[Sca-cooks] 16th Century recipes for Chocolate

[Stefan li Rous]

Craig Daniel (Sorry, I don't remember your persona name, and you  
didn't sign your message) said:
<<< That said, I love me some Chocolate or an Indian Drinke, which is  
the
first recipe I know of for something that is documentably late period
but missing actual pre-1600 recipes. >>>

We do have some recipes for chocolate drinks from before 1600 CE. We  
have more from the 17th century, but we do have some from the 16th.

You can find some of them and references to various others in this  
file in the FOOD-SWEETS section of the Florilegium:
chocolate-msg    (130K)  2/29/08    History and description of early  
chocolate.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-SWEETS/chocolate-msg.html

<<<Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 14:35:41 -0800 (PST)
From: Terri Spencer <taracook at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] chocolate as passion
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

<snip>
The seller of fine chocolate is one who grinds,
who provides people with drink, with repasts.
She grinds cacao; she crushes, breaks, pulverizes them.
She chooses, selects, separates them.
She drenches, soaks, steeps them.
She adds water sparingly, conservatively;
aerates it, filters it, strains it, pours it back and forth, aerates it;
She makes it form a head, makes it foam;
She removes the head, makes it thicken;
makes it dry, pours water in, stirs water into it.
She sells good, superior, potable [chocolate];
the privilege; the drink of nobles, or rulers
finely ground, soft, foamy, reddish, bitter;
[with] chile water, with flowers,
with uei uacaztli (Cymbopetalum penduliflorum),
with mecaxochitl (Piper amalago),
with wild bee honey, with powdered aeromatic flowers.
[Inferior chocolate has] maize flour and water; lime water;
[it is] pale; the [froth] bubbles burst.
[It is chocolate] with water added –
Chontal water
[fit for] water flies.

Barnardino de Sahagún, c.1500-1590, Franciscan missionary

He also describes a  banquet version spiced with xochinacaztli, or uei
penduliflorum, or teunacaztli, ear-shaped flowers of Cymbopetalum
penduliflorum, Popenoe says tastes like ‘black pepper with the addition
of a resinous bitterness’.>>>

I have a bunch of additional info to add to this file when I find the  
time.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****