Saturday, September 12, 2020

Drinking Hot Chocolate


The season for hot beverages is approaching here in Michigan. Thus I'm thinking of a winter favorite drink: hot chocolate. As you can see in the photo, I make it with Hershey’s cocoa, sugar, vanilla, and of course marshmallows. Even on this not-so-cold fall day we enjoyed it.

Before chocolate technology advanced to making various types of candy, cocoa beans were used exclusively for making a beverage, along with various other flavors. Many books and articles document the very complicated history of chocolate, first in its original territory, Mesoamerica, and later during its introduction to Europe in the 16th century. Chocolate enjoyed great popularity in Europe in the 18th century. In the 19th and 20th centuries, new food technologies led to the transformation of chocolate into a sweet food. The roughly pulverized cocoa nibs could thus be ground into fine powder for cocoa or made into smooth, tempered candy or chocolate tablet for cooking and baking.

In this brief post, I'm just going to talk briefly about two of the eras of chocolate drinking -- the pre-Columbian era in Mesoamerica, and the chocolate-loving 18th century in Europe. For this, my post simply shows some of the vessels for preparing and serving hot chocolate.


Chocolate Drinks for the Privileged Aztecs and Mayas

Chocolate drinks were prepared in Mexico and Central America before the European conquest: cocoa beans were so valuable that only the ruling class ever tasted it. In fact, cocoa beans were sometimes used as money, and there are examples of counterfeits -- fake beans made out of clay!

An Aztec woman pouring chocolate into
a chocolate pot in order to make it foam.
The Mayans and the Aztecs had ceremonies in which the hot chocolate was prepared for the king, using several traditionally-shaped and decorated vessels, often including depictions of chocolate pods. Besides the pulverized chocolate beans, which had been ground on a stone metate, the Aztec chocolate drink included corn flour and hot chili pepper, and was foamed in the way illustrated above or with a special wooden tool for stirring the mixture.

Here, from the book Chocolate, Pathway to the Gods, are some images of chocolate pots used by the ancient Mayas, inventors of chocolate:

A chocolate pot from the Classic Maya era,
from Copan, Honduras. (p. 116)
Maya vase showing a monkey holding a cacao pod. (p. 160)

Four Maya ceramic chocolate containers. The one at upper right has a glyph that means "frothy cacao."
The deer at lower left was an effigy that contained traces of chocolate. (p. 129)
Pre-classic Maya vessel containing traces of chocolate (p. 114)

Pods of cocoa beans on a tree in the Matthaei Botanical Gardens, Ann Arbor.
They grow directly on the branch or tree trunk. The plant grows only in
some tropical climates: this is in a greenhouse.

Preparing Hot Chocolate in 18th Century Europe

Skipping forward a number of centuries, chocolate had become a much-enjoyed drink of the upper classes in Europe in the 17th and 18th century. The preparation and even the ingredients were not very different from those used by the Mayans and Aztecs, though European chocolate-drinkers soon began to add sugar and vanilla (which is also a New World product). English, French, Spanish, and German ceramicists and silver smiths made a variety of chocolate pots and chocolate cups to indulge the chocolate drinkers of their time. A few examples:

Wedgewood chocolate serving set, England, 18th century. 
Silver chocolate pot with a wooden handle.

Silver chocolate pot with a specialized frother.
The handle would turn opposite the way one
poured with it, to avoid becoming loose.
The frother resembles those used by the Aztecs.


Sources for these images: Smithsonian magazine, the Ashmolean Museum, the Jane Austen Society.


Reading About Chocolate

Chocolate: Pathway to the Gods by
Meredith L. Dreiss & Sharon Edgar Greenhill
The True History of Chocolate by
Sophie Coe and Michael D. Coe

This post is my contribution to the blogging event that takes place each Tuesday at the blog of Elizabeth and Bluebeard, where bloggers share images on the theme of beverages. My main information sources for this post are the two books above and "A Brief History of the Chocolate Pot" by Jess Righthand. This blog post © 2020 by mae sander for mae food dot blog spot dot com.

20 comments:

Angie's Recipes said...

I want to pour chocolate into the pot like that Aztec woman...so skillful and cool. Those chocolate pots are really nice.

Tandy | Lavender and Lime (http://tandysinclair.com) said...

I first had hot chocolate with marshmallows when I visited America as a child. When I have it like that now, it reminds me of that holiday. I need to try adding vanilla next time we make it.

Iris Flavia said...

LOL. I just read the title and thought, "ewww"!
My sweet tooth is asleep again!
But we once had chocolate-beer, I liked that. Interesting what a pain it was back then to get it! And that people did not give up!

Divers and Sundry said...

We usually just have the instant kind, which isn't nearly the drink yours is.

My mother inherited my great aunt's chocolate pot, and I got it from her, and I've already passed it on to my oldest. I'm not sure it's ever been used, but they are lovely pieces.

Bill said...

Beautiful chocolate containers.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Your hot chocolate looks like some I would make. I even made my own marshmallows one year. I also use Hershey's, but sometimes I use the Mexican chocolate that comes in circles.

I enjoyed reading about the Mayan chocolate pots, but the British silver ones are simply stunning. Thanks for sharing these with us for T this week, Mae. This is both educational and a fun way to learn about hot chocolate, too.

Debra Eliotseats said...

So interesting. You know that Chocolat is the Food 'n Flix feature this month. Very timely, Mae! I'm ready for fall and hot chocolate season!

Halle said...

I used to love hot chocolate but the past few years it just doesn't hold the appeal to me anymore.
Happy T day!

Linda Kunsman said...

What an enjoyable read about the history of chocolate along with the chocolate pots-great post! Happy T day!

My name is Erika. said...

Those books sounds fascinating. Best hot chocolate I ever had was in Costa Rica on a sustainable farm where we roasted the beans and then ground them. It is a fascinating process and the results are just amazing. Enjoy your coco. HAppy T day too.

Kate Yetter said...

What a fun post. I can't imagine anyone not liking hot chocolate. Unless of course, it was made with clay beans. Yuck!! You have certainly done your research. My mom had a few chocolate pots that she collected. They can be very decorative and beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Happy Tea Day,
Kate

Valerie-Jael said...

Very interesting article. Hot chocolate with a shot of mocha is a great winter drink! The illustrations are wonderful. Happy T Day, Valerie

kathyinozarks said...

Good morning, I really enjoyed your chocolate post today. In the past I have made up my own mix with dried milk powder, non sugar sweetener and Hersheys very dark cocoa-yum I am ready to make some for the coming months Happy T hugs Kathy

Jackie McGuinness said...

I love that Mexican print of the woman pouring the chocolate.

I don't usually drink hot chocolate, it is usually too sweet.

DVArtist said...

Wow what a great post. I enjoyed this history lesson very much. Thank you for sharing this.

Lisca said...

Fascinating! Personally I love chili chocolate and I believe that also dates from Aztec/Mayan cultures.
We have several Ecuadorian friends and once one of the ladies brought a cocoa bean into church and cut it open. We all had a taste and sure enough the mashed contents really tasted like chocolate and it was surprisingly sweet.
Thank you for sharing,
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca

CJ Kennedy said...

A chocolate lovers post 😻 So interesting to learn the history. I have a china cocoa set that belonged to my father's mother. The cups are so cute, but tiny! When I want hot chocolate, I want a big ol' mug full. Happy T Day

Eileen Bergen said...

Very interesting post, Mae. We visited the "workshop" of a woman in Mexico who had recently won an international award for her chocolate. It was delicious. But it was made very much like in the Mayan era. All outdoors. Basic wooden vats and paddles. Children running around, as well as dogs and chickens. Very interesting look into the past.

Happy T-Day. Stay safe and well. Hugs, Eileen

A Day in the Life on the Farm said...

I made Mexican Hot Chocolate today in honor of Chocolat...It was wonderful.

pearshapedcrafting said...

Absolutely riveting! I knew some of this and you filled in the gaps nicely!I understand that due to building modernisation the well is no more but we will take a look in the church yard one day to see if the spring is still there! Happy T Day,Chrisx