"Probably no food in history has become as enrobed into world culture as chocolate. Its mythical beginnings tell a tale of ancient empires and great kings. The mysterious Olmecs, the mighty Maya; both civilizations grew to tower over Central America, and then fall into ruin, long before the rest of the world knew they existed. The Aztecs had taken power by the time of Columbus. Early Spanish explorers were dumbfounded to discover an entire culture underpinned by an almond-shaped bean natives called xocolatl. The food was part of Aztec weddings, funerals, harvests and human sacrifice. It was a form of currency. It was a drink of the gods, and a drink of an emperor who, purportedly, relied on it for potency during visits to his mistresses. This was probably not literally true. And yet it was mythically true, in the sense that it became the first of a series of fables and tales, usually fascinating, sometimes lurid, often fanciful, that have for centuries surrounded the lore of chocolate"--