Ask friends who received chocolate as a Valentine’s Day gift today where it’s originally from and you’re likely to hear Germany or Switzerland. It may take a friend who is especially learned to give you the correct answer: Mexico.

Chocolate, derived from the Nahuatl xocolatl, meaning “bitter water,” has existed in Mexico for thousands of years. Made into a chile-infused drink still common today in many parts of Mexico, xocolatl was and continues to be a nutritious delicacy.

So coveted was xocolatl as a drink that the cacao seeds used to make it were traded as currency and paid as tribute to the state.

Unlike chewing gum and peanut butter, which also have their origins in Mexico, chocolate’s roots are indisputable. As mentioned earlier, even the word’s origin is Mexican. Nevertheless, it may be necessary on this day of love and friendship to share with those close to us a bit of history on this great thing called chocolate.

To the world we say, “you’re welcome.”

Photo: Carved figure of a man holding a cacao pod; Scanned image of the Codex Zouche-Nuttal which describes the cacao plant and its uses; Ground cacao beans on a metate