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Post by Baz Faz on Oct 18, 2017 19:23:27 GMT 2
This must be a subject close to the heart of many Potters.
Mrs Faz and I work at Dyrham Park, a National Trust property, on one day a week. Until now we have been a team in the second hand book room. If people want to buy a book they will. But we do sell raffle tickets and are so phenomenally successful we had to write a report on how we do it. Now the summer season is over there are fewer visitors so we decided I could do something else. I am going to be a Food interpreter. Other foods will be added but the first item I will be dishing out (in the old kitchen a few doors down from Mrs Faz) is hot drinking chocolate. This is a spicy drink from a 17th century recipe.
I'll want to chat about chocolate so any interesting/amusing/scandalous bits of information will be most welcome.
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Post by tzarine on Oct 19, 2017 6:48:28 GMT 2
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Post by Baz Faz on Oct 19, 2017 10:12:42 GMT 2
Thanks for the link, Tzarine. I haven't tasted the hot chocolate I'll be serving yet but the recipe I've seen includes chilli and vanilla plus other things like orange blossom water. Chocolate was given to sacrificial victims. Chocolate was (is) considered an aphrodisiac. I think I shall be having fun.
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Post by kuskiwi on Oct 19, 2017 19:41:49 GMT 2
My new favourite chocolate has lime in it...I drink plenty using the excuse that I need protection from scurvy
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Post by sophie on Oct 20, 2017 3:49:25 GMT 2
Best hot chocolate I have ever had was in Quetzeltenango (Xela) in Guatemala.. made in the traditional Central American way, no milk or cream. Mmmmm. That served with a fresh churro was an afternoon highlight during my time there.
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Post by Baz Faz on Oct 20, 2017 10:16:34 GMT 2
I shan't have any facilities for making churros, I'm afraid. Even the drink will be made in the kitchen and I'll be given a thermos flask to pour from. The 17th century recipe is:
1 1/2 tbs cocoa 1 1/2 tbs sugar 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/8 tsp cloves 1/8 tsp star anise 1/8 tsp cayenne 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup water
At least that is the recipe according to the printed sheets I have been given. I think there will also be some orange blossom water. I should be able to taste it this coming Tuesday when we are next working at Dyrham Park. With all those ingredients it doesn't seem as if chocolate will be predominant but I'll see. My next shift as Food Interpreter is Tuesday 31st. I'll be reporting back on visitors' reactions.
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Post by sophie on Oct 20, 2017 18:24:56 GMT 2
This will no doubt be tasty but won’t be anything like the authentic stuff. Do you have a frother for stirring it?
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Post by tzarine on Oct 20, 2017 18:31:43 GMT 2
yes you will need a wooden mexican frother
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Post by Baz Faz on Oct 20, 2017 18:47:13 GMT 2
yes you will need a wooden mexican frother I doubt there is a wooden Mexican frother within 100 miles of here. We can blame the recipe on Captain Wadsworth who had what is kindly called a colourful life. He was at school in Spain, went on an outing with friends in the Mediterranean where he was captured first by the Dutch and then by Moroccan pirates. He was briefly in the British army. He was also an unsuccessful spy, imprisoned by the French. And so on. He published a pamphlet on chocolate complete with a ditty he composed: Twill make old women young and fresh Create new motions in the flesh And cause them long for you know what If they but taste of chocolate. I have been cautioned about using this poem.
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Post by tzarine on Oct 20, 2017 20:06:55 GMT 2
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Post by Baz Faz on Oct 20, 2017 23:25:00 GMT 2
The molinillo is beautiful. Nothing is left in Dyrham Park of 17th century cooking utensils, alas.
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Post by rikita on Oct 27, 2017 2:13:49 GMT 2
i think the fact that you started a thread with this title on my birthday is something like a sign. like, that chocolate and i are meant for each other ... as for your chocolate recipe above, i will try that out sometime soon. this morning, i allowed myself a cup of (sweet) hot chocolate, but from an instant package that i bought for camping - still had some packages left over and so am occasionally using one of them ...
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Post by Baz Faz on Oct 27, 2017 10:06:47 GMT 2
On Tuesday I tasted the chocolate I shall be dispensing next week. In my opinion it is a waste of good chocolate. Nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves were the predominant flavours at first sip; the chilli kicked in after 10 or 15 seconds. Chocolate was just a background. I think visitors are just intrigued by its difference. I'll develop my spiel to go with it - some thought it had medicinal qualities, others thought (still do) it was an aphrodisiac, and Pepys thought it was a cure for a hangover.
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Post by auntieannie on Oct 27, 2017 13:46:02 GMT 2
You know, I am thinking that if they were going to use cacao as little tampered with as possible, i.e. where the bitterness was immediately noticeable, these spices would really make a difference.
and the spices have medicinal properties of their own.
Chocolate, the untampered with type, does have some medicinal properties. These are lessened by the amount of sugar and other adjuvants to modern chocolate.
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Post by Baz Faz on Oct 27, 2017 16:15:22 GMT 2
Annie, there is sugar and milk in this recipe. The amount people are given is so small I cannot believe there is any medicinal benefit.
I guess the hot spicy chocolat will continue all winter. Next up, I believe, will be marmelade.
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Post by shrjeff on Oct 27, 2017 17:56:04 GMT 2
the aztecs and mayans for whom chocolate was a gift of the gods, used it only as a bitter, spiced drink - no sugar or milk... only when it got to europe did they sweeten it to make it more palatable... in california one can buy mexican chocolate today which is for hot drinks with cinnamon in it (as well as sugar).
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Post by tzarine on Oct 27, 2017 18:39:26 GMT 2
shjeff
my fav brand growing up in la was abuelita i would bring the bars back to ny
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Post by Baz Faz on Nov 1, 2017 11:23:20 GMT 2
Yesterday was my first day dispensing the hot spicy chocolate drink. Since the recipe contains (as well as chocolate, sugar and milk) cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, chilli and orange blossom water it is way beyond people's experience. There were the reactions you would expect: some loved it, some found it curious, some hated it and some refused to taste it. The tasting room was the old kitchen (superseded in 1845 by the Victorian kitchen). It is a rather dark room and as the days shorten the afternoons will get more and more gloomy. One problem is that the central ceiling light fitting only had one of its five bulbs working. Apparently if there are more bulbs it blows a fuse! The major problem is that there is no heating at all. When there was a roaring wood fire for cooking that would not be a problem but that is not the case now. The temperature yesterday (the last day of October) was 13.2C. None of the surrounding rooms have heating. There is an open door at the end of the passage so cold air blasts in. I think when winter comes it will be intolerable to spend 6 hours there.
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Post by OnlyMark on Nov 1, 2017 12:12:00 GMT 2
Maybe you need to some hot chocolate to keep warm.
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Post by shrjeff on Nov 1, 2017 13:14:45 GMT 2
perhaps it would be worth it to buy some led bulbs which would provide light without blowing the fuse...
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Post by auntieannie on Nov 1, 2017 13:28:34 GMT 2
what about additional lighting AND heating? I seriously worry that you will catch a cold in such an environment.
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Post by Baz Faz on Nov 1, 2017 20:36:49 GMT 2
Yesterday I wore a thermal vest, shirt and thick Ecuadoran wool sweater. Next week I'll add a fleece. If I am still cold I'll make a fuss or go back to my previous post in the Book shop (a bit warmer).
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Chocolate
Nov 2, 2017 11:02:24 GMT 2
via mobile
Post by wikki on Nov 2, 2017 11:02:24 GMT 2
perhaps it would be worth it to buy some led bulbs which would provide light without blowing the fuse... Had the same thought. This hot chocolate is very warming or? Just but more chilli in and you don't need a fire anymore. :-)
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Post by Baz Faz on Nov 2, 2017 11:52:26 GMT 2
perhaps it would be worth it to buy some led bulbs which would provide light without blowing the fuse... Had the same thought. This hot chocolate is very warming or? Just but more chilli in and you don't need a fire anymore. :-) Potters are confusing the National Trust with a normal organisation. It has 5 million members and a huge bureaucracy. Nothing gets done until several committees have met and deliberated and decided to form a subcommittee. To put in 5 LED bulbs in what is basically a chandelier would require a stepladder and moving the furniture. This would immediately alert the House team who would need to consult somebody or other who would refer it to a committee etc. Heating is also a problem. There is central heating but it is not basically to heat the rooms but to cut down on humidity which could harm the furniture/paintings/curtains. When we started working in March the Bookshop was 14C and the radiators were often cold. Where I am now is just more extreme. We have been told that in wet summers the central heating often comes on in August.
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