PART III.

Of the Uses of Chocolate.

The common Uses of Chocolate may be reduced to three: It is put in Confections; it is used in Chocolate, properly so call’d; and there is an Oil drawn from it, to which they give the Name of Butter. I shall treat of them distinctly, in the three following Chapters.

CHAP. I Of Chocolate in Confections.

They chuse Cocao-Nuts that are half ripe, and take out the Kernels one by one, for fear of spoiling them; they then lay them to soak for some Days in Spring Water, which they take care to change Morning and Evening: afterwards, having taken them out and wiped them, they lard them with little Bits of Citron-Bark and Cinnamon, almost as they make the Nuts of Roüen.

In the mean time, they prepare a Syrup of the finest Sugar, but very clear; that is to say, wherein there is but little Sugar: and after it has been clarified and purified, they take it boiling-hot off the Fire, and put in the Cocao-Kernels, and let them lie 24 Hours. They repeat this Operation six or seven times, encreasing every time the Quantity of Sugar, without putting it on the Fire, or doing any thing else to it: last of all, they boil another Syrup to the Consistence of Sugar, and pour it on the Kernels well wiped and put in a clean earthen Pot; and when the Syrup is almost cold, they mix with it some Drops of the Essence of Amber.

When they would have these in a dry Form, they take them out of the Syrup; and after it is well drained from them, they put them into a Bason full of a very strong clarify’d Syrup, then they immediately put it in a Stove, or Hot-House, where they candy it.

This Confection, which nearly resembles the Nuts of Roüen, is excellent to strengthen the Stomach without heating it too much; for this reason, they may safely be given to those who are ill of a Fever.

CHAP. II. Of Chocolate, properly so called.

In treating of this Liquor, we have two things to examine: The First is, the Original of Chocolate, and the different Manner of preparing it: The Second, the Medicinal Uses that it is proper for; which shall be the Subject of the two following Sections.

Sect. I Of the Original of Chocolate, and the different Manners of preparing it.

Chocolate is originally an American Drink, which the Spaniards found very much in use at Mexico, when they conquer’d it, about the Year 1520.

The Indians, who have used this Drink time out of mind, prepared it without any great Art; they roasted their Kernels in earthen Pots, then ground them between two Stones, diluted them with hot Water, and season’d them with Pimento (1): those who were more curious, added Achiota (2) to give it a Colour, and (3) Attolla to augment its Substance. All these things joined together, gave to the Composition so strange a Look, and so odd a Taste, that a Spanish Soldier said, it was more fit to be thrown to Hogs (4), than presented to Men; and that he could never have accustomed himself to it, if the want of Wine had not forced him to it, that he might not always be obliged to drink nothing but Water.

The Spaniards (5) taught by the Mexicans, and convinced by their own Experience, that this Drink, as rustick as it appeared to them, nevertheless yielded very wholesome Nourishment; try’d to make it more agreeable by the Addition of Sugar, some Oriental Spices, and Things that grew there, which it will be needless to mention, because the Names of them are not so much as known here, and because of so many Ingredients, there is none continued down to us but Vanilla; in like manner, that Cinnamon (6) is the only Spice which has had general Approbation, and remains in the Composition of Chocolate.

Vanilla is a Cod of a brown Colour and delicate Smell; it is flatter and longer than our [French] Beans, it contains a luscious Substance, full of little black shining Grains. They must be chosen fresh, full, and well grown, and care must be taken that they are not smeared with Balsam, nor put in a moist Place.

The agreeable Smell, and exquisite Taste that they communicate to Chocolate, have prodigiusly recommended it; but long Experience having taught that it heats very much, its Use is become less frequent, and those who prefer their Health more than pleasing their Senses, abstain from it entirely. In Spain and Italy, Chocolate prepared without Vanilla, is called at present Chocolate of Health; and in the French Islands of America, where Vanilla is neither scarce nor dear, as in Europe, they do not use it at all, though they consume as much Chocolate there as in any other Place in the World.

However, a great many People are prejudiced in favour of Vanilla, and that I may pay a due Deference to their Judgments, I shall employ Vanilla in the Composition of Chocolate, in the best Method and Quantity, as it appears to me; I say, as it appears to me, because there are an infinite Variety of Tastes, and every one expects that we should have regard to his, and one Person is for adding what the other rejects. Besides, when it is agreed upon what things to put in, it is not possible to hit upon Proportions that will be universally approved; it will therefore be sufficient for me to make choice of such Things as the Majority are agreed upon, and consequently which are agreeable to the Tastes of most.

When the Chocolate Paste is made pretty fine upon a Stone, as I have already explain’d, they add Sugar powdered and passed through a fine Searce; the true Proportion is the same Weight of Sugar as of Kernels, but it is common to put a quarter part less of the former, that it may not dry the Paste too much, nor make it too susceptible of Impressions from the Air, and more subject to be eaten by Worms. But this fourth Part is again supply’d, when it is made into a Liquor to drink.

The Sugar being well mix’d with the Paste, they add a very fine Powder made of Vanilla and Cinnamon powdred and searced together. They mix all over again upon the Stone very well, and then put it in Tin Moulds, of what Form you please, where it grows as hard as before. Those that love Perfumes, pour a little Essence of Amber on it before they put it in the Moulds.

When the Chocolate is made without Vanilla, the Proportion of Cinnamon is two Drams to a Pound of Paste; but when Vanilla is used, it should be less by one half. As for the Vanilla, the Proportion is arbitrary; one, two, or three Cods, and sometimes more, to a Pound, according to every one’s Fancy.

Those that make Chocolate for Sale, that they may be thought to have put in a good deal of Vanilla, put in Pepper, Ginger, &c. There are even some People so accustomed to these Tastes, that they will not have it otherwise; but these Spices serving only to inflame the Blood, and heat the Body, prudent People take care to avoid this Excess, and will not use any Chocolate whose Composition they are ignorant of.

Chocolate made after this manner, has this Advantage, that when a Person is obliged to go from Home, and cannot stay to have it made into Drink, he may eat an Ounce of it, and drinking after it, leave the Stomach to dissolve it.

In the Antilloes they make Cakes of the Kernels only, without any Addition, as I have taught at the End of the first Part of this Treatise; and when they would make Chocolate of them, they proceed in the following Manner.

The Method of making Chocolate after the Manner of the French Islands in America.

They scrape off with a Knife from these Cakes aforesaid (1), what Quantity they please, (for Instance, four large Spoonfuls, which weigh about an Ounce) and mix with it two or three Pinches of powder’d Cinnamon finely searced, and about two large Spoonfuls of Sugar in Powder (2).

They put this Mixture into a Chocolate-Pot with a new-laid Egg (3), both White and Yolk; then mix all well together with the Mill, and bring it to the Consistence of Liquid Honey, upon which they afterwards pour boiling Liquor (4), (Milk or Water, as is liked best) at the same time using the Mill that they may be well incorporated together.

Afterwards they put the Chocolate-Pot on the Fire, or in a Kettle of boiling Water; and when the Chocolate rises, they take it off, and having well mill’d it, they pour it into the Dishes. To make the Taste more exquisite, one may, before it is poured out, add a Spoonful of Orange-Flower Water, wherein a Drop or two of Essence of Amber has been put.

This Manner of making Chocolate has several Advantages above any other, and which render it preferable to them all.

In the first place, one may assert, that being well managed, it has a very agreeable Smell, and a peculiar Delicacy in the Taste; besides, it passes very easily off the Stomach, nor leaves any Settling either in the Chocolate-Pot, or in the Dishes.

In the second place, one has the Satisfaction to prepare it one’s self to one’s own Taste, to encrease or diminish at pleasure the Quantities of Sugar or Cinnamon, and to add or leave out the Orange-Flower Water, or Essence of Amber; and, in a word, to make any other Alteration that shall be most agreeable.

In the third place, they make no Additions that destroy the good Qualities of the Kernels; it is so temperate, that it may be taken at all Times, and by all Ages, in Summer as well as in Winter, without fearing the least Inconveniency: Whereas Chocolate season’d with Vanilla, and other hot and biting Ingredients, cannot but be very pernicious, especially in Summer, to young People, and to dry Constitutions. The Glass of cold Water that they have introduced to drink before it, or after it, only serves to palliate the Effects for a Time; for the Heat that attends it, will manifest itself in the Blood and Viscera, when the Water is drain’d off and gone, by the ordinary ways.

In the fourth place, a Dish is so cheap, as not to come to above a Penny. If Tradesmen and Artizans were once aware of it, there are few who would not take the Advantage of so easy a Method of Breakfasting so agreeably, at so small a Charge, and to be well supported till Dinner-time, without taking any other Sustenance, Solid or Liquid.

Sect. II. Of the Uses that may be made of Chocolate with relation to Medicine.

I have always imagined it would be a very great Advantage to Physick, if Medicines could be administred to sick People under an agreeable Form, and a familiar Taste; and the Artifice itself of giving any thing under the appearance and name of something that is delicate, is not without its Benefit: People afflicted with Distempers, have enough to do to support their Pains, without the Inconveniency of distastful Remedies; however, it would be no small matter to spare them the Aversion they have to every thing that is called a Medicine; and when there is a Necessity for such, Chocolate may serve for very proper Diet, and an excellent Vehicle, wherein to take a Medicine at the same time.

These have been my Thoughts for some Time, and I can affirm that a happy Success has often confirm’d my Opinion. I could wish that this Essay, imperfect as it is, might serve to waken the Attention of some ingenious Physician, who would give himself the trouble to handle this Matter with greater Accuracy than my small Penetration will permit me to do.

1. How many People neglect to purge themselves, and are so obstinate as to refuse to do it, when they have the greatest need of it, and this because of the great Distaste they have for ordinary Medicines? Will it not be of the greatest Service to teach them to purge themselves after a delightful Method, and even, if it was necessary, to purge them without their knowledge? To do this, you need only mix 20 or 26 Grains of Jalap in Powder, (more or less, according to the Age and Strength of the Person) with so much Powder of Cinnamon as is common for a Dish of Chocolate, and to give this Dish as if it were ordinary Chocolate. I have had great Experience of this, it is a good Purge without Griping; several have mistaken the Effect for the Benefit of Nature only, being entirely ignorant of the officious Deceit which I made use of for their sakes. What Advantages may not there be drawn from this Method of Purging apply’d to Children, who are so backward to take any thing that has the least ill Taste?

2. The Preparations of the Cortex, both Galenical and Chymical, have not succeeded. Its Infusion in Wine, heretofore so much cry’d up, contains but a part of the Vertue; for the Fæces, or the Bark that remains at the bottom of the Bottle, has Strength enough to cure the intermitting Fever. Thus after a thousand fruitless Trials, it is now given again in Substance, reduced to a very fine Powder, which is either made into Bolus’s, or taken in Water. This Practice however is attended with several Inconveniences; for a great many People, especially Children, cannot swallow it in Bolus’s. The same Inconveniences follow the other Way of taking it in Water, and is neither less troublesome, nor less nauseous.

To avoid all this, a Dram of the Cortex reduced to a fine (1) Powder, and finely searced, and afterwards ground dry on a Porphyry, with the Cinnamon designed for a Dish of Chocolate, and mixed in the Chocolate with more Sugar than ordinary, may be taken without the least Reluctancy, and, if necessary, without being perceived: The Person will be nourished at the same time much better than with Broth, which is easily corrupted by a feverish Stomach; neither will the Particles of the Cortex offend the Stomach, being wrapped up by the Unctuosity of the Chocolate. I have cured Intermittent Fevers after this manner, nor did it ever fail of good Success.

3. The most elaborate Preparations of Steel, are not one jot the better upon that account; the simple Filings have more Vertue than was ever extorted from this Metal by any Preparation: there is nevertheless an Inconveniency in the Use of them, because all the Particles of the Steel uniting together, by their Weight, at the bottom of the Stomach, form a kind of a Cake, which fatigues it, and makes it very uneasy.

To remedy this, after the Filings have been ground into a very fine Powder upon a Porphyry; you must mix it with the Cinnamon, when you make your Chocolate, and it is certain that the Particles of the Steel will be so divided and separated by the Agitation of the Mill, and so entangled in the Chocolate, that there will be no danger of a future Separation. Besides, the aromatick Particles of the Cinnamon, and the alkaline ones of the Chocolate, will not a little add to the Strength and Operation of this Remedy.

4. After this manner may you mix with the Chocolate the Powders of Millepedes, Vipers, Earthworms, the Livers and Galls of Eels, to take away the distasteful Ideas that the Sick entertain against these Remedies.

5. The Use of Milk is a specifick Remedy for the Cure of several Distempers, but by Misfortune there are but few Stomachs that can bear it, and several Methods have been try’d to find out Help for this Inconvenience. Without troubling myself to mention or examine them, will it not be an easy and natural Method, to hinder the Milk from curdling on the Stomach, to pour a hot Dish of Chocolate upon a Pint or Quart of Milk? The butirous Parts of the Milk and Chocolate, are in reality analogous to each other, and very proper to be united for the same Purpose; and what is bitter and alkaline in the Chocolate, ought necessarily to hinder the curdling of the Milk in the Stomach. It is easy to confirm by Experience the Reasoning upon this sort of Chocolated Milk.

CHAP. III. Of the Oil or Butter of Chocolate.

Chocolate Kernels are a Fruit very oleaginous, but the Oil is very closely united with the other Principles, that it requires a great deal of Labour to separate it, and to make it pure. The three common Ways to extract Oils, are by Distillation, Expression, and Decoction; we reject the first as being very imperfect, because the Violence of the Fire alters the Nature of all Oils that are extracted that way. The Success will answer no better by Expression, because that which is got will be very impure and in very small Quantity. There then remains no way but by Decoction, to draw out this essential Oil that we are in quest of, which is the true and the only way, for it gives it in its utmost Purity without any Alteration.

They take Chocolate that is roasted, cleaned, and ground upon the Stone, they throw the Paste into a Pan of boiling Water over a clear Fire; they let it boil till almost all the Water is consumed, then they pour more Water upon it till the Pan is full; the Oil ascends to the Top in proportion as the Water cools, and grows to the Consistence of Butter. If this Oil is not very white, it needs only be melted in a Pan full of hot Water, where it will be disengaged and purified from the red and terrestrial Particles that remain.

At Martinico this Oil is of the Consistence of Butter, but brought into France, it becomes almost as hard as Fromage, or French Cheese, which melts nevertheless, and becomes liquid with a moderate Heat: it has no very sensible Smell, and has the good fortune never to grow rank; I have some of it now by me, that has been made this fifteen Years. One Year, when Oil of Olives failed us, we used that of Chocolate during the Time of Lent. It is very well tasted, and very far from being hurtful; it contains the most essential and most healthful Parts of the Chocolate.

I had the Curiosity to examine it by a Chymical Analysis; I put three Ounces into a little Glass Cucurbit placed in the Heat of Ashes, there drop’d from it an oily Liquor, which congealed as it fell down, and which did not differ from the Butter that I have described, but by a light Impression made upon it by the Fire. I only observed, that there was at the bottom of the Receiver, two or three Drops of a clear Liquor, which tasted a little acid, but very agreeable.

As this Oil is very anodyne, or an Easer of Pain, it is excellent, taken inwardly, to cure Hoarseness, and to blunt the Sharpness of the Salts that irritate the Lungs. In using, it must be melted and mix’d with a sufficient Quantity of Sugar-Candy, and made into Lozenges, which must be held in the Mouth as long as may be, before they melt quite away, swallowing it down gently.

Oil of Chocolate also taken seasonably, may be a wonderful Antidote against corrosive Poisons.

Its Vertues are no ways inferior, if used outwardly.

1. It is the best and most natural Pomatum for Ladies to clear and plump the Skin when it is dry, rough, or shrivel’d, without making it appear either fat or shining. The Spanish Women at Mexico, use it very much, and it is highly esteem’d by them. If it is thought too hard, it may be softened with Oil of Ben, or Oil of Sweet Almonds, cold drawn.

2. I am persuaded if the antient Custom of the Greeks and Romans, of anointing their Bodies with Oil, was revived, there is nothing would answer their Expectations better, in augmenting the Strength and Suppleness of their Muscles, and preserving them from Rheumatisms and other torturing Pains. The leaving off this Practice, can be attributed to nothing else but to the ill Smell and other Properties that attended it; but if Oil of Chocolate was used instead of Oil of Olives, those Inconveniences would be avoided, because it has no Smell, and dries entirely into the Skin: nothing certainly would be more advantageous, especially for aged Persons, than to renew this Custom, which has been authorized by the Experience of Antiquity.

3. Apothecaries ought to make use of this preferably to all others, as the Basis of their Apoplectick Balsams; because all other Oils grow rancid, and the Oil of Nutmegs, though whiten’d with Spirit of Wine, always retains somewhat of its natural Smell, whereas Oil of Chocolate is not subject to any of these Accidents.

4. There is nothing so proper as this to keep Arms from rusting, because it contains less Water than any other Oil made use of for that purpose.

5. In the American Islands they make use of this Oil to cure the Piles; some use it without Mixture, others melt two or three Pounds of Lead, and gathering the Dross, reduce it into fine Powder, and after it is finely searced, incorporate it with this Oil, and make a Liniment of it very efficacious for this Disease. Others for the same Intention mix with this Oil the Powder of Millepedes, Sugar of Lead, Pompholix, and a little Laudanum.

Others use this Oil to ease Gout Pains, applying it hot to the Part, with a Compress dip’d in it, which they cover with a hot Napkin. It may be used after the same manner for the Rheumatism.

6. Lastly, This Oil enters the Composition of the wonderful Plaister, and the Pomatum against Tetters. You will find their Description and Properties among the Remarks at the End of this Treatise.