SC - Chocolate Drink - 1615

[Decker, Terry D.]

> MY QUESTIONS
> 
> 1.)
> Cacao pods or nibs are not easy to get and prepare, so i would like 
> to substitute something more readily available while i'm 
> experimenting with the recipe, such as:
> 
> Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
> 
> How much would i need to equal 700 cacao nibs?
> Maybe some day i'll buy 700 cacao nibs and pound them up myself. 
> After all, there's a delicious chocolate bar that has crunchy 
> fragments of cacao in it, so it's a possibility. But while i'm in the 
> development stage, i'd rather use something easier to get and use.
> 

I haven't found any information on how many beans it take to make a pound of
chocolate.  The average number of beans to the pound probably varies
depending on variety of tree and where the beans are in the process.  One of
the industry sites gives the following:  1 lb cocoa paste requires 1.25 lb
beans, 1 lb of cocoa butter requires 2.67 lbs of beans, 1 pound of cocoa
powder or cake requires 2.35 lb beans.


>From http://www.hhhh.org/cloister/chocolate/history.html

By the mid 1600s, some chocolatiers were preparing a primordeal sort of
chocolate bar, consisting of the chocolate paste, sugar, and spices. The
product was a very coarse one at best, and because of the expense of cocoa
beans, probably contained more spice than chocolate. The closest thing
you'll find on the market today is probably Ibarra chocolate. Chocolate
drinks at that time were generally made from one part chocolate paste, two
parts sugar, 8 parts water, and spices.

I have no idea where this site got the ratios.  

If both sets of ratios hold true, and that's a big IF, then 700 cocoa beans
represent 15 oz. avoirdupois or 11.25 ounces Troy depending on which system
was used for the recipe.  Which is then converted into 3/4 lb of cocoa
paste. 

Just as guess, I would use about 3/8 lb of baker's chocolate or cocoa powder
to begin experimenting with the understanding that these have been processed
beyond the basic cocoa paste stage and may not represent the cocoa in the
drink accurately. 

> 2.)
> 1-1/2 lb sugar
> 2 oz cinnamon
> 14 long red peppers [dried - see preparation, below]
> 1/2 oz cloves
> 
> These quantities are clear in the recipe, assuming the measures 
> haven't changed much in 350 years. Is there a significant difference 
> in what constitutes a pound and an ounce by weight between then and 
> now?

If someone has not converted the recipe to modern measure, then these would
probably be apothecary weights (Troy measure). 

> 
> 3.)
> 3 Cods of the Logwood or Campeche tree
> or
> the weight of 2 Reals, or a shilling of Aniseeds; and Achiote/Annato, 
> as much as will give it the color, about the quantity of a Hazelnut
> 
> I can get logwood from natural dye suppliers.
> (a.) Is it safe to consume in small quantities?
> (b.) How much is "3 cods"? is this a volume or weight measure?

Logwood (Haematoxylon campechianum) is a member of the pea family.  A cod is
a seed pod.  The toxicity is unknown, but I would point out that our
ancestors seem to have survived it.  Also the wood is primarily used as a
dye stuff.

> 
> (c.) How much does a shilling or 2 reals weight?

Shilling = 1/20 pound sterling = 12 pennyweights Troy = 3/5 ounce Troy =
slightly over 1/2 ounce U.S. Customary Measure.

> 
> (d.) Is "a hazelnut of achiote" likely to mean by weight or by volume?
> (e.) Has the size of a hazelnut changed significantly since 1650?
> 

Achiote or annatto (Bix orellana)in this instance is the seed of a New World
evergreen, so an annatto seed about the size of a hazelnut.  I don't think
hazelnut size has changed much.

> 4.)
> Some put in Almonds,
> kernels of Nuts [Walnuts?]
> Orange-flower-water
> 
> a.) I assume from the wording that the above are optional. Am i 
> interpreting correctly?
> 

I would agree with your interpretation.

> b.) At this time period is the word "nuts" here likely to mean 
> "walnuts", or nuts in general. I am under the impression that it 
> refers to walnuts, as it does in French. But i read an interpretation 
> that called for hazelnuts.
> 

What nuts were commonly available in Spain at this time?  Seems to me
walnuts and hazelnuts grow further north, but I'm real sketchy on this.

> I can work out quantities by myself, once i resolve (a) and (b).
<recipe clipped>
> 
> Thanks for any assistance,
> 
> Anahita al-shazhiyya

So have fun and tell us hov it goes.

Bear