[Sca-cooks] OOP: 18th c. chocolate (was Weight of candied orange peel?)

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

On 19 Sep 2002, at 23:35, Ron Carnegie wrote:

> At 11:18 PM 9/19/02 -0400, you wrote:
> >The hot chocolate, OTOH, was great.  I used Mexican table
> >chocolate flavored with cinnamon and cloves, hot water, sugar, and
> >just a leetle bit of cayenne.  It was enthusiastically received by
> >the attendees at the A&S workshop I went to last night.
> >
>     Yes Chocolate!   I much prefer the historic versions of this
>     beverage,
> though many don't since it is awfully alien to their expectations.

I doubt the unsweetened Aztec version would have gone over so
well.  The spiced chocolate was much better than my previous
attempt with plain chocolate, sugar, and cayenne.  Without milk,
chocolate seems to have a certain "flatness".  Adding cayenne
gave it a kick, but didn't relieve the flatness.  But the cinnamon and
cloves rounded out the flavor very nicely.  My "recipe" was:
2 cups (16 fl. oz.) hot water
3 tablets Luker Chocolate con Canela y Clavos
3 TBS white sugar
1/16 tsp. cayenne pepper

I used a blender to mix it.  Since hot liquids can react explosively
in a blender (ask my uncle about the pumpkin soup on his ceiling
one Thanksgiving), I only used part of the water to blend the
chocolate and other ingredients, then put it all in a saucepan to
heat fully.  Stir well *each time* before serving.  After a while, the
chocolate tends to settle.  My tasters found that the chocolate at
the bottom of the carafe was thicker and also spicier.


Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
rcmann4 at earthlink.net