Briefly explain why it is accurate (true) to say that the cacao bean was an important part of ancient Mexican culture. Be sure to use evidence from the article to support your response. Remember to explain (in your own words) how your evidence supports the claim.

Maybe the answer

Into the jungle

The story of chocolate starts thousands of years ago in the rain forests of South America, where the Maya people first began to farm cacao trees. The bright pink flowers of these trees developed into hard pods the size of melons, which held precious cocoa beans.

Some like it hot

The Mayans added crushed cocoa beans to water to make a hot, foamy drink called chocolatl. Chocolatl was very bitter, and often mixed with flavorings like chile or vanilla. Soon the Aztecs from Mexico also started enjoying chocolatl, though they drank it cold.

Chocolate coins

The Aztecs used cocoa beans like we use money. Emperor Moctezuma II was said to have more than 960 million beans in his storehouses. When Europeans first arrived, they had no idea why these beans were so valuable. Soon these Spanish conquistadors were drinking chocolatl with sugar and sending beans home to Spain.

Sweetening the deal

This chocolate drink became popular in Spain as a fashionable treat for the rich. It was even enjoyed by kings and queens! It quickly spread across Europe, and back across the Atlantic Ocean to North America. New technology like the water wheel and steam engine made it easier and cheaper to produce chocolate, and soon everyone could enjoy it.

The candy man

In the 1840s, a chocolate company in England replaced the water in chocolate with cocoa butter. This oil was pressed from cocoa beans and normally left out of chocolate. The mixture cooled and hardened, creating the first solid chocolate bar! The recipe has changed a lot since then, but we still enjoy chocolate today.

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