Bowers Lecture: Where Chocolate Began with Dr. Lee Theisen

Bowers Museum is pleased to bring you an encore presentation Where Chocolate Began with Dr. Lee Theisen, professor at UCLA.

The story of chocolate, like all great stories, is fraught with narratives both mythical and factual. In this introduction to cacao and chocolate we will explore both, learning first where it was first cultivated and how it spread through Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America. Next, we’ll follow the development of chocolate as sensual desire, money, medicine, and ritual, food, drink, and the lifeblood of many from 5000 BCE to the present. Participants will be provided with a list of craft chocolate makers between The Tropic of Cancer and The Tropic of Capricorn.

View the Bowers’ Chocolate Week programs and become a Member for special discounts or perks.