[Sca-cooks] Molinillos was period chocolate pot

[johnna holloway]

When searching for illustrations earlier I
alss searched for information on the
molinillo.

http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/molinillo.htm
has an interesting page on the molinillo.
It talks about the European versus the
Mexican method of making the drink.

One thing that I found interesting is that most of the websites
state that the molinillo seems to have been  invented by the  colonists
in Mexico around 1700.  Prior to the invention of the molinillo,
chocolate was frothed by pouring it from one cup to another.

The first molinillos were made to fit into a container with the handle
 extending out of the top. The molinillo was then rotated between
the users two hands placed palm-sides together. The twisting
 motion frothed the chocolate.

Ok --There is an illustration of an Aztec woman pouring the drink from
one pot into another. One can find that illustration in Ruth Lopez's
Chocolate The Art of Indulgence on page 28.

What she also includes is a 1652 still-life by Antonio de Pereda
y Salgado that shows a chocolate pot and a molinillo, so obviously
they date from before 1700.
That picture Still Life with an Ebony Chest
                       Pereda, Antonio de.
                       Oil on canvas. 80x94 cm
                       Spain. 1652
can be found at the http://www.hermitagemuseum.org
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/fcgi-bin/db2www/quickSearch.mac/gallery?selLang=English&tmCond=Pereda+Antonio+de

Hope this helps.

Johnnae llyn Lewis   Johnna Holloway