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DrWatson Well, a bit of history for you...a Spanish queen once began every morning with a cup of hot chocolate prepared by her little maid, (who was a dwarf). Chocolate was new to Europe at the time, and was imported from the new world! The little dwarf always prepared the Queen's chocolate with chili peppers!
"But what about chocolate, particularly hot chocolate? Where did it come from and how did it come to be even more popular than coffee? The Mayans were the first to enjoy a chocolate drink by mixing ground-up cocoa seeds with water, cornmeal, and chili peppers, developing a thick foam by pouring the beverage back and forth from cup to pot and drinking it cold. The Aztecs adopted it, calling it xocolatl, but its use seems to have been limited to the elites of Aztec society. Cocoa beans were used as currency throughout Mesoamerica.
Cortez brought xocolatl from Mexico to the court of King Charles V, in Spain, where it quickly became popular with courtiers. Over time, sugar was added and chili peppers eliminated and the drink was served hot rather than cold. Cocoa was even given as a dowry when aristocrats married. "
https://www.historythroughfiction.com/blog/the-history-of-hot-chocolate
