SC - Chocolate Drink - 1615

[pat fee]

  Where in LA did you find this market.  I live in Corona and would love to 
find a market such as this.

  Lady Katherine MC


>From: Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net>
>Reply-To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
>To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
>Subject: Re: SC - Chocolate Drink - 1615
>Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 11:22:44 -0700
>
>I just bought a small packet of cacao nibs, about one ounce or so, at Whole 
>Foods
>Market in Los Angeles [high-end yuppie organic grocery, formerly Mrs. 
>Gooch's].
>Baking chocolate =might= do, but consider it pre-powdered and pre-roasted.  
>Annato
>seeds are readily available here as well.  I'm not sure what logwood is nor 
>how it
>affects the flavor so I guess we go with the anise seeds.  I will perform 
>the
>experiment, albeit on a small scale, and get back to you.
>
>But for the spice seeds and chili pepper, this seems to closely resemble 
>the
>ingredients list of Mexican chocolate tablets, which contain chocolate 
>nibs, sugar,
>cinnimon and sometimes vanilla.  I have a vile habit of eating them 
>straight, but I
>also make a pleasant sweet bread with them based on a cocoa bread recipe 
>from a
>breadmaker book.
>
>If you need groceries from LA, I'd be happy to ship them to you.
>
>Yours in chocoholism,
>Selene
>selene at earthlink.net
>
>lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:
>
> > I'm trying to work out the following slightly out of period recipe
> > for a Chocolate beverage for personal use. As it is rather late,
> > being a bit OOP, it has quantities of ingredients, but even so, i
> > have questions...
> >
> > ---------------------
> >
> >  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.
> >
> > ORIGINAL LIST OF INGREDIENTS
> >
> > "The Receipt of him who wrote at Marchena, is this:
> >
> > Of Cacaos, 700
> > of white Sugar, one pound and a halfe
> > Cinnamon, 2. ounces
> > of long red pepper, 14
> > of Cloves, halfe an ounce:
> >
> > Three Cods of the Logwood or Campeche tree;
> > or in steade of that, the weight of 2 Reals, or a shilling of Anniseeds;
> > as much of Agiote, as will give it the colour, which is about the
> > quantity of a Hasellnut.
> >
> > Some put in Almons,
> > kernells of Nuts, and
> > Orenge-flower-water.
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > 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?
> >
> > 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?
> >
> > (c.) How much does a shilling or 2 reals weight?
> >
> > (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?
> >
> > 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?
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > I can work out quantities by myself, once i resolve (a) and (b).
> >
> > ---------------------
> >
> > ORIGINAL PREPARATION
> > [paragraph breaks mine for ease of reading]
> >
> > The Cacao, and the other Ingredients must be beaten in a Morter of
> > Stone, or ground upon a broad stone, which the Indians call Metate,
> > and is onely made for that use: But the first thing that is to be
> > done, is to dry the Ingredients, all except the Achiote, with care
> > that they may be beaten to powder, keeping them still in stirring,
> > that they be not burnt, or become black; and if they be over-dried,
> > they will be bitter, and lose their vertue. The Cinamon, and the long
> > red Pepper are to be first beaten, with the Annisseed; and then beate
> > the Cacao, which you must beate by a little and little, till it be
> > all powdred; and sometimes turne it round in the beating, that it may
> > mixe the better: And every one of these Ingredients, must be beaten
> > by it selfe, and then put all the Ingredients into the Vessell, where
> > the Cacao is; which you must stirre together with a spoone; and then
> > take out that Paste, and put it into the Morter, under which you must
> > lay a little fire, after the Confection is made. But you must be very
> > carefull, not to put more fire, than will warme it, that the unctuous
> > part doe not dry away. And you must also take care, to put in the
> > Achiote in the beating; that it may the better take the colour. You
> > must Searse all the Ingredients, but onely the Cacao; and if you take
> > the shell from the Cacao, it is the better; and when you shall find
> > it to be well beaten, & incorporated (which you shall know by the
> > shortness of it)
> >
> > then with a spoone take up some of the Paste, 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.
> >
> > In the Indies they take it two severall waies: The one, being the
> > common way, is to take it hot, with Atolle, which was the Drinke of
> > Ancient Indians (the Indians call Atolle pappe, made of the flower of
> > Maiz, and so they mingle it with the Chocolate, and that the Atolle
> > may be more wholsome, they take off the Husks of the Maiz, which is
> > windy, and melancholy; and so there remaines onely the best and most
> > substantiall part.) Now, to returne to the matter, I say, that the
> > other Moderne drinke, which the Spaniards use so much, is of two
> > sortes. The one is, that the Chocolate, being dissolved with cold
> > water, & the scumme taken off, and put into another Vessell, the
> > remainder is put upon the fire, with Sugar; and when it is warme,
> > then powre it upon the Scumme you tooke off before, and so drinke it.
> > The other is to warme the water; and then, when you have put it into
> > a pot, or dish, as much Chocolate as you thinke fit, put in a little
> > of the warme water, and then grinde it well with the molinet; and
> > when it is well ground, put the rest of the warme water to it; and so
> > drinke it with Sugar.
> >
> > MY SIMPLIFIED INTERPRETATION
> > The recipe calls for drying the ingredients. This appears to be what
> > i call dry roasting which i do in a wok or skillet with no oil on a
> > medium-low fire, stirring constantly until things seem right (color,
> > smell, texture).
> >
> > Grind everything but the chocolate to a powder; sieve to assure it is
> > well powdered and to remove fibers. Crush cacao nibs, then grind them
> > near a fire, which will make a paste (If i use unsweetened baking
> > chocolate, can i just melt it?). Stir powdered ingredients into cocoa
> > paste and mix well.
> >
> > Make tablets by taking a spoonful of paste and putting it on paper or
> > plantain leaves (i used to have access to banana leaves in LA, as
> > these are often planted as ornamentals, but i don't see them here in
> > Berkeley :-) and letting it harden.
> >
> > To drink: (1) mix a tablet into atole (mmm, i like atole - used to
> > make it when i lived in LA); or (2) mix with water, warm, and beat,
> > and add sugar to taste.
> >
> > ---------------------
>
>
>
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