The Role of Cacao and Chocolate in Transpacific Exchange Part II. Cacao as Transpacific Trade Good and Global Commodity

Abstract

In the course of the second half of the sixteenth century, chocolate and cacao became increasingly popular among many Europeans. By the 1630s if not earlier, not only the Spanish but also the Dutch, the French, and even the English were consuming a fair amount of cacao. Cacao drinking was introduced into Britain in 1657, and by the early eighteenth century ‘chocolaterías’ existed throughout London, competing with the traditional coffee houses. The drinking of cacao received the support of Quakers, who considered chocolate to be a welcome substitute for ginger. Chocolate was frequently sent as a present from New Spain, both to Spaniards living in Asia and to residents in Spain: In 1621, the Count of Santiago sent some small boxes of chocolate to his wife; in 1625, the Countess of Santiago of New Spain sent, among other things, boxes of chocolate and cacao to the Marchioness of Belvedere in Madrid.