9/7/2014: Recipe Translation, Making Tablets (1st try)

Julianna Visco and Emogene Cataldo
HRR: Chocolate

First draft recipe translation
jvv first phase making tablets

Cacao and other ingredients beat in a morter of stone or ground upon a broad stone

• But first dry the ingredients, except the achote
• beat individual ingredients to a powder
• while drying ingredients (don’t burn them) which suggests heat is used but this is not described
• Cinnamon and long red pepper are first to be beaten with the anisseed
• Next beat the cacao littly by little until its all powdered
• Sometimes turn it around in the beating so that it mixes better
• Every ingredient beaten by itself then put all ingredients in the vessel where the cacao is
• Stir together with a spoon
• Then take out the paste and put it into the morter under which you must lay a little fire
• Be very careful not to put more fire than will warm it that the unctuous part does not dry away
• Then put in the achiote in the beating so it takes better the color must “searse” all the ingredients but only onley the cacao
• And when it is well beaten & incorporated then with a spoon take up some of the paste which will be almost a liquid, and so either make it into tablets or put it into boxes
• When it is cold it will be hard
• To make the tablets put a spoon -full of the paste upon a piece of paper (indians put it on leaf of plantentree)
• Put it in the shade for it to grow hard, flick it off the paper
• Then there are a few options: the Indians take it hot with Atolle (which is pappe made of the flower of maiz and so they mingle it with chocolate and to be more wholesome take husks of maiz which is windy and melancholy)
• Or they modern drink “which the spaniards use to much” is two sorts.

2nd phase making drink

Then there are a few options: the Indians take it hot with Atolle (which is pappe made of the flower of maiz and so they mingle it with chocolate and to be more wholesome take husks of maiz which is windy and melancholy)
Or they modern drink “which the spaniards use to much” is two sorts.

1. chocolate being dissolved with cold water and the scumme taken off and put into another vessel the remainder is put on upon the fire with sugar and when it is warm then when warm, the powere is upon the scumme you took off before and to drink it.
2. warmt he water then when you pave put inot a pot or dish as much chocolate as you think fit, put in a little warm water then grind it well with the molinet and when it is well ground put the rest of the warm wtaer to it and so drink it with sugar
3. addl way, put the chocolate into a pipkin (smalllearhthenware pot or pan), with a little water, let it boil well till it be dissoved , then put in sufficient wate rand sugar bring to boil again until there comes and oily scumme upon it then drink it. (if you put too much fire, it will runne over and spoil) according to author this is not too wholesome though ti pleases the pallate.
4. drink it cold called cacao - the chocolate being dissolve in water with the molinet ( a stick for whipping chocolate or small grinding millhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/molinet) take off the scum or crassy part , the scum is laid aside by it self in a little dish, put sugar in o the part from where you took the cum, and powre it from on high into the scum and drink it cold
5. another method of drinking it col is called cacao penoli, adding same to chocolate so much maiz dried and well ground and taken from husk, then well migled in the morter with the chocolate
6. last way which is shorter and quicker and more wholesome and author uses, first set some water to warm, while it warms throw in a tablet and mingle with sugar in cup, when water is hot you pour water to the chocolate, disolve with Molinet and then without taking off scum drink it.

10 cocoa beans = 12 grams – according to our test

Ingredients

Chocolate "tablets", 1st iteration

9/8/2014: Scaled Batch Recipe, Making Tablets (2nd try), Drinking

Tablets dried overnight, batch 1 (with sugar) formed a loaf, batch 2 (tablet form) we attempted author's recommended prep of dissolving in hot water (we used 175 degrees for hot) and preferred amount of sugar (we used 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to one small table, and 2 oz. of hot water). to dissolve we used a wire whisk moving in the motions suggested by artistic representation of molinet . . .

Next, come up with scaled batch recipe instructions for tomorrow:

Scaled batch recipe :

scaled ingredient list to make enough for class
plan divide by 5

100 cacao beans = 50 cacao beans
2 cods of long red pepper = 1 cod of long red pepper
1 handful of aniseed = 0.5 handful of aniseed
2 flower of mecafuchil or 6 roses of Alexandria (if belly bound) = no bound bellies
1 cod campeche = safety and procurement concerns (consider alternate aromatic of fennel seed)*
2 drams cinnamon = 1.772 grams of cinnamon note on drams
12 almonds = 6 almonds
12 hazel nuts = 6 hazelnuts
1/2 lb of white sugar = 0.25 lb sugar = 113.398 grams
enough achiote for color = enough powdered annatto for color ? weigh a pinch

The Huskes or Cods of Logwood, or Campeche, are very good, and smell like Fennell; and every one puts in of these, because they are not very hot; though it excuse not the putting in of Annis-seed, as sayes the Author of this Receipt; for there is no Chocolate without it, because it is good for many cold diseases, being hot in the third degree; and to temper the coldnesse of the Cacao; and that it may appeare, it helpes the indisposition of Cold parts, I will cite the Verses of one curious in this Art:"from
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21271/21271-h/21271-h.htm which appears to be expanded version of manuscript. but without a specific amount or weight we debated role of fennel (aromatic vs. functional ingredient in terms of oils/fats) both aniseed and fennel would impart a licorice type aromatic . . decided the role of campeche seems to be for coloring a reddish tint which the annatto is providing, issue of color importance! (perhaps communicate the other red ingredients which don't impart color - cinnamon and pepper?, red = chocolate = aphrodisiac)

2 drams of cinnamon (In avoirdupois weight -- that is, the system of weights commonly used by English speakers in North America and the United Kingdom -- a dram is equal to 1/16 ounce (1.772 grams). The word "dram" was borrowed from the Anglo-French and Late Latin word "dragme," which was originally used for a silver coin used by the ancient Greeks (now known in English as the "drachma") and for the coin's approximate weight. In the 16th century, English speakers also began using "dram" for a weight of fluid measure (also called a "fluid dram") equal to 1/8 fluid ounce, and more loosely for any small portion of something to drink. "Dram" is also used figuratively for any small amount, in much the same way as "grain" and "ounce.”) from http://www.merriam-webster.com/word/word.php?date=Aug-31-2010

1. dry ingredients – they are all dry (except Achiote)1.a. remove shells from cacao beans (as per instructions later in recipe for best practices)
2. beat all dry ingredients to powder, caution about heat
3. cinnamon and long red pepper are first to be beaten with the aniseed.
4. then beat the cacao. Little by little until all powdered, sometimes turn it round in the beating so it mixes better
5. every ingredient must be beaten by itself and then put into vessell where the cacao is(this means put in the powdered nuts) note don't add the sugar
6. you must stir together with a spoon and then take out that paste and put it into the morter,
7. under morter lay a fire -{note yesterday attempts with creme brulee torch, homemade double boiler, etc.}
8. for gentle fire we used a double boiler - for 6 minutes due to hints of unctious-ness. (residue on glass
9. don't let it get it get unctious
10. add powdered annatto for correct color (1/2 teaspoons)
11. searse/searle? all ingredients, "but onley the cocoa" *note nonlinearity of recipe instructionsNote we mortar/pestled for approximately 25 minutes
12. with a spoon take up some of the paste which will be almost liquid and
13. either make it into tablets or put into boxes
14. when it's cold it will be hard
15. to make tablets put spoonfull of paste upon piece of paper (note indians put it on leaf)
16. once dry flick it off the paper, if you put it into earth or wood you got sticky problems
17. next list of tablet re-consitution options . . .

of the six recommended preparations we are proceeding with the final (author's favorite). our scaled down recreation of that follows:

"there is another way , which is a shorter and quicker way of making it , for men of businesse who cannot stay long about it, and it is more wholsome, and it is that which I use.

1. set some water to warm (200 degrees F)
2. while it warms throw a tablet and mingle with sugar into a cup (we will pre-batch this)
3. when water is hot pu the water to the chocolate and then dissolve it with the Molinet ** and then without taking off the scum, drink it

based on our test approximately 2 oz. of water plus 1/4 tablet plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar, based on our subjective tasting results we wished for a stronger flavor therefore, we chose the following dilution/ reconstitution:

10 tablets25 oz of water (200 degrees electric degrees)from above scale 114 grams sugarmixing with frothing device/Molinet (we may have to shake it up before serving to class to overcome settling during transport)

note: examined contemp alternate recipe

Contemporary recipes

“An ancient Spanish recipe"

In 1643, Colmenero wrote a small book about chocolate.
The museum has a French translation dating from 1644 which makes it the oldest book written about chocolate in French.
The recipe mentioned in Colmenero comes from a doctor in the Andalusian town of Marchena,

• 700 cocoa beans
• 1.5 pounds of white sugar
• 2 ounces of cinnamon
• 14 Mexican peppers called chilis or pimiento
• 0,5 ounces of cloves
• 3 small campeche points or 2 reals weight of aniseed
• 1 large knob of achiote or enough to give it a good colour
• almonds
• hazelnuts
• orange flower water

http://www.choco-story.be/ENG/recipeschocolatedrinks.htm

Pictures:

Tablets, 2nd Iteration

Stirring the chocolate drink

9/9/2014: More Observations, Presentation

Julianna Visco and Emogene Cataldo

The sensory cues that are absent from the written text but apparent/palpable in the reconstruction / in the doing:
The sound of cocoa beans crunching crushing as you break the shells (notes transition phase)
The smells of burnt chocolate, caramelized sugar, burnt/oxidized oils from nuts etc. that signal heat is too much!
The visual and tactile cues when cacao bean nut mix is transitioning from powder to paste (with release of oils/fats)

PRESENTATION:
Chocolate-Presentation-PDF.pdf