Valentine’s Day: how chocolate became the food of love

By Josie Delap

Even in a pandemic – perhaps particularly in a pandemic – nothing can stop the onslaught of Valentine’s Day adverts. Goods of all shapes and sizes briefly morph into heart-shaped objects. All manner of food is coloured red or sold as a more romantic version of its former self (spicy “love sausage”, anyone?). Yet when the pressure is on to express our passion, many of us fall back on a Valentine’s staple: chocolate, the ultimate food of love.

The connection between chocolate and romance is an enduring one. Cacao, the base ingredient for chocolate, first acquired a social significance in Mesoamerica, where the beans have been used to flavour food and make drinks since around 2,000BC. Mayans and Aztecs bartered with cacao. The ingredient was also an element of ritual offerings, including those linked to fertility and love. Drinks made with cacao and flavoured with spices, honey or flowers were exchanged and drunk at important moments, such as in negotiations between a suitor and his prospective father-in-law.