A Cup of Comfort

The delicious beginnings of a beloved winter tradition: drinking hot chocolate

- Leila El Shennawy

AFTER SKATING, SKIING or shoveling snow, nothing warms you up better than a cup of hot cocoa. Although today's typical toppings-whipped cream, . marshmallows, crushed peppermint candy-may be modern marvels, chocolate was first consumed in liquid form by the Olmec people of northwestern Central America around 1500 B.C. It was even enjoyed by the Aztec emperor Montezuma, and the Aztec word for it (xocolatl, pronounced shoh-kwah-tl or shoh-kwah-lah-tl) evolved into the English word chocolate.

But the Aztecs didn't serve their cocoa hot. And since sugar had not yet arrived from Europe, back then, the drink was often flavored with peppers and spices. It may not have been quite as indulgent as today's version, but it was more palatable if you believed, as the Aztecs did, that chocolate was a gift from the gods and had healing properties.