It all starts with the Cacao tree
The Cacao tree is an "American" plant, probably of Amazonian origin. The pods of the tree are about the size of a football. They develop on the bark, or on large branches, from flowers. Tree do not yield their cocoa beans until they are about 3 or 4 years old.............and do not become real producers for as much as 10 years. They are relatively delicate plants, grow to about 20 feet in height, and must be harvested from the ground. The pods themselves are filled with a white pulp, and beans [which contain nibs], from which the chocolate is made.
A little history
The Cacao tree originated in Mesoamerica & was a serious part of the material and cultural lives of the Maya and other societies such as the Aztecs. The Aztec king Montezuma & his cohorts drank liquid chocolate all day long, from golden goblets. This of course, before they were all (unhappily) destroyed by the Spanish in their zeal for conquest and anything of value they could get their hands on. Although it must be reported that it was the Spanish "germs" rather than their swords that really did the natives in with finality. Anyway, getting back to our story...........
Does money grow on trees?
The
Cacao [or, more accurately, the derivatives thereof] was originally consumed as
a drink [called chocolatl by the Aztecs] and used by natives as a
valuable resource for trade. The main growing areas were the pacific coast of
Chiapas Mexico and present day Guatemala & El Salvador. In fact, Cacao nibs were
used as coinage in Nicaragua. There is even evidence of a counterfeit cacao bean
industry [although we can definitely rest assured they were not being
printed on presses in someone's cellar!] which is a sure sign of their monetary
value. So surprisingly, the answer is YES money does grow on trees! 
Or,
at least it did back then. In fact, in 16th century Central America 400 cocoa
beans were worth one Zontli [what we would refer to today as the "exchange
rate"]. And in 1513 a slave was purchased by Hernando Valdez for 100 cocoa
beans.
Some tasty old fashioned foods
The ground beans were mixed with hot and cold water and with maize, ground chilies, vanilla, seeds, roots and flowers [pretty ones we trust] of many plants. Many of the prepared dishes were soups [chocolate soup ?.................now THERE's a real treat!] and the liquid chocolate was poured over other dishes.
