Valentine’s Day and Chocolate

When you give chocolates to your significant other on Valentine’s Day, you are participating in a tradition that is centuries old. Far from being cliché, a gift of chocolates carries a meaning as powerful as giving red roses or writing a love sonnet. To understand the symbolism of the gift, you must look far back into two completely different cultures.

Mayans, Aztecs, and … Chocolate?

The origins of chocolate actually go back all the way to the Olmecs, the first recorded civilization in South-Central America. However, it was the Mayan’s who made chocolate a dietary staple and cultural tradition. To them, chocolate was an energy drink that we would find bitter. In fact, they added chili pepper to it to make it a spicy drink. However, they also added vanilla to it, which gave it a sensual quality. That is where we’ll start our explorations.

While the Mayans used their chocolate drink primarily as a strength and mood enhancer, it became a key element in many of their cultural rituals. By the time the Mayans became the Aztecs, the chocolate drink had become so ingrained in their culture that the cocoa beans used to make it could be used as currency! Large portions of the Aztec population grew cocoa beans in their yards and used it up almost as fast as they could harvest it.

At some point, the chocolate drink became part of the Aztec marriage ceremony, where the sensual qualities of chocolate (now known to be due to its serotonin content) were like an aphrodisiac to Aztec newlyweds. From here, chocolate became a virility drink as well as an energy enhancer, and it was for both these reasons that Aztec emperors drank large quantities of it and gave it as gifts to visiting dignitaries.

Chocolate’s Debut in Europe

When Spanish conqueror Cortez arrived at Aztec Emperor Montezuma’s doorstep, he was given the chocolate drink as a “kingly gift” and told about its powers to enhance strength and virility. Cortez quickly bought into this and began shipping it back to Spain. As Europeans were not huge fans of the spicy and bitter taste of Aztec chocolate, they added cane sugar and cinnamon to it and removed the chili pepper. In this sweetened form, Spanish chocolate became a big hit almost instantly.

It could be argued that one of the biggest reasons Spain conquered the Aztec Empire was to fuel its newfound passion for chocolate! The Spanish quickly began shipping cocoa back to Europe in huge quantities. By the 17^th century, the Spanish chocolate drink was available to almost anyone who could afford it. By the end of the 18^th century, a solid form of chocolate was available. In the 19^th century, new ways of making chocolate made it affordable for the masses.

Throughout the centuries, chocolate never lost the connection to romantic love that the Aztecs had given it. Its relative expense (until the late 19^th century) made it a very meaningful gift between lovers. It was only a matter of time before it became associated with Valentine’s Day.

The History of Valentine’s Day

Like many Western holidays, Valentine’s Day began as a pagan Roman festival called Lupercalia, a festival dedicated to encouraging fertility and childbirth. The strong sexual element that inevitably accompanies such festivals made it a difficult tradition to halt, and the Catholic Church was only able to kill it by replacing it with a holiday for Saint Valentine.

Traditions seldom die, however, and romantic and erotic elements began to reappear in the St. Valentine’s Day traditions in the 14^th century. Soon, the tradition of writing “valentines” on February 14^th was well underway, and giving flowers soon became a tradition as well. However, chocolates would have to become affordable before they would be added to the list of Valentine’s Day traditions.

Chocolates and Valentine’s Day Today

In the late 19^th century, Victorian prudishness set the stage for chocolate’s addition to Valentine’s Day traditions. With its stigma as an erotic food, it was a great way to send a strong message in a very discreet, symbolic way. The adoption of chocolate as a Valentine’s Day tradition was not immediate due to the price of chocolate, so it did not become widespread until the early 20^th century. However, it was a great way to say, “I want you,” to your sweetheart in an age when it was extremely risqué to say so!

So by buying your sweetheart a batch of chocolate, you are participating in an exotic romantic tradition that is centuries old and carries a very real message. A box of chocolates says that you find someone desirable and hope they find you desirable in return. On top of that, the chocolates you give were once considered fit for kings—and, really, they still are. After all, who is more deserving of the title “king” or “queen” than your significant other?