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If you read Regency romance, you will probably be
familiar with the hot chocolate our heroines enjoy. We still like our hot
chocolate today, whether flavored or topped with whipped cream or both. Opening
a can of cocoa powder or an individual serving sachet is so much easier for us to
make than it was for the Regency maid or cook. Ours is practically instant, and
theirs took a good thirty minutes of work to produce a cup of silky rich hot
chocolate. But from where did this fascination of ours for chocolate in all its
guises come?
Anybody who likes chocolate in any form is probably
familiar with the term 'food of the gods,' which reverts to chocolate's Aztec
and Mayan origins when only the rich and powerful drank it. Cocoa comes
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| Cocoa pod and beans |
from
the beans, or seeds, of the cocoa tree pod. The beans could be given as a
wedding gift or used as currency to buy a pig or a slave or used in official
and religious ceremonies. An illustration in the
Codex
Tudela shows the traditional method of creating the froth the drink
was famed for by pouring the liquid from one cup to another with a considerable
gap between them. When the Spaniards arrived, they couldn't quite get the hang
of this method, so they invented the molinillo, a type of whisk still used
today.
Cocoa beans were first imported from Mexico to Seville
by the conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1585. By the 17th Century, chocolate was a
popular drink in France. In England, the first chocolate house was opened by a
Frenchman in the Queen's Head Alley near Bishopsgate in London in 1657.
Chocolate houses were the then equivalent of our coffee shops today and were a
club of sorts for wealthy and elite all-male clients. White's Club, the haunt
of gentlemen of the ton in many a Regency tale, was originally a
chocolate house. Opened in 1693 by an Italian, Francesco Bianco, alias Frances
White, the house was described by Jonathan Swift as 'the bane of the English
nobility.' Such was chocolate houses' reputation for being hotbeds of gossip
amongst social climbers and ambitious politicians that Charles II tried to ban
them in 1675.
Ladies, of course, could not step foot in such
establishments, so they drank their hot chocolate in the comfort of their own
home. Not such a comfortable job, though, for the staff who had to prepare
these drinks. Purchased in hard blocks about four inches wide and one or two
inches thick and packed in a linen bag, in this form, chocolate would keep for
about a year.
First, the chocolate was grated into a powder and
placed in a pan with milk or water, maybe with a little wine or brandy in it,
or even a flavoring of cinnamon, nutmeg, or flowered waters like orange blossom
or rose. Then the pan was put on the stove, and the contents were brought to
the boil. Constant stirring prevented the mixture from scorching. When it had
boiled, the pan was removed from the heat. The contents were then whisked to
blend the mixture with a chocolate mill, known in France as a molinet, and in
Spain as a molinilla. Eggs, sugar, and thickening agents such as flour, corn
starch or sometimes bread were then added to the pan. The cook would spin the
chocolate mill between her hands, like rubbing two sticks to start a fire, further
mixing the ingredients. Once that was done, the pot was put back on the heat
and again brought to the boil, being stirred all the time by the cook, who must
have had a strong arm. A little cream might be added, and then another good
whisking would be required to produce the essential froth without which hot
chocolate was not considered fit to be served.
Nothing but the best silver or porcelain would do for
this beverage to be served from for the upper classes. Chocolate pots were tall and
slim and often had an elegant swan-necked spout. They might even have a finial
of polished wood or ivory on top of the lid. Some had a hole in which the
handle of the whisk
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| Trembleuse |
could be inserted so the chocolate mixture could be spun
again to produce that all-important froth before pouring. Chocolate cups often
had a holder in the centre of the saucer and were known as a trembleuse in
France and a mancerina in Spain. When the habit of drinking hot chocolate
spread to the rest of society, pots were made of sturdier materials such as
pewter and pottery.
The history of chocolate is as deep and rich as the end
product. Dark chocolate is reputed to have excellent qualities, from improving
blood flow and lowering blood pressure to being rich in antioxidants. It can
improve your mood and improve brain function. Amongst its nutritional
qualities, it contains Vitamins A, C, D, B-6, and calcium, magnesium and
potassium. In fact, in ratios per 100 grams, chocolate is richer in potassium
than a banana. There is so much more to this marvelous treat that it should be
a food group on its own. So, from the food of the gods to being feared by some
religious bodies as exotic and decadent, to whether you like large or small
marshmallows in your hot chocolate, we enjoy it in all its forms.
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