| Chewing on a raw cocoa bean is an . . . unexpected adventure. Not necessarily in a good way. It is chalky, with an intense bitter taste from abundant alkaloid compounds. The fruit that contains it is gooey and white, with the unctuous consistency of yogurt and the acid-sweet taste of a sour patch kid. But thousands of years ago, the indigenous people of the upper Amazon region realized that they could eat this sugary fruit, called Theobroma cacao. Perhaps they saw other animals enjoying the cacao and figured it would be good for them to eat, as well. Maybe a parent tried a small sample and, deciding it wasn't poisonous, fed it to her hungry family. In many ways, the history of food is the story of humanity's first science experiments. Cacoa's earliest consumers probably spat out the seeds — who can blame them? — allowing the plant to spread across South and Central America. But sometime, somewhere, someone realized that the fruit could be fermented. Anthropologists have identified alcohol and cocoa residue on broken bits of pottery dating to as early as 1900 B.C. Fermentation turns this sour fruit and its bitter seeds into something worthy of its Latin name, which translates to "food of the gods." Microscopic yeasts convert the sugary pulp into ethanol, then bacteria oxidize the alcohol into acid. The alcohol, acid and heat produced by these reactions cause the cell walls with the bean to break down, allowing complex chemical changes to occur. Bitter plant pigments are converted into more mellow molecules, which give chocolate its brown color and some of its flavor. Chemicals called "aroma precursors" start to take shape, setting the stage for the formation of important flavor molecules during roasting. Adding heat allows for the Maillard reaction — the same chemical process that browns the crust of bread and creates the distinctive savory flavor of roasted meat. It's thanks to microbes, Maillard reactions, and the curious, creative minds of early Americans that humanity gets to enjoy chocolate today. — Sarah | 
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