Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-06-02


food product. The discovery of the
+ .cacao. or as it is commonly known. the
cocoa tree--or giving 1t its full name in
botany of theobroma cacas-meaning
the food of the gods-dates back many
centuries.
!, In 1920 the Spanish buccaneers
brought the chocolate to Spain. where
il soon found great favor with all classes
of people. The word chocolate" is
Mexican; it means a mixture of cocoa
1nibs and water. The native Mexicans
bruised the seeds of the cacao and then
mixed them with water and heated this
mixture: it is then favored with spice
ard served ms beverage.
There is an old legend told in the
Mission Valley in Mexico of n famous.
monarch, Montezuma, who served
chocolate from wonderful bowl of
hammered gold with a magniticently
carved golden spoon to his guests of
state on high days and holidays.
The eacao tree, when in bloom. is
wonderful thing to see the entire tree is
covered with small pink flowers that
have pleasant odor. The long, taper
4 ing dark green leaves set off the tree to
advantage The bark of the tree is very
smooth and of grayish color. The
fruit of the cacao tree. when it is full
grown. attains the width of two and a
half to three inches and about six and
half to seven inches long, and it really
looks very much like a badly shaped
gherkin. The pod, while growing, is a
beautiful shade of green. which gradu-
ally changes. as it ripens. to yellow
AZ. ri, IN n :
liant red Each pod contains from fifty
to 100 almond shaped seeds, which arc
of pinkish color. when first exposed
to the air. and of a dark brown, choco
late color when fully dried.
Each seed is covered with thin
brittle covering As soon as the seeds
are gathered they arc placed in piles to
ferment or sweat. This softens the
outer covering, which is then removed.
Here we find the seeds inclosed in n
buttery pulp. This pulp is then re-
moved and the seeds are dried, roasted
and then they are ready to be ground
into chocolate.
The average cacao tree grows to the
height of twenty to thirty feet. The
tree begins to bear fruit when about
four years old and continues to have
fruit ripening all the year round. usu-
ally there are two main crops gathered,
one later in june and the other early
in January. The January crop is the
most important.
Many delicious beverages and dishes
are prepared with both chocolate and
: cocoa. Chocolate is rich in oil, cocoa
butter. starch and gluten and it has q
Wonderful sustaining power. When it is
properly prepared it makes delicious
and nourishing beverage. Both the
army and navy quickly realized the
wonderful food value of chocolate and
it was used in their emergency rations.
These ratiOns were so made up as to
give the greatest food value in the
smallest amount of space, hence the
Importance of chocolate in this ration.
The cocoa beans contain an average
Of AZ per cent pure oil cocoa butter)
IS per cent protein, 10 per cent starct
and Q per cent other carbohydrates.
The United States is the largest choc
olate and cocoa consuming country in
the world. Commercial cocoa is sold in
Powdered form with portion of the
Y fat removed. In this way it is rendered
more easily digestibe and it is fire.
quently preferred because of this. Choc-
olate is prepared bean in the solid or
cake form.
The white streaked appearance of
chocolate when kept in stock for some
time is due to the heat. Chocolate
readily melts at temperature of 96
degrees Fahrenheit, but this in no way
hurts the quality or the flavor.
To prepare the chocolate as bever-
II is tn hnil nnnly II
thoroughly. The mere fact of pouring
boiling water or milk upon the cocoa
viii not cook it sufficiently.
How to Prepare Chocolate
The Mexican epicure long ago dis
covered that to make chocolate success
fully. it is necessary to beat it con =
tinually and he thus perfected a chOco
late whip which is wooden beater with
number of wooden rings fastened to it
when this is used to stir the chocolate
II churns the mixture to a froth.
The French use a number of switches
bound into whip. The American
housewife uses fat wire whip for thi
purpose.
CoeCa--Place in a saucepan three
fourths cup of water and two leve
teaspoons of cocoa for each cup of coco
desired. Bring to a boil and then coo
for five minutes. Beat continually. the
pdd one fourth cup of scalded milk TO
each cup of cocoa. Bring to a bo
again and then serve.
Chocolate-Use three ounces
chocolate to one quart of water. Gu
the chocolate fine and then add tn
water and stir continually. Bring
boil and cook for ten minutes. Ad
one cup of scalded cream and then brin
again to the boiling point and serve.
One tablespoon of whipped crea
may be added to each cup just befol
y serving.
Here are some other methods of sery
ing chocolate and cocoa:
Chocolate Punch
Place one half pound cake of choct
late, cut into small pieces, In a sauc
pan and add two quarts of water. Bril-
3 TO boil and cook for ten minutes. Al
one quart of scalded cream. Beat ha
TO blend and then cool and pour in
punch bowl and add;
Tsco quarts Of cracked zoe,
One small bottle of finely chopI
marasckno cherries,
.IIII| ~. faIIeenooo AZ g-auiII0