The famous explorer Christopher Columbus brought a handful of cocoa beans to show Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain but the credit for the introduction of chocolate should really fall to Hernando Cortes who brought chocolate to a wider European audience.
In 1585 the first recorded shipment of chocolate left from Veracruz and sailed to Seville, bringing commercial chocolate to Europe for the very first time. Still served in liquid form the chocolate remained a drink however the recipe was amended by the Europeans who included milk and sugar to remove the bitterness.
Over time the chilli peppers were replaced by vanilla and eventually these changes led to chocolate becoming a luxury item amongst 17th century nobility. Although the taste and texture of the drink varied over time is was not until 1776 that chocolate first became available in a more solid form.
It was the invention of a hydraulic press by the Frenchman Doret that made it all possible. This press enabled the cocoa beans to be ground into a paste which facilitated the large scale production of chocolate.
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