to cocoa, transforming the bitter beverage, which would otherwise have probably disappeared, into a real godsend. 
Around 1580, the Spanish conquerors who had up until that moment kept this treasure from other people, started to ship loads of cocoa seeds to Europe; regular shipping was then arranged between the port of Veracruz and the colonies.The Court of Madrid, at that time capital of the Kingdom of Philip II, was the base from which chocolate would reach Europe, but its arrival in France was due to Anne of Austria, daughter of Philip III, King of Spain, who married Louis XIII of France. It is said that she brouhgt the entire equipment for preparing drinking chocolate with her and that her maid at court was the only person to be entrusted with this kind of ceremony. In any case, it was Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain who, on marrying Louis XIV ("le Roi-Soleil"), started to drink chocolate verey morning on awakening and when receiving, thus making chocolate extremely popular (hot chocolate in particular was appreciated). The method for preparing drinking chocolate has changed in time: during the Aztec or Maya civilization, the beverage sas transferred several time from one jug to another so as to form a cream and remove the film of cocoa fat from the surface.
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