SC - "Chocolate in a Period Form"

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Christina Nevin wrote:
> 
>         Adamantius wrote:
>         It does seem unlikely, but the contest people may be referring to
> the possibility of edible pastilles of cacao and sugar, little tablets that
> could be dissolved in hot water for chocolate, or eaten as is. I vaguely
> recall seeing a reference to this habit, but am pretty sure the point of the
> researcher bringing up the diarist's passage was that these pastilles appear
> not to have reached Europe in period.

Thanks, Lady Lucretzia! I knew _some_one would have it handy.
 
> >From "Chocolate: or, An Indian Drinke." London, 1652, by Capt. John
> Wadsworth. Apparently a translation of a book by Melchor de Lara, "Physitian
> General for the Kingdome of Spaine", 1631.
>  " ...with a spoone take up some of the Paste <which is made up of
> chocolate, chilli, aniseed, sugar and various other spices>, which will be
> almost liquid; and so either make it into Tablets; or put it into Boxes; and
> when it is cold it will be hard. To make the Tablets, you must put a
> spoonfull of the Paste upon a piece of paper, the Indians put it upon the
> leaf of a Plantentree, where being put into the shade, it growes hard; and
> then bowing the paper, the Tablet falls off, by reason of the fatnesse of
> the paste. But if you put it into any thing of earth, or wood, it sticks
> fast, and will not come off, but with scraping, or breaking. "  and goes on
> to speak of the habit of also drinking chocolate hot or cold as well as in
> tablets.

As suggested earlier, I'm pretty sure this is a description of how it
was done by people living in Mexico, and doesn't necessarily document
the eating of solid chocolate in Europe, in period or otherwise. I'll
see if I can find the whole thing on disk someplace; I may simply be
remembering it inaccurately. 
> 
> Whether this can be backdated to pre-1600 is one of those never-resolved
> debates I think.

I dunno, 31 years is a possible and reasonable "give or take" range, but
ultimately unprovable, I suppose.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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