D. Quélus

“ Experience confirms these Reasonings very much, for the Digestion of Chocolate is soon brought about without Trouble, without Difficulty, and without any sensible rising of the Pulse; the Stomach very far from making use of its Strength, acquires new Force. And I can farther say, upon my own Knowledge, that I have seen several Persons who had but weak Digestion, if not quite spoiled, who have been entirely recovered by the frequent Use of Chocolate. ”

“ 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. ”

“ All the Kernels being thus roasted and cleansed at divers times, they put them once more to roast in the same Iron Shovel, but over a more gentle Fire, and stir them with the Spatula without ceasing till they are roasted all alike, and as much as they ought to be; which one may discover by their Taste, and their dark-brown Colour, without being black. The whole Art consists in avoiding the two Extremes, of not roasting them enough, and roasting them too much; that is to say, till they are burnt. If they are not roasted enough, they retain a disagreeable Harshness of Taste ”

“ If Chocolate did not produce this Effect, but only as it is very nourishing, it would but have this Property in common with the most juicy Aliments, and such as are most proper to furnish a good Quantity of Blood and Plenty of Spirits: but its Effects are far more speedy; for if a Person, for Example, fatigued with long and hard Labour, or with a violent Agitation of Mind, takes a good Dish of Chocolate, he shall perceive almost instantly, that his Faintness shall cease, and his Strength shall be recovered, when Digestion is hardly begun. ”

“ The Qualities of Chocolate are not indeed so remarkable, nor so active, as those of Camphire; but, with the least Attention, one may easily discern, that the Quantity of Oil that it contains, and the Bitterness that is perceivable in Tasting, are not the Marks of Coldness, since all Bitters are esteem’d hot, and since Oil is a Matter very near a-kin to, and necessary for Fire. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Chocolate is not only proper to prolong the Life of aged People, but also of those whose Constitution is lean and dry, or weak and cacochimical, or who use violent Exercises, or whose Employments oblige them to an intense Application of Mind, which makes them very faintish: to all these it agrees perfectly well, and becomes to them an altering Diet. ”

“ It therefore seems likely, that the Merchants find their account in sorting it, since Kernels proceeding from the same Tree, and from the same Nut, are not always of the same bigness. It is indeed true, that if one Parcel of Kernels be compared with another, the one may consist of bigger than the other, which may arise from the Age or Vigour of the Trees, or from the Nature of the Soil; but certainly there is no kind of Kernels which may be called Great, as a distinct Kind, nor consequently no other which can properly be said to be Small. ”

“ I believe in the bottom, the difference of Chocolates is not considerable, since they are only obliged to encrease or diminish the Proportion of Sugar, according as the Bitterness of the Kernels require it. For it must be considered, as we have already said, that there is but one kind of Cocao-Tree, which grows as naturally in the Woods of Martinico, as in those of the Coast of Caraqua, that the Climates are almost the same, and consequently the Temperature of the Seasons equal, and therefore there cannot be any intrinsick Difference between these Fruits of any great moment. ”

“ Nothing is so great an Argument that Wheat, Rice, Millet, and Manioc, are salutary and temperate, as their being used by whole Nations together. If any of these Substances had any predominant evil Quality, it would soon appear to the Prejudice of the Health of Numbers; the People who subsist upon it, would soon leave it off as a very dangerous and hurtful Aliment.
One may reason much after the same manner with respect to Chocolate. The Natives of New-Spain, and of a great part of the Torrid Zone of America, have always used it as a Delicacy ”

“ I nevertheless do not doubt but the Pleasantness of the Smell, and the favourite Taste of several agreeable Spices, being pretty much liked in this Mixture, will have their Partizans; who, more delighted with a present Gratification, than afraid of the insensible Prejudice that these Ingredients bring to their Health, will not resolve to leave them off. Tho these will be no longer the Correctors of Chocolate, yet they will serve to season it, with which they will please their Taste, without troubling themselves with the Consequences. ”

“ If one cleaves one of these Shells length-ways, it will appear almost half an Inch thick, and its Capacity full of Chocolate Kernels; the Intervals of which, before they are ripe, are fill’d with a hard white Substance, which at length turns into a Mucilage of a very grateful Acidity: For this reason, it is common for People to take some of the Kernels with their Covers, and hold them in their Mouths, which is mighty refreshing, and proper to quench Thirst. But they take heed of biting them, because the Films of the Kernels are extreamly bitter. ”

“ A learned Englishman has carried his Commendations so high concerning this particular Property of Chocolate, that he has not scrupled to affirm in a Dissertation that he has publish’d upon this Subject, That one Ounce of Chocolate contains as much Nourishment as a Pound of Beef. ”

“ One ought to chuse the smallest Cinnamon, the highest coloured, and of the most biting Taste, as well as sweet and spicy, because a great Part is full of Pieces, from whence they have drawn the Essence, and has neither any Colour nor Taste, but that of the Wood. To help and amend both, there needs only a Clove to be ground in the Mortar, with an Ounce of Cinnamon. This Spice is best that comes from the East-Indies, it has nothing of Acrid in it, and contains an oleous Volatile, which agrees very well with that of Chocolate. ”

“ Now since Nature is commonly uniform in her Operations, and since there is a great deal of reason to suppose that Nature compleats Digestion by the same means that she has begun it, let us suppose it is really so for a Moment, and apply it to the present Subject, and then we shall see by what Evidence Chocolate ought to be of an easy Digestion. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The volatile Sulphur with which it abounds, is proper to supply the Place of that which the Blood loses every day through Age, it blunts and sheaths the Points of the Salts, and restores the usual Softness to the Blood, like as Spirit of Wine united with Spirit of Salt, makes a soft Liquor of a violent Corrosive. This same sulphurous Unctuosity at the same time spreads itself in the solid Parts, and gives them, in some sense, their natural Suppleness; it bestows on the Membranes, the Tendons, the Ligaments, and the Cartilages, a kind of Oil which renders them smooth and flexible. ”

“ Health is so valuable a Blessing, that the Care to gain and preserve it, ought to supersede any other Consideration.
As to the pretended Obstructions which Chocolate is said to occasion from its astrictive Quality, they are so far from being afraid of it in America, that they have found by Experience a Vertue directly contrary to it; for several young Women, subject to the Whites, have been cured of this Distemper, by eating a Dozen Cocao Kernels for Breakfast every Morning. ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is not very extraordinary that People who are more ready to believe than to examine, (such as the World is full of) should give into the unanimous Opinion of so many Authors; and it would be strange if they were not carry’d down by the Stream of a Prejudice so general. But I cannot sufficiently admire that Chocolate being so much decry’d, has not been entirely laid aside as unfit for Use ”

“ One may then conclude from these two Observations, That Chocolate is a mix’d Body, that has the least Quantity of Salt enters its Composition.
Sect. IV.
Chocolate is very proper to preserve Health, and to prolong the Life of Old Men.
Before Chocolate was known in Europe, good old Wine was called the Milk of old Men; but this Title is now apply’d 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 the first place, bitter and alkaline Substances, such as these Kernels, are stomachick and analogous to the Saliva and the Ferment which dissolves the Aliment in the Stomach; how then can it be of hard Digestion with these Qualities?
In the second place, if one considers attentively the Kernels as they are roasted, broke, and ground extremely fine upon a Stone, afterwards melted and dissolved in boiling Liquor, which serves as a Vehicle for it; it then seems very likely that the Stomach will not have much Labour left to do. In short, by it Digestion is more than half finished. ”

“ Is it not by the assistance of grafting our Fruit Trees in several manners, (which were originally wild, and found by chance in the Woods) that they have at length found the Art of making them bear such excellent Fruit?
In proportion as the Cocao-Trees grow, the Leaves upon the Trunks fall off by little and little, which ought to fall off on their own accord; for when they are entirely bare, they have not long to flourish: The first Blossoms commonly fall off, and the ripe Fruit is not to be expected in less time than three Years, and that if it be in a good Soil. ”

“ If the Wind has only overturn’d the Trees without breaking the chief Root, then the best Method that can be taken in good Soil, is to raise them up again, and put them in their Places, propping them up with a Fork, and putting in the Earth about it very carefully: By this means they will be re-establish’d in less than six Months, and they will bear again as if no harm had come to them. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ When the Paste is ground as much as is thought necessary, they put it hot in Moulds made of Tin, where they leave it, and it becomes hard in a very little time. The Shape of these Moulds is arbitrary, and every one may have them made according to his Fancy; but the cylindrick ones, which will hold about 2 or 3 Pounds of Chocolate, seem to me to be most proper; because the thicker they are, the longer they keep good, and may be commodiously held when there is occasion to scrape them. ”

“ They happily experienced the Success of this Practice at Martinico some Years since.
The Manioc (6) is a woody Shrub, whose Roots being grated, and baked on the Fire, yield a Cassave, or Meal, which serves to make Bread for all the Natives of America. They plant it in the new Nurseries, not only because it is necessary to supply the Negroes with Food, but also it hinders the Growth of Weeds, and serves to shade the young Cocao-Trees, whose tender Shoots, and even the second Leaves, are not able to resist the scorching Beams of the Sun. ”