[Sca-cooks] Weights and measures re Chocolate Drinks
Johnna Holloway
johnnae at mac.com
Tue Mar 17 06:23:21 PDT 2009
A couple of weeks ago there was a post regarding Chocolate
and the research being done by Master Raymond von dem Lowengrab OL.
Master Raymond and I have been corresponding back and forth about
various aspects
of chocolate research and early sources. He sent me this post today
regarding
some of the weights/measures that appear in the Florilegium file on
Chocolate Drinks.
I have done some more research and will post the findings here before
sending it onto
Stefan.
The background as constructed from posts in the florilegium:
Back in 1996 there was a post by Eric S. Haverberg that gave a recipe.
It reads in part-- Date: 26 Oct 1996 06:36:48 -0400
EHAV at oro.net (Eric S. Haverberg) wrote:I here is the recipe I have
from 1631 published by Antonio Colmenero who had taken it from a
Marchena physician;
700 cocoa beans
1 1/2 lbs. white sugar
2 ozs of cinnamon
14 long red peppers
1/2 oz of clove
3 cods of logwood or Campeche tree - similar to fennell
or instead use
the weight of 2 reals (or a shilling) of anniseeds
as much Achiote to give it the color of hazelnut
I don't know what some of these measurements are so I will leave that
up to some one more knowledgable then I.
Ottokar von dem Schwartwald, AoA Shire of Blackhawk Middle Kingdom
--------------
Later in 2000 our own Anahita (now known as Urtatim) posed the questions
of weights.
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 10:03:01 -0700 From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Subject: SC - Chocolate Drink - 1615
RE: From "Chocolate: or, An Indian Drinke." London, 1652, by Capt. John
Wadsworth.
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...snipped
She asked: (c.) How much does a shilling or 2 reals weight?
---------
Bear then answered on Wed, 27 Sep 2000 14:06:04 -0500
Subject: RE: SC - Chocolate Drink - 1615 (should be 1651 BTW if from
Wadsworth's translation)
A cod in this case is a seed pod.
A shilling is 1/20th of a pound sterling equaling 12 penneyweights Troy
approximately equaling 18.6 grams or slightly over 1/2 ounce U.S.
Customary Measure.
----------
What Master Raymond in consultation with Master Ian this am sent me this
am is
an explanation that seems to indicate that this shilling measure is not
quite right.
"18.6 grams is 1/20 of a Troy pound. By the reign of Elizabeth I, the
sterling nominal pound (i.e. 240 pence of sterling alloy independently
of weight) had inflated to one third of a Troy pound, making a shilling
6.2 grams."
The post also addresses the question:
"1) What is the "standard" accepted weight for 2 Reals ? "
The answer: "6.77 grams."
Master Raymond then asked: "[I have no idea if the reference is for a
single 2 Real coin, or 2X 1 Real coins.]"
The answer is: "It shouldn't matter. The standard for the one real
was 3.38 grams."
The message this am also pointed out that since the recipe was published
in England in the 1650's that
"OTOH, the coins of James I, which would have still been circulating in
1631, were commonly heavily clipped, while the Spanish coins, even of
the homeland (i.e. rather than just the colonies) were of the 'cob' or
'macuquina' fabric, so the weight of particular coin of either type
that the cook happened to have to throw on the scale probably varied
more from the theoretical standard than they varied from each other."
So, according to Master Ian the proper weight for anniseeds in the
recipe would be between 6.2 to 6.77 grams instead of the 18.6 grams
listed by the gentleman who responded in the past post now listed on the
Floriligium.
I hope that you, and the SCA-Cooks list, might find this tidbit helpful
in getting an accurate accounting for measurements involving coinage
should they pop up again. Please feel free to post this where you think
it might be helpful or interesting.
I wish you and yours health and Happiness.
Master Raymond von dem Lowengrab OL
-----
So here it is then. Anniseed is called for in a lesser quantity apparently.
Hope this helps
Johnnae llyn Lewis
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