When in the Philippines you may experience their tsokolate or traditional chocolate beverage. It is made with milk and tablea / pure roasted cacao. It's a frothy, rich, full body, milky, bitter sweet, chocolaty brew.
The froth is a key feature of the tsokolate. The coveted froth is made by aerating the concoction by deftly pouring it between two pots. Much like how teh tarik or frothy pulled milk tea is made in Singapore and Malaysia.
Alternatively, the froth is produced by twirling a wooden baton known as batirol with the chocolate drink in a pot.
The delicious tsokolate is a living artefact linking today's Philippines with a 4,000 year old tradition from the other side of the globe.
Going back as far as 1900 BC, Mesoamericans ferment, sun dry, rоаst аnd ground сасао bеаns to make a thick, spicy, bitter, frothy chocolate brew (which they flavoured with chili pepper, cornmeal, etc).
The Mayan word for kakaw or cacao.
So when we enjoy a tsokolate beverage, remember we are partaking in a 4000 year old tradition from ancient cultures from faraway lands across the Pacific.
An Aztec woman making tsokolate in the 16th century.
The froth, the most desired feature of tsokolate is produced by pouring the hot beverage from one container to another, much like the way.....
Malay and Indian tea shops in Singapore and Malaysia make teh tarik or pulled milk tea.
What is the difference between cacao and cocoa?
The two terms are used loosely in the industry by convention, and at times interchangeably.
Both cacao and cocoa are made from the Theobroma Cacao tree.
Cacao connotes the more artisanal, traditional product such as in the craft chocolate industry. Cacao seeds / beans can be raw, fermented, and sun dried i.e. minimally heat processed.
Cocoa refers to cacao beans which are further heat treated and ground into powder for making instant chocolate drinks or combined with milk / fat to make into bars. Cocoa is associated with industrial scale or mass production.
Craft chocolate establishments which roast, ground, make tablea (cakes) in small batches refer to their products as cacao.
The ancient Maya and Aztec peoples who once lived in today's Mexico enjoyed their cacao beverage. This Mayan earthenware pitcher excavated at Chiapa de Corzo, Mexico is dated 100 - 250 (nearly 2000 years ago 😱 ).
This Mayan earthenware chocolate cup excavated at Quintana Roo, Mexico is dated 650 - 900.
This Aztec earthenware chocolate cup excavated at Vаlеу оf Мехісо is dated 1350 - 1521.
Guatemala was part of the Aztec empire's realm
The Mayan and Aztec chocolate culture were well established, long before the arrival of the Spanish in 1519. The Mayan and Aztec civilisations have long gone but their cultural legacy remains - tsokolate is one of them.
Guess what... emperor Montezuma II greeted Cortes and his men with 50 jugs of cacao drink during their first meeting.
Introduced to chocolate by the Aztecs, the bitter sweet beverage quickly caught on among Spanish elite, and spread across Europe and North America. It was prized as a cure all for ailments and an aphrodisiac.
In 1567, the Spaniards moved further west and crossed the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines.
Three men were credited for establishing the Spanish colony in the Philippines.
From the right, Ferdinand Magellan (1480 - 1521), Miguel López de Legazpi (1502 - 1572), and Andrés de Urdaneta (1498 - 1568).
Magellan, the Portuguese navigator working for Spain, led the first fleet to circumnavigate the world, landed in the Philippines in 1521 but was killed there. Magellan received a poisoned arrow in the leg while fighting with locals on Mactan island.
In 1565, Legazpi and Urdaneta who sailed from Acapulco founded the first European settlement in the Philippines, in Cebu.
The Spaniards wasted no time in establishing the Manila Galleon trade route between Manila and Acapulco in 1567, the same year the Spanish colony was established in the Philippines.
Spain shipbuilding led the world in the 16th century. Spanish galleons were the largest, most formidable fighting ships in the world at the time. Galleons have multiple decks for different functions - ballast (sand and stones), cargo and supplies, cables / ropes / sails storage, as well as guns and castles.
Galleons sailed at specific times of the year, according to the prevailing winds and currents. On the westward journey from Acapulco to Manila, the galleons depart Acapulco in Feb or Mar, stopover at Guam island for supplies, and then sail on to Manila.
For the eastward journey, the ships leave Manila for Acapulco in late Jun or early Jul.
Two to four ships travelled together between Manila and Acapulco. There was a total of 400 sailings in the 250 years of the Manila Galleon from 1565 till 1815 when the Mexican war of independence broke out.
Manila, the western terminal of the Manila Galleon became a prosperous marketplace. Manila's port of Cavite became known as "City of Solid Gold".
The Spanish paid for the Chinese goods with the silver Spanish dollar, the world currency of the time.
On the return trip, galleons brought chocolate (in the form of cacao beans), maize, chillies, pineapples, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and other food to Asia. Prime among these was cacao beans. The Philippines became the first place in Asia to grow the crop.
Chocolate paraphernalia were popular at both ends of the Manila Galleon.
A "chocolate jar" (chocolatero) with iron cover and lock made in China, Jingdezhen, late 17th century was used for storing prized cacao beans.
Chocolate pot made in China, Jingdezhen, late 18th century porcelain, wood, rattan.
Another important chocolate paraphernalia was the mancerina.
Mancerinas are large saucers with cupholders in the centre. They were designed to catch spilled liquid and to avoid burning fingers on the hot cups. The tray can hold pastries and biscuits.
Chocolate remained a beverage until 1847 when British Joseph Fry created the first chocolate bar by combining cocoa fat, cocoa powder and sugar.
Dutch Coenraad van Houten paved the way 19 years earlier by inventing the cocoa press in 1828 which separated cocoa beans into cocoa fat and cocoa powder (to make instant chocolate beverage).
The next time you are in the Philippines, treat yourself to a chocolate beverage and consider the amazing history of the Manila Galleon and historic connection between the Philippines, Mexico and Spain.
An artisanal traditional chocolate cafe in Cebu, Philippines 👈 click
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