초콜릿 Listeni/ˈtʃɒklət/ is a processed, typically sweetened 음식 produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central America and Northern South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC. The majority of the Mesoamerican people made 초콜릿 beverages, including the Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl [ʃo'kolaːt͡ɬ], a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". The seeds of the cacao 나무, 트리 have an intense 쓴, 쓰라린 taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor.

After fermentation,...