[(56)] Baglivius in Edit. Lugd. 1709. Pag. 414. Vivere enim nostrum siccessere est.
[(59)] Chap. xxxvii. V. 33 & 34. In multis Escis erit Infirmitas, propter crapulam multi obierunt: Qui autem abstinens est, adjiecit Vitam.
THE
Natural HISTORY
OF
CHOCOLATE.
PART III.
Of the Uses of Chocolate.
The common Uses of Chocolate may be reduced to three: It is put in Confections; it is used in Chocolate, properly so call’d; and there is an Oil drawn from it, to which they give the Name of Butter. I shall treat of them distinctly, in the three following Chapters.
CHAP. I
Of Chocolate in Confections.
They chuse Cocao-Nuts that are half ripe, and take out the Kernels one by one, for fear of spoiling them; they then lay them to soak for some Days in Spring Water, which they take care to change Morning and Evening: afterwards, having taken them out and wiped them, they lard them with little Bits of Citron-Bark and Cinnamon, almost as they make the Nuts of Roüen.
In the mean time, they prepare a Syrup of the finest Sugar, but very clear; that is to say, wherein there is but little Sugar: and after it has been clarified and purified, they take it boiling-hot off the Fire, and put in the Cocao-Kernels, and let them lie 24 Hours. They repeat this Operation six or seven times, encreasing every time the Quantity of Sugar, without putting it on the Fire, or doing any thing else to it: last of all, they boil another Syrup to the Consistence of Sugar, and pour it on the Kernels well wiped and put in a clean earthen Pot; and when the Syrup is almost cold, they mix with it some Drops of the Essence of Amber.