Drink Like An Aztec

by Sally Peabody 

Paris is home to famed museums highlighting fine arts, decorative arts, literary arts but not, until now, culinary arts.  Choco-Story is the new ‘museum’ of chocolate telling the long and fascinating story of this beloved edible, drinkable substance.  Today, evidence of the highest forms of the chocolate-makers art surround visitors to Paris, indeed chocolate shops and salons are omnipresent and offer magnificent products to tempt us. But as with much in the culinary world, there is an interesting back story.

At Choco-Story one embarks on a journey of learning about chocolate, its origins, its evolution from cup to plate, from food of the powerful to a delectable treat for all who care to enjoy it.  Montezuma, the powerful Aztec King, measured his wealth in territory and cacao beans.  Drinking chocolate was reserved for the king and his warriors.  Cocoa beans were offered to the Gods in special offerings. Chocolate was believed to have enduring properties to enhance strength, wisdom and courage.  It was reserved for the elite in society.

Present-day chocolate aficionados have the Spanish explorer Cortez to thank for bringing chocolate from present day Mexico to Europe, originally to Spain, for drinking in a spicy brew that had evolved from the Aztec and Mayan style with the breakthrough addition of sugar to the cacao and spice brew that sustained the indigenous cultures.  The European saga of the spread of love for chocolate owes much to women, those ever-discerning arbiters of taste.  Queen Anne of Austria, daughter of King Philip the III of Spain, wife of King Louis the IX of France (and mother of Louis the IX) was one of chocolate’s earliest royal proponents.  During the terrible years of the Inquisition awareness of chocolate spread from Spain to elsewhere in Europe, one positive result of the misery and diaspora of the Spanish Jews who were expert chocolate makers, forced to flee from Spain to Portugal, finally settling in the Bayonne-Biarritz area in France.  Famed French women diarists like Madame Sevigne wrote of the seemingly magical powers of chocolate to restore and invigorate. Chocolate was on its way to established essential-ness for the French and European upper classes.

But let’s save the story of present day chocolate for another time. For now, if you want to go back to the roots and taste chocolate as an Aztec ruler might have savored it, or as Cortez and his cohort would have drunk it, follow these recipies.  Bon Appetit.  And visit Choco-Story next time you are in Paris!

Here is an Aztec recipe that was transmitted to Francisco Hernandez, physician of Philip II of Spain.  This recipe is featured in the exhibit.

Crush together  50% roasted cocoa beans and 50% kernels of the sapotilla fruit.

Add: crushed corn, ‘ear flower’, vanilla, Mexican pepper and a little honey.  If desirable, add achiote (to give an even ruddier red-brown colour), chili, allspice, ‘heart flower’.  Brew with water.

Now, just in case you can’t find sapotilla or ear flower, you can definitely try a variant on this recipe from Spain that is reputedly the oldest known Spanish recipe.  Choco-Story serves a variant of this hot chocolate in their ‘dégustation’ of three different hot chocolates (for 3 euros).   The recipe notes that chocolate became a sweetened drink around 1500 AD, or about 500 years ago.  The proportions may be a little tricky to replicate but play with good quality cocoa and these spices to drink like a Spanish conquistador and his king.

“Oldest Known Spanish Recipe” From Choco-Story Exhibit.

Take 700 roasted cocoa beans Grind and mix with: 1.5 pounds of sugar. 2 ounces of cinnamon. 14 blackpepper grains, .5 ounces of cloves, 3 vanilla pods or aniseed, 1 spoonful of achiote, almonds, hazelnuts, orange blossom water.

Next time you are in Paris, make it a point to visit Choco-Story. It is a fascinating journey through the world of chocolate from bean to cup, tree to plate.

Choco-Story.  The Gourmet Chocolate Museum.  28 Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle. Paris 10.  Telephone (in France): 01 42 29 68 60.  www.museeduchocolat.fr  Metro: Bonne Nouvelle or Strasbourg St. Denis.  Bus # 20, 39 or 48.  Open everyday 10-6.  Fees: 9 Euros, Adults, 6 Euros children 6-12.  Free for under 6 years old.  Free demo of chocolate making with taste.  Gift shop and dégustation of hot chocolates (3 Euro).  The museum is on three floors. There is an elevator for handicapped visitors which you must request permission to use.

About the author:  Sally Peabody is a Paris Specialist with a specialty in quality French chocolates and fine teas in Paris. She advises on crafting great days in and around Paris, can match you with excellent private guides or send you off to explore and taste on your own, and leads small scale culinary and cultural tours in Paris, Lyon, the Pays Basque and also in Turkey.  Check Sally  out on http://www.yourgreatdaysinparis.com, peabodysparis.blogspot.com or visit Your Great Days in Paris on Facebook.