Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Cacao travelled from Mesoamerica and was soon served hot with sugar and spice. The figure is taken from Smithsonian Institution, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

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Yes. It sits on the History shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Chocolate reached Europe through Spanish courts

Cacao travelled from Mesoamerica and was soon served hot with sugar and spice Cacao had been drunk, often unsweetened and spiced with chilli, in Mesoamerica for centuries before Spanish contact. By the 1580s shipments of beans were arriving in Spain, where drinkers added sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. The first London chocolate house opened in the 1650s, and solid eating chocolate came much later. It sits in Mondo's history collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Smithsonian Institution

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History trivia Food & Cooking trivia

More facts like this

Cacao was first drunk in MesoamericaThe Maya and Aztecs frothed ground beans into a bitter spiced beverage Cádiz wrote Spain's first modern constitutionDelegates besieged by French armies produced a charter in 1812 The Treaty of Tordesillas divided non-European exploration zonesSpain and Portugal drew a meridian line to claim overseas territories in 1494 Tempering chocolate aligns cocoa butter crystalsControlled cooling ensures chocolate sets with a glossy finish and crisp snap Dutch processing reduces acidity in cocoa powderTreating cocoa beans with alkaline solution darkens colour and mellows flavour Conching smooths chocolate for hoursThe mixture is kneaded and aerated until its particles are too small to feel

Tags: chocolate, cacao, spain

Chocolate reached Europe through Spanish courts: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Cacao travelled from Mesoamerica and was soon served hot with sugar and spice. The figure is taken from Smithsonian Institution, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a history fact?: Yes. It sits on the History shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.