Thank the Gods for Mexican chocolate!

For all the fame (and high prices) of Belgian and Swiss chocolate, you'd think they invented the stuff. Not so. Thank southern Mexico and northern Central America for the universally craved elixir. Chocolate topped our list of Maya foods that changed the world, and legions of gourmets and chocoholics would argue it is the most important food on the planet.

Most of Mexico's fine chocolate is made not into candy bars but into table chocolate — solid tablets the size of a hockey puck, often combined with sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and other spices — even chile peppers. These aren't designed to be eaten like candy but broken into pieces and melted to make a drink. Still, they are hearty and delicious eaten right out of the wrapper; I've never succeeded in getting one home from a trip to Mexico.

Article posted May 19th in the SFGate by Christine Delsol who is a former Chronicle travel editor and author of "Pauline Frommer's Cancun & the Yucatán." Read more here