The prodigious potion of sexual vigor that the Aztecs taught the Spanish Empire

currency exchange

When did Europeans learn about chocolate? To answer this question, it is necessary to go back in time to the 16th century. It was around then that a sailor well known in these parts was making his fourth trip to the Americas. «The first European who came across the cocoa kernel was, according to his own son, Christopher Columbus. It was near Honduras, when he found a canoe full of indigenous people, presumably Mayans, who were carrying a shipment of this unknown fruit,” explained Nikita Harwich, professor at the University of Paris Ouest Nanterre ‘La Défense’, to ABC.

Columbus, who was more concerned about finding Cipango than anything else, paid no attention to this food. It would have been better, since the restorative properties of cocoa kernels and their value meant that they were used by the natives as a kind of legal tender.

Fortunately, 20 years later the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés came across these almonds again and was able to appreciate their importance. «Cortés found himself on his way to Tenochtitlan with cocoa beans. We know this from the letters he wrote to Charles V, in which he claimed to have found this food. It caught his attention that these almonds were used in two ways. Firstly, as an element to make a restorative drink that allowed one to regain strength after long walks and, secondly, as a currency for commercial exchanges,” determined Harwich.

At first the Spanish did not appreciate cocoa as food; For them, the indigenous people made drinks that were too bitter and spicy with it. In fact, it was not until the year 1530 when someone thought of adding sugar, a substance that, although it was very expensive, made Europeans begin to feel a real attraction for cocoa.

While all this was happening in old Europe, the Spanish soon understood the benefits that would come from using cocoa beans as currency. Therefore, they continued with that tradition for centuries. «The cocoa kernel continued to be used as currency until the 19th century in southern America. This was favored by the Spanish since, in this way, they avoided having to make transactions in gold and silver and they could transport these materials to Spain. The tribute that the indigenous people paid to the Spanish crown was also made in cocoa kernels,” added Harwich.

In fact, in South America a conversion table was created between cocoa beans and the currency in use so that no colonist would be scammed and pay more chocolate than they should during a commercial transaction. In the chronicle of Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedothe first Indian chronicler to travel to the New World, we are told that the services of a prostitute were worth between 8 and 9 cocoa beans. It could also be used to buy in the market or acquire a slave, something that was quite expensive. Cocoa kernels were so important that they were counterfeited like money is done today.

Miraculous potion

Although, at first, the bitter taste of cocoa was not liked by the Spaniards, the truth is that there were many who longed to drink it. The blame, if it can be called that, lay with a chronicler of the conqueror Hernán Cortés who, in one of his books, attributed a curious function to this food: that of being a powerful aphrodisiac.

«Bernal Díaz del Castillo, one of Hernán Cortés’ companions, made chocolate earn a curious reputation that lasted three centuries. This Spaniard wrote a book that was a kind of ‘best seller’ of the time in which he said that, during a banquet with the native emperor Montezuma, he had seen how he drank several cups of chocolate before leaving for his harem. For this reason, it was thought for decades to be an effective aphrodisiac and, in subsequent years, its use was associated with environments of lust. “Besides, only children could take it,” Harwich determined.

It is unknown whether or not it was because of that legend, but the truth is that Philip II sent a group of experts to America to analyze the properties of cocoa and another series of foods recently discovered in the New World. Among them were, for example, potatoes or tobacco. In the case of chocolate, the conclusions were favorable. «They established that it could have therapeutic and curative properties. In turn, they stressed that, as a drink, it had restorative and euphoric properties, something that was confirmed later) Therefore, it was incorporated very quickly into pharmacies. It was considered a potion for the sick. Its taste, bitter in origin, predisposed one to think that it was a medicine,” the historian completed.

After those analyses, the reputation of cocoa improved even more. It was talked about so well that, in 1750, the English Royal Navy established that a daily cup of chocolate would be included in the sailors’ ration for its restorative capacity. «This tradition would last until World War II and the US Army considered that chocolate should be part of combat rations. In fact, he made his experts look for a chocolate that could resist heat. In response, a chocolate with a lot of cocoa butter that resisted temperatures of up to 40 degrees was born. I don’t think it was very good because of its greasy consistency, but it was very successful,” concluded the historian.