Cocoa is root of all pleasure // Cacao bean sprouts romance that remains sweet as ever

Chocolate just might win an international contest of the world'smost-favored flavors.

There are books about chocolate, magazines about chocolate,stores that sell nothing but chocolate, T-shirts touting people'slove of chocolate.

And the romance with chocolate goes back several thousands ofyears.

The cacao, or cocoa, tree is believed to have originated in theAmazon basin 4,000 years ago. The Aztec Indians of Mexico reportedlywere the first civilization to use the cacao bean to make thebeverage we now call cocoa.

According to Aztec folklore, chocolate originated in the heavensand was brought to Earth by the loving god Quetzalcoatl. He taughtthe …