The term "Cocoa," a corruption of "Cacao," is almost universally used in English-speaking countries to designate the seeds of the small tropical tree known to botanists as THEOBROMA CACAO, from which a great variety of preparations under the name of cocoa and chocolate for eating and drinking are made. The name "Chocolatl" is nearly the same in most European languages, and is taken from the Mexican name of the drink, "Chocolate" or "Cacahuatl." The Spaniards found chocolate in common use among the Mexicans at the time of the invasion under Cortez in 1519, and it was introduced into Spain immediately after. The Mexicans not only used chocolate as a staple article of food, but they used the seeds of the cacao tree as a medium of exchange.
No better evidence could be offered of the great advance which has been made in recent years in the knowledge of dietetics than the remarkable increase in the consumption of cocoa and chocolate in this country. The amount retained for home consumption in 1860 was only 1,181,054 pounds—about 3-5 of an ounce for each inhabitant. The amount retained for home consumption for the year ending Dec. 31, 1908, was 93,956,721 pounds—over 16 ounces for each inhabitant.
Although there was a marked increase in the consumption of tea and coffee during the same period, the ratio of increase fell far below that of cocoa. It is evident that the coming American is going to be less of a tea and coffee drinker, and more of a cocoa and chocolate drinker. This is the natural result of a better knowledge of the laws of health, and of the food value of a beverage which nourishes the body while it also stimulates the brain.
Baron von Liebig, one of the best-known writers on dietetics, says:"It is a perfect food, as wholesome as delicious, a beneficient restorer of exhausted power; but its quality must be good and it must be carefully prepared. It is highly nourishing and easily digested, and is fitted to repair wasted strength, preserve health, and prolong life. It agrees with dry temperaments and convalescents; with mothers who nurse their children; with those whose occupations oblige them to undergo severe mental strains; with public speakers, and with all those who give to work a portion of the time needed for sleep. It soothes both stomach and brain, and for this reason, as well as for others, it is the best friend of those engaged in literary pursuits."
M. Brillat-Savarin, in his entertaining and valuable work, Physiologie du Goût, says: "Chocolate came over the mountains [from Spain to France] with Anne of Austria, daughter of Philip III and queen of Louis XIII. The Spanish monks also spread the knowledge of it by the presents they made to their brothers in France. It is well known that Linnæus called the fruit of the cocoa tree theobroma, 'food for the gods.' The cause of this emphatic qualification has been sought, and attributed by some to the fact that he was extravagantly fond of chocolate; by others to his desire to please his confessor; and by others to his gallantry, a queen having first introduced it into France.
"The Spanish ladies of the New World, it is said, carried their love for chocolate to such a degree that, not content with partaking of it several times a day, they had it sometimes carried after them to church. This favoring of the senses often drew upon them the censures of the bishop; but the Reverend Father Escobar, whose metaphysics were as subtle as his morality was accommodating, declared, formally, that a fast was not broken by chocolate prepared with water; thus wiredrawing, in favor of his penitents, the ancient adage, 'Liquidum non frangit jejunium.'
"Time and experience," he says further, "have shown that chocolate, carefully prepared, is an article of food as wholesome as it is agreeable; that it is nourishing, easy of digestion, and does not possess those qualities injurious to beauty with which coffee has been reproached; that it is excellently adapted to persons who are obliged to a great concentration of intellect; in the toils of the pulpit or the bar, and especially to travellers; that it suits the most feeble stomach; that excellent effects have been produced by it in chronic complaints, and that it is a last resource in affections of the pylorus.
"Some persons complain of being unable to digest chocolate; others, on the contrary, pretend that it has not sufficient nourishment, and that the effect disappears too soon. It is probable that the former have only themselves to blame, and that the chocolate which they use is of bad quality or badly made; for good and well-made chocolate must suit every stomach which retains the slightest digestive power.
"In regard to the others, the remedy is an easy one: they should reinforce their breakfast with a pâté, a cutlet, or a kidney, moisten the whole with a good draught of soconusco chocolate, and thank God for a stomach of such superior activity."This gives me an opportunity to make an observation whose accuracy may be depended upon.
"After a good, complete, and copious breakfast, if we take, in addition, a cup of well-made chocolate, digestion will be perfectly accomplished in three hours, and we may dine whenever we like. Out of zeal for science, and by dint of eloquence, I have induced many ladies to try this experiment. They all declared, in the beginning, that it would kill them; but they have all thriven on it and have not failed to glorify their teacher.
"The people who make constant use of chocolate are the ones who enjoy the most steady health, and are the least subject to a multitude of little ailments which destroy the comfort of life; their plumpness is also more equal. These are two advantages which every one may verify among his own friends, and wherever the practice is in use."
In corroboration of M. Brillat-Savarin's statement as to the value of chocolate as an aid to digestion, we may quote from one of Mme. de Sévigné's letters to her daughter:"I took chocolate night before last to digest my dinner, in order to have a good supper. I took some yesterday for nourishment, so as to be able to fast until night. What I consider amusing about chocolate is that it acts according to the wishes of the one who takes it."
Chocolate appears to have been highly valued as a remedial agent by the leading physicians of that day. Christoph Ludwig Hoffman wrote a treatise entitled, "Potus Chocolate," in which he recommended it in many diseases, and instanced the case of Cardinal Richelieu, who, he stated, was cured of general atrophy by its use.
A French officer who served in the West Indies for a period of fifteen years, during the early part of the last century, wrote, as the result of his personal observations, a treatise on "The Natural History of Chocolate, Being a distinct and Particular Account of the Cacao Tree, its Growth and Culture, and the Preparation, Excellent Properties, and Medicinal Virtues of its Fruit," which received the approbation of the Regent of the Faculty of Medicine at Paris, and which was translated and published in London, in 1730. After describing the different methods of raising and curing the fruit and preparing it for food (which it is not worth while to reproduce here, as the methods have essentially changed since that time), he goes on to demonstrate, as the result of actual experiment, that chocolate is a substance "very temperate, very nourishing, and of easy digestion; very proper to repair the exhausted spirits and decayed strength; and very suitable to preserve the health and prolong the lives of old men....
"I could produce several instances," he says, "in favor of this excellent nourishment; but I shall content myself with two only, equally certain and decisive, in proof of its goodness. The first is an experiment of chocolate's being taken for the only nourishment—made by a surgeon's wife of Martinico. She had lost, by a very deplorable accident, her lower jaw, which reduced her to such a condition that she did not know how to subsist. She was not capable of taking anything solid, and not rich enough to live upon jellies and nourishing broths. In this strait she determined to take three dishes of chocolate, prepared after the manner of the country, one in the morning, one at noon, and one at night. There chocolate is nothing else but cocoa kernels dissolved in hot water, with sugar, and seasoned with a bit of cinnamon. This new way of life succeeded so well that she has lived a long while since, more lively and robust than before this accident.
"I had the second relation from a gentleman of Martinico, and one of my friends not capable of a falsity. He assured me that in his neighborhood an infant of four months old unfortunately lost his nurse, and its parents not being able to put it to another, resolved, through necessity, to feed it with chocolate. The success was very happy, for the infant came on to a miracle, and was neither less healthy nor less vigorous than those who are brought up by the best nurses.
"Before chocolate was known in Europe, good old wine was called the milk of old men; but this title is now applied with greater reason to chocolate, since its use has become so common that it has been perceived that chocolate is, with respect to them, what milk is to infants. In reality, if one examines the nature of chocolate a little, with respect to the constitution of aged persons, it seems as though the one was made on purpose to remedy the defects of the other, and that it is truly the panacea of old age."
The three associated beverages, cocoa, tea, and coffee are known to the French as aromatic drinks. Each of these has its characteristic aroma. The fragrance and flavor are so marked that they cannot be imitated by any artificial products, although numerous attempts have been made in regard to all three. Hence the detection of adulteration is not a difficult matter. Designing persons, aware of the extreme difficulty of imitating these substances, have undertaken to employ lower grades, and, by manipulation, copy, as far as may be, the higher sorts. Every one knows how readily tea, and coffee, for that matter, will take up odors and flavors from substances placed near them. This is abundantly exemplified in the country grocery or general store, where the teas and coffees share in the pervasive fragrance of the cheese and kerosene. But perhaps it is not so widely understood that some of these very teas and coffees had been artificially flavored or corrected before they reached their destination in this country.
Cacao lends itself very readily to such preliminary treatment. In a first-class article, the beans should be of the highest excellence; they should be carefully grown on the plantation and there prepared with great skill, arriving in the factory in good condition. In the factory they should simply receive the mechanical treatment requisite to develop their high and attractive natural flavor and fragrance. They should be most carefully shelled after roasting and finely ground without concealed additions. This is the process in all honest manufactories of the cacao products.
Now, as a matter of fact, in the preparation of many of the cacao products on the market, a wholly different course has been pursued. Beans of poor quality are used, because of their cheapness, and in some instances they are only imperfectly, if at all, shelled before grinding. Chemical treatment is relied on to correct in part the odor and taste of such inferior goods, and artificial flavors, other than the time-honored natural vanilla and the like, are added freely. The detection of such imposition is easy enough to the expert, but is difficult to the novice; therefore the public is largely unable to discriminate between the good and the inferior, and it is perforce compelled to depend almost entirely on the character and reputation of the manufacturer.
A distinguished London Physician, in giving some hints concerning the proper preparation of cocoa, says:"Start with a pure cocoa of undoubted quality and excellence of manufacture, and which bears the name of a respectable firm. This point is important, for there are many cocoas on the market which have been doctored by the addition of alkali, starch, malt, kola, hops, etc."
Baker's Breakfast Cocoa is absolutely pure, and, being ground to an extraordinary degree of fineness, is highly soluble. The analyst of the Massachusetts State Board of Health states in his recent valuable work on "Food Inspection and Analysis," that the treatment of cocoa with alkali for the purpose of producing a more perfect emulsion is objectionable, even if not considered as a form of adulteration. Cocoa thus treated is generally darker in color than the pure article. The legitimate means, he says, for making it as soluble as possible is to pulverize it very fine, so that particles remain in even suspension and form a smooth paste.
That is the way the Baker Cocoa is treated. It has received the Grand Prize—the highest award ever given in this country, and altogether 52 highest awards in Europe and America.
Mix the cornstarch with one gill of the milk. Put the remainder of the milk on to heat in the double-boiler. When the milk comes to the boiling point, stir in the cornstarch and cook for ten minutes. Have the chocolate cut in fine bits, and put it in a small iron or granite-ware pan; add the sugar and water, and place the pan over a hot fire. Stir constantly until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Add this to the hot milk, and beat the mixture with a whisk until it is frothy. Or, the chocolate may be poured back and forth from the boiler to a pitcher, holding high the vessel from which you pour. This will give a thick froth. Serve at once.
If you prefer not to have the chocolate thick, omit the cornstarch. If condensed milk is used, substitute water for the milk named above and add three tablespoonfuls of condensed milk when the chocolate is added.Cut the chocolate in fine bits. Put the milk on the stove in the double-boiler, and when it has been heated to the boiling point, put the chocolate, sugar and water in a small iron or granite-ware pan, and stir over a hot fire until smooth and glossy. Stir this mixture into the hot milk, and beat well with a whisk. Serve at once, putting a tablespoonful of whipped cream in each cup and then filling up with the chocolate.
The plain chocolate may be used instead of the vanilla, but in that case use a teaspoonful of vanilla extract and three generous tablespoonfuls of sugar instead of one.Walter Baker & Co.'s Breakfast Cocoa is powdered so fine that it can be dissolved by pouring boiling water on it. For this reason it is often prepared at the table. A small teaspoonful of the powder is put in the cup with a teaspoonful of sugar; on this is poured two-thirds of a cup of boiling water, and milk or cream is added to suit the individual taste. This is very convenient; but cocoa is not nearly so good when prepared in this manner as when it is boiled.
For six cupfuls of cocoa use two tablespoonfuls of the powder, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, half a pint of boiling water, and a pint and a half of milk. Put the milk on the stove in the double-boiler. Put the cocoa and sugar in a saucepan, and gradually pour the hot water upon them, stirring all the time. Place the saucepan on the fire and stir until the contents boil. Let this mixture boil for five minutes; then add the boiling milk and serve.
A gill of cream is a great addition to this cocoa.Scalded milk may be used in place of boiled milk, if preferred. For flavoring, a few grains of salt and half a teaspoonful of vanilla extract may be added.
Beat half a cupful of butter to a cream, and gradually beat into it one cupful of sugar. When this is light, beat in half a cupful of milk, a little at a time, and one teaspoonful of vanilla. Beat the whites of six eggs to a stiff froth. Mix half a teaspoonful of baking powder with two scant cupfuls of sifted flour. Stir the flour and whites of eggs alternately into the mixture. Have three deep tin plates well buttered, and spread two-thirds of the batter in two of them.
Into the remaining batter stir one ounce of Walter Baker & Co.'s Premium No. 1 Chocolate, melted, and spread this batter in the third plate. Bake the cakes in a moderate oven for about twenty minutes. Put a layer of white cake on a large plate, and spread with white icing. Put the dark cake on this, and also spread with white icing. On this put the third cake. Spread with chocolate icing.
TO MAKE THE ICING. Put into a granite-ware saucepan two gills of sugar and one of water, and boil gently until bubbles begin to come from the bottom—say, about five minutes. Take from the fire instantly. Do not stir or shake the sugar while it is cooking. Pour the hot syrup in a thin stream into the whites of two eggs that have been beaten to a stiff froth, beating the mixture all the time. Continue to beat until the icing is thick. Flavor with one teaspoonful of vanilla. Use two-thirds of this as a white icing, and to the remaining third add one ounce of melted chocolate. To melt the chocolate, shave it fine and put in a cup, which is then to be placed in a pan of boiling water.
For two sheets of cake, use three ounces of Walter Baker & Co.'s Premium No. 1 Chocolate, three eggs, one cupful and three-fourths of sifted pastry flour, one cupful and three-fourths of sugar, half a cupful of butter, half a cupful of milk, half a teaspoonful of vanilla extract, one teaspoonful and a half of baking powder.
Grate the chocolate. Beat the butter to a cream, and gradually beat in the sugar. Beat in the milk and vanilla, then the eggs (already well beaten), next the chocolate, and finally the flour, in which the baking powder should be mixed. Pour into two well buttered shallow cake pans. Bake for twenty-five minutes in a moderate oven. Frost or not, as you like.
Put one ounce of Walter Baker & Co.'s Chocolate and one tablespoonful of butter in a cup, and set this in a pan of boiling water. Beat to a cream half a cupful of butter and one cupful of sugar. Gradually beat in half a cupful of milk. Now add the whites of six eggs beaten to a stiff froth, one teaspoonful of vanilla, and a cupful and a half of sifted flour, in which is mixed one teaspoonful of baking powder. Put about one-third of this mixture into another bowl, and stir the melted butter and chocolate into it. Drop the white-and-brown mixture in spoonfuls into a well buttered deep cake pan, and bake in a moderate oven for about forty-five minutes; or, the cake can be baked in a sheet and iced with a chocolate or white icing.
Beat to a cream a generous half cupful of butter, and gradually beat into this one cupful of sugar. Add one ounce of Walter Baker & Co.'s Premium No. 1 Chocolate, melted; also two unbeaten eggs. Beat vigorously for five minutes; then stir in half a cupful of milk, and lastly, one cupful and a half of flour, with which has been mixed one generous teaspoonful of baking powder. Flavor with one teaspoonful of vanilla. Pour into a buttered, shallow cake pan, and bake for half an hour in a moderate oven. When cool, spread with glacé frosting.
GLACÉ FROSTING. Put half a cupful of sugar and three tablespoonfuls of water in a small saucepan. Stir over the fire until the sugar is nearly melted. Take the spoon from the pan before the sugar really begins to boil, because it would spoil the icing if the syrup were stirred after it begins to boil. After boiling gently for four minutes, add half a teaspoonful of vanilla extract, but do not stir; then set away to cool. When the syrup is about blood warm, beat it with a wooden spoon until thick and white. Now put the saucepan in another with boiling water, and stir until the icing is thin enough to pour. Spread quickly on the cake.
Cover three large baking pans with paper that has been well oiled with washed butter. Over these dredge powdered sugar. Melt in a cup one ounce of Walter Baker & Co.'s Premium No. 1 Chocolate. Separate the whites and yolks of four eggs. Add to the yolks a generous half cupful of powdered sugar, and beat until light and firm. Add the melted chocolate, and beat a few minutes longer. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff, dry froth. Measure out three-fourths of a cupful of sifted flour, and stir it and the whites into the yolks. The whites and flour must be cut in as lightly as possible, and with very little stirring. Drop the mixture in teaspoonfuls on the buttered paper. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the cakes, and bake in a slow oven for about fourteen or fifteen minutes. The mixture can be shaped like lady fingers, if preferred.
Grate four ounces of Walter Baker & Co.'s Premium No. 1 Chocolate, and mix with it two tablespoonfuls of flour and onefourth of a teaspoonful each of cinnamon, cloves and baking powder. Separate six eggs. Add one cupful of powdered sugar to the yolks, and beat until very light; then add the grated yellow rind and the juice of half a lemon, and beat five minutes longer. Now add the dry mixture, and with a spoon lightly cut in the whites, which are first to be beaten to a stiff froth. Pour the mixture into buttered shallow pans, having it about half an inch thick. Bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. When the cake is cool, spread a thin layer of currant jelly over one sheet, and place the other sheet on this. Ice with vanilla icing; and when this hardens, cut in squares. It is particularly nice to serve with ice-cream.
Use two eggs, one cupful of sugar, one cupful and a quarter of flour, one gill of cold water, one tablespoonful of lemon juice, one teaspoonful of baking powder, one ounce of Walter Baker & Co.'s Premium No. 1 Chocolate, half a tumbler of any kind of jelly, and chocolate icing the same as for éclairs.
Separate the eggs, and beat the yolks and sugar together until light. Beat the whites until light, and then beat them with yolks and sugar and grated chocolate. Next beat in the lemon juice and water, and finally the flour, in which the baking powder should be mixed. Beat for three minutes, and then pour the batter into two pans, and bake in a moderate oven for about eighteen minutes. When done, spread one sheet of cake with the jelly, and press the other sheet over it; and when cold, cut into little squares and triangular pieces. Stick a wooden toothpick into each of these pieces and dip each one into the hot icing, afterwards removing the toothpick, of course.
Into a granite-ware saucepan put half a pint of milk, two well-rounded tablespoonfuls of butter, and one tablespoonful of sugar, and place on the stove. When this boils up, add half a pint of sifted flour, and cook for two minutes, beating well with a wooden spoon. It will be smooth and velvety at the end of that time. Set away to cool; and when cool, beat in four eggs, one at a time. Beat vigorously for about fifteen minutes. Try a small bit of the paste in the oven; and if it rises in the form of a hollow ball, the paste is beaten enough; whereas, if it does not, beat a little longer. Have tin sheets or shallow pans slightly buttered. Have ready, also, a tapering tin tube, with the smaller opening about three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Place this in the small end of a conical cotton pastry bag. Put the mixture in the bag, and press out on buttered pans, having each éclair nearly three inches long. There should be eighteen, and they must be at least two inches apart, as they swell in cooking. Bake in a moderately hot oven for about twenty-five minutes. Take from the oven, and while they are still warm coat them with chocolate. When cold, cut open on the side, and fill with either of the following described preparations:—
FILLING NO. 1.—Mix in a bowl half a pint of rich cream, one teaspoonful of vanilla, and four tablespoonfuls of sugar. Place the bowl in a pan of ice-water, and beat the cream until light and firm, using either an egg-beater or a whisk.FILLING NO. 2.—Put half a pint of milk into a double-boiler, and place on the fire. Beat together until very light one level tablespoonful of flour, half a cupful of sugar, and one egg. When the milk boils, stir in this mixture. Add one-eighth of a teaspoonful of salt, and cook for fifteen minutes, stirring often. When cold, flavor with one teaspoonful of vanilla.
ICING FOR ÉCLAIRS.—Put in a small granite-ware pan half a pint of sugar and five tablespoonfuls of cold water. Stir until the sugar is partially melted, and then place on the stove, stirring for half a minute. Take out the spoon, and watch the sugar closely. As soon as it boils, take instantly from the fire and pour upon a meat-platter. Let this stand for eight minutes. Meantime, shave into a cup one ounce of Walter Baker & Co.'s Premium No. 1 Chocolate, and put it on the fire in a pan of boiling water. At the end of eight minutes stir the sugar with a wooden spoon until it begins to grow white and to thicken. Add the melted chocolate quickly, and continue stirring until the mixture is thick. Put it in a small saucepan, and place on the fire in another pan of hot water. Stir until so soft that it will pour freely. Stick a skewer into the side of an éclair, and dip the top in the hot chocolate. Place on a plate, and continue until all the éclairs are "glacéd." They will dry quickly. Do not stir the sugar after the first half minute, and do not scrape the sugar from the saucepan into the platter. All the directions must be strictly followed.
Beat to a cream half a cupful of butter and one tablespoonful of lard. Gradually beat into this one cupful of sugar; then add one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of cinnamon, and two ounces of Walter Baker & Co.'s Premium No. 1 Chocolate, melted. Now add one well-beaten egg, and half a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in two tablespoonfuls of milk. Stir in about two cupfuls and a half of flour. Roll thin, and, cutting in round cakes, bake in a rather quick oven. The secret of making good cookies is the use of as little flour as will suffice.
Mix in a large bowl one cupful of molasses, half a cupful of sour milk or cream, one teaspoonful of ginger, one of cinnamon, half a teaspoonful of salt. Dissolve one teaspoonful of soda in a teaspoonful of cold water; add this and two tablespoonfuls of melted butter to the mixture. Now stir in two cupfuls of sifted flour, and finally add two ounces of Walter Baker & Co.'s Chocolate and one tablespoonful of butter, melted together. Pour the mixture into three wellbuttered, deep tin plates, and bake in a moderately hot oven for about twenty minutes.
Make a vanilla icing, and add one tablespoonful of cold water to it. Scrape fine one ounce of Walter Baker & Co.'s Premium No. 1 Chocolate, and put it in a small iron or granite-ware saucepan, with two tablespoonfuls of confectioners