Sometimes
the stuff I get in my e-mail account is just too amazing to be
altered. This time it is an e-mail from the Quartz
Obsession <hi@qz.com>
written
by Natasha
Frost,
edited by Whet
Moser, and produced by Tori
Smith.
They
are a curious bunch of writing characters who ask some of the most
delicious questions. Todays article was all about Hot Cocoa! The
writers were obviously not aware of the great importance of cocoa to
Norwich CT but I will repair that oversite as soon as I finish this
cup of cocoa from Craftsman Cliff Roasters of 34 Broadway, Norwich,
CT https://craftsmancliffroasters.com.
Allow me to recommend a very, very, dirty hot cocoa that is indeed
even better than being wrapped in a cozy, warm blanket in front of a
cheery fireplace on a freezing cold evening.
Their
article brings to light all sorts of commentary I will admit I have
never, ever heard told before.
For
example: The
“hot
chocolate effect”
is
the name given to the rise in pitch heard when repeatedly tapping a
cup of hot liquid once a soluble powder like hot chocolate, instant
coffee, or salt has been added, as you might while stirring it with a
teaspoon. It is also known as the allassonic effect.
Did
you ever watch the 1934 Disney Hollywood
Party, where a brave
battalion of hot chocolate soldiers must venture forth and draw
(candy) swords against warring gingerbread men, perched atop a cookie
castle? Wouldn’t it be fun to watch a movie and this short Disney
classic while drnking a cup of cocoa?
In
1636, the Spanish historian and travel writer Antonio de Léon Pinelo
pondered a
difficult question: Did drinking hot chocolate break
ecclesiastical fasts? At the time, monks and other members of the
Catholic church spent a significant portion of the year fasting,
including abstaining from meat, eggs, and other tasty foodstuffs. Hot
chocolate didn’t obviously break any God-given rules, but it seemed
deeply suspect.
This
17th-century
book, written entirely in Spanish, explores the
various views
of
theologians and other thinkers on this hot topic. Despite the pope
giving the drink his blessing, the anti-chocolate brigade did score
some wins—the drink was banned by some orders,
like the Carmelites. Mind you, you can hardly blame them, writes
Mexican historian
M.
Mercè Gras Casanova: “The drink’s extraordinary quality and
delicacy led some to conjecture that such a delicacy must necessarily
be a sin.” And I confess to even enjoying this sin, perhaps a tad
too much.
Coffee
brings you up, tea cools
you down. Hot apple cider pairs with a cold morning at the
farmer’s market; consommé is for the ailing; butter tea is largely
the province
of yak farmers
on
the great Tibetan plane, or, in
its coffee form, of biohackers in Silicon Valley.
Hot
chocolate is like none of these. It is a treat, but not so
holiday-bound as eggnog or mulled wine; it gives you a lift, but you
can still have it just before bedtime. It befits the young and the
old, the sick and the well, urbanites and country-dwellers. Most of
all, it is a drink that says, “I love you.” (You can use it to
remind yourself of that, too, if you need to.)
Wherever
you go (almost), you will find a version of it. Colombians
add cheese. Filipinos may include peanut
butter. The Viennese top it with a
thick slug of whipped cream. In Mexico, where it originated, it
is minimally grainy and maximally invigorating. But where did it come
from, and how did we all fall in love with it?
550:
Calories in a large Starbucks hot chocolate—the same as a Big Mac
$13.95:
Cost
of a razzle-dazzling Frrrozen Hot Chocolate at the deeply kitschy
Manhattan restaurant Serendipity 3
2,000:
Cups
of chocolatl
poured
and consumed every day in the court of Montezuma, the 16th-century
Aztec leader
1,291:
Instagram
hits for the hashtag #blossominghotchocolate, Dominique Ansel’s
telegenic chocolate-marshmallow concoction
7:3:
Ratio
of dark to milk chocolate in British food writer Felicity Cloake’s
“perfect” hot chocolate
24
g (8 oz):
Daily
ration of chocolate provided to polar explorer Robert Scott’s men
on their 1911 trek to the South Pole
35%:
Growth
of Mexican hot chocolate on US menus since 2015
People
have been turning the seeds of the cacao plant into drinks for
thousands of years—in Mexico, cacao-based
beverages have been a staple since at least 1,900 BC. Later,
cacao was a popular drink among the Maya, who took it warm, and the
Aztecs, who preferred it cold and seasoned with spices like chile and
vanilla. (It was said to have been brought to humans by the god
Quetzalcoatl, who was cast out by his divine peers for sharing it.)
Early
Spanish colonists weren’t so sold, however: Christopher Columbus in
particular had little time for it. But gradually, the drink made its
way into Spanish life, first among monks and friars and then as a
luxury good, popular in the Spanish court. By the end of the 18th
century, it had conquered Europe—but wrought misery in the process.
Hot chocolate was so popular that it created a thriving market for
slave labor in the New World, with cacao plantations variously owned
by the English, Dutch, and French.
Though
today we think of bar chocolate as the original, most essential form
of the treat, the first chocolate bar wasn’t sold until 1847, when
a UK-based manufacturer, Joseph Fry, figured out the right
proportions of cocoa powder, cocoa butter, and sugar to make a solid
bar.
Although
some people say “cocoa” to mean hot chocolate, cocoa powder and
solid chocolate are two different products made from the cacao bean.
Either can be used to make hot chocolate—cocoa dissolved into warm
milk with some sugar makes a thinner concoction than the thick
Spanish style made from melted chocolate and milk, and used for
dipping churros.
Making
chocolate is itself a long process. It begins with seeds from the
cacao tree, which is native to Mexico. They have a very bitter taste
and to improve the flavor, they are piled in vats to ferment for up
to a week. After that, they’re put in the sun to dry for another
week or two, before being cleaned and roasted.
This
gives us cacao nibs, which are then ground into a powder called cocoa
mass—chocolate, in its simplest form. But there’s still a ways to
go. First, that mixture is heated until it melts into a liquid called
chocolate liquor. Next, it is separated into its two parts—dry,
crumbly cocoa solids and the fatty pale yellow cocoa butter that
gives chocolate its creamy texture. To make chocolate, they’ll be
put back together with sugar and sometimes milk.
Cocoa
is produced when the cocoa solids are processed into a fine powder.
It is intensely flavored, but not sweet at all. It is generally used
in baked goods—and hot chocolate, or hot cocoa, of course.
1502:
Christopher Columbus encounters cocoa beans for the first time—but
is much more interested in gold and silver.
1657:
London’s
first “Chocolate House” is opened by a Frenchman, who promises
the drink at “reasonable rates.”
1828:
A
Dutch chemist adds alkaline salts to chocolate liquor, creating Dutch
process cocoa powder.
1961:
Swiss
Miss becomes the first instant cocoa brand to hit US shelves.
1975:
British
soul band Hot Chocolate releases their chart-topping single “You
Sexy Thing.”
2009:
Emmy-winning
choreographer Debbie Allen stages the first performance of the Hot
Chocolate Nutcracker,
updating the festive Tchaikovsky original.
2019:
New
York’s City Bakery, home of “America’s most iconic hot
chocolate,” closes its doors.
America’s
Test Kitchen
and
Alton
Brown
have
similar, simple recipes for creating your own. Both recommend
Dutch-process cocoa powder; as the cooks at America’s Test Kitchen
point out, the alkaline salts raise the pH level, giving it “fuller
flavor and deeper color.” ATK recommends white chocolate chips;
Brown suggests adding a pinch of cayenne pepper like the Aztecs,
which he says “ups the flavor ante quite a bit, and as called for
here certainly won’t be sensed as ‘heat.’” He also adds
cornstarch as a thickener, as is done in Spain
and South America. (You can also thicken it Viennese style, with
an egg yolk.)
Cayenne
or chiles are common ingredients in Mexican hot chocolate, as in this
Bon Appétit recipe, which also calls for cinnamon and almond
extract. The Latin Kitchen has an even
more elaborate version, which includes anise, nutmeg, pink
peppercorn, and cardamom.
Not
addressed in this lengthy article is whether an individual can
overdose on hot chocolate? Or even be addicted. It may be an
addiction I can live with.
Thank
you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog
freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be
interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested
projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I
am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a
difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com
View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs
.