Food
Hot for Chocolate: Aphrodisiacs, Imperialism, and Cacao in the Early Modern Atlantic
When the Spanish conquered Mesoamerica, they conquered cacao. Mixing the bitter cacao seeds with sugar and other spices – spices that were often also obtained through European conquest – the Spanish created a commodity that stimulated the European comestible market. Its luxuriousness grew first out of its expensiveness and rarity Read more…