CACAO NUTS.--The cacoa or cacoa nuts, of which chocolate is made, is
the seed of the fruit of a tree common in South America and the West
Indies. The seeds of the nuts, which are nearly of the shape of an
almond, are found to the number of from thirty to forty in a pod. The
pods are oval, resembling a cucumber in shape. The different sorts are
distinguished by name, according to the places which produce them;
thus, the cacao of Cayenne, Caraccas, Berbice, and the islands of St.
Magdalen and Domingo. These all differ in the size of their almonds
or seed, quality and taste. The most esteemed is the large Caraccas,
the almond of which, though somewhat flat, resembles the shape of a
large bean. The next are those of St. Magdalen and Berbice. The seeds
of these are less flat than those of the Caraccas kind, and the skin
is covered with a fine ash-colored dust. The others are very crude and
oily, and only fit to make the butter of cacao. The kernels, when fresh,
are bitter, and are deprived of this by being buried in the ground for
thirty or forty days. Good nuts should have a thin brittle skin, of a
dark black color; and the kernel, when the skin is taken off, should
appear full and shining, of a dusky color, with a reddish shade. Choose
the freshest, not worm-eaten, or moldy on the inside, which it is
subject to be.
Equal parts of the cacao of Caraccas, St. Magdalen and Berbice mixed
together make a chocolate of first-rate quality; and these proportions
give to it that rich and oily taste which it ought to have. That made
from the cacao of Caraccas only is too dry, and that from the islands
too fat and crude.
ROASTING.--Take a sufficient quantity of nuts to cover the bottom of
an iron pot two or three inches deep, place them on the fire to roast,
stirring them constantly with the spatula that the heat may be imparted
to them equally. A coffee-roasting machine would answer for this
purpose admirably, taking care not to torrefy them too much, as the
oil of the nut suffers thereby, and it becomes a dark brown or black,
grows bitter and spoils the color of the chocolate. Musty or moldy nuts
must be roasted more than the others, so as to deprive them of their
bad taste and smell. It is only necessary to heat them until the skin
will separate from the kernel on being pressed between the fingers.
Remove them from the fire and separate the skins. If you have a large
quantity, this may be accomplished by putting them in a sieve which
has the holes rather large, but not so much as to allow the nuts to
pass through; then squeeze or press them in your hands, and the skins
will pass through the meshes of the sieve; or, after being separated
from the nuts, they may be got rid of by winnowing or fanning them in
a similar manner to corn. When they are separated put them again in
the fire, as before directed, stirring them constantly until warmed
through, without browning. You may know when they are heated enough by
the outside appearing shiny; again winnow, to separate any burnt skin
which may have escaped the first time.
THE MAKING OF CHOCOLATE.--An iron pestle and mortar is requisite for
this purpose, also a stone of the closest grain and texture which can
be procured, and a rolling-pin made of the same material, or of iron.
The stone must be fixed in such a manner that it may be heated from
below with a pot of burning charcoal, or something similar.
Warm the mortar and pestle by placing them on a stove, or by means
of charcoal, until they are so hot that you can scarcely bear your
hand against them. Wipe the mortar out clean, and put any convenient
quantity of your prepared nuts in it, which you pound until they are
reduced to an oily paste, into which the pestle will sink by its own
weight. If it is required sweet, add about one-half or two-thirds of
its weight of loaf sugar in powder; again pound it so as to mix it
well together, then put it in a pan, and place it in the stove to keep
warm. Take a portion of it and roll or grind it well on the slab with
the roller (both being previously heated like mortar) until it is
reduced to a smooth impalpable paste, which will melt in the mouth like
butter. When this is accomplished, put it in another pan, and keep it
warm until the whole is similarly disposed of; then place it again on
the stone, which must not be quite so warm as previously, work it over
again, and divide it into pieces of two, four, eight, or sixteen ounces
each, which you put in molds. Give it a shake, and the chocolate will
become flat. When cold it will easily turn out.
The molds for chocolate may either be made of tin or copper, and of
different devices, such as men, animals, fish, culinary or other
utensils, etc.; also some square ones for half-pound cakes, having
divisions on the bottom which are relieved. These cause the hollow
impressions on the cakes.
The Bayonne or Spanish chocolate is in general the most esteemed. The
reason of its superior quality is attributed by some to the hardness
of the Pyrenean stone which they employ in making it, which does not
absorb the oil from the nuts. They do not use any pestle and mortar,
but levigate their nuts on the stone, which is fixed on a slope; and
in the second pounding or rolling the paste is pressed closely on the
stone, so as to extract the oil, which runs into a pan containing the
quantity of sugar intended to be used, and is placed underneath to
receive it; the oil of the cacao and sugar are then well mixed together
with a spatula, again mixed with the paste on the stone, and finished.
CINNAMON, MACE OR CLOVE CHOCOLATE.--These are made in the same manner
as Vanilla chocolate, using about an ounce and a half or two ounces of
either sort of spice, in powder, to that quantity, or add a sufficiency
of either of these essential oils to flavor.
CHOCOLATE DROPS, WITH NONPAREILS.--Have some warm chocolate, as for
pistachios; some add a little butter or oil to it to make it work more
free; make it into balls about the size of a small marble, by rolling
a little in the hand, or else put some of the paste on a flat piece of
wood, on which you form, and take them off with a knife. Place them on
sheets of white paper about an inch apart. When the sheet is covered,
take it by the corners and lift it up and down, letting it touch the
table each time, which will flatten them. Cover the surface entirely
with white nonpareils, and shake off the surplus ones. When the drops
are cold they can be taken off the paper easily. The bottom of the
drops should be about as broad as a sixpence. Some of them may be left
quite plain.
Good chocolate should be of a clear red-brown. As the color is paler or
darker, so is the article the more or less good. The surface should be
smooth and shining. If this gloss comes off by touching, it indicates
an inferior quality, and is probably adulterated. When broken, it ought
to be compact and close, and not appear crumbly. It should melt gently
in the mouth when eaten, leaving no roughness or astringency, but
rather a cooling sensation on the tongue. The latter is a certain sign
of its being genuine.
CHOCOLATE HARLEQUIN PISTACHIOS.--Warm some sweet chocolate by pounding
it in a hot mortar; when it is reduced to a malleable paste, take a
little of it and wrap round a blanched pistachio nut, roll it in the
hand to form it as neat as you can, throw it in some nonpareils of
various colors; let it be covered all over. Dispose of the whole in the
same manner; fold them in colored or fancy papers, with mottoes; the
ends should be cut like fringe. Almonds may be done the same way, using
vanilla chocolate, if preferred.
STOMACHIC CHOCOLATE.--Four ounces of chocolate prepared without
sugar; vanilla, one ounce; cinnamon in powder, one ounce; ambergris,
forty-eight grains; sugar, three ounces; warm your paste by pounding
in the heated mortar, or on the stone; add your aromatics in powder to
the sugar, and mix it well with the paste; keep it close in tin-boxes.
About a dozen grains of this is to be put into the chocolate pot when
it is made, which gives it an agreeable and delightful flavor, and
renders it highly stomachic. It may also be used for flavoring the
chocolate tablets.
VANILLA CHOCOLATE.--Ten pounds of prepared nuts, ten pounds of sugar,
vanilla two ounces and a half, cinnamon one ounce, one drachm of mace,
and two drachms of cloves, or the vanilla may be used solely.
Prepare your nuts according to the directions already given. Cut the
vanilla in small bits; pound it fine with part of the sugar, and mix it
with the paste; boil about one half of the sugar to the blow before you
mix it to the chocolate, otherwise it will eat hard. Proceed as before,
and either put in small molds or divide it in tablets, which you wrap
in tinfoil. This is in general termed eatable chocolate.