[Sca-cooks] chocolate material

[Johnna Holloway]

Back in 2003 I did a series of postings on chocolate.

These are some of those highlights.

Chocolate Exhibit Field Museum site
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/chocolate/education.html 


http://www.chocolate-artistry.com/recipes.php
Elaine González shares her
CHOCOLATE RECIPES for the drink
and discusses it.
--------------------------
Lastly you may get a kick out of this
site-----If you go to
http://floridafrontier.com/

and click on the 16th Century kitchen.
The next screen in that series will take you
to the following---- described as:
Above is a chocolate pot
  and a wooden frother called a molinillo.

------------
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.

Prior to using the molinillo, chocolate was poured from cup to cup--

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   

----------
I am teaching Spanish in a Junior High.  Every Friday, we do "Cultural" 
lessons.  I decided that for the month of February (being the month with 
Valentine's day) we would study the history of Chocolate.  I know that 
they've all had "regular" modern chocolate.  I was hoping that there might 
be some 1500's recipes that use chocolate that I could bring in for the 
students to try.  Or if there are any period references that I could print 
out and use.
Thanks for your help!
Geertruyt