ANOTHER CHAPTER ON CHOCOLATE by Pam North From its early origin in Central America, chocolate traveled to Europe, then eventually came back across the Atlantic to North America. During its journey it was improved upon, and it found its way into the cultures of all who tasted it. The Spanish were creative, adding various combinations of maize (to soak up the cacao butter and thicken the drink), chilies, aniseed, allspice,cloves, black pepper, vanilla, flower petals, annatto, musk, sugar and cinnamon. A collection of recipes by an 18th-century Italian priest revealed the imagination of that country in their use of chocolate. The recipes included such dishes as: liver dipped in chocolate and fried, chocolate soup, chocolate polenta, and chocolate pudding with veal, marrow and candied fruit. Chocolate's introduction into Italy was most likely through convents and monasteries as a medicine; in Germany it was also regarded as a medicine and was sold only in apothecaries. In France, the Cardinal of Lyons drank chocolate to "calm his spleen and appease his rage and foul temper." Chocolate had long been used therapeutically (as far back as the fourth century) as a stimulant and soothing drink. The Aztecs had prescribed a potion of cacao mixed with the ground bones of their exhumed ancestors as a cure for diarrhea. By the 17th century chocolate had been given the seal of approval as a healthful food containing many beneficial substances, and deemed useful for treating human ailments ranging from indigestion, bad breath and chronic illness to tuberculosis and broken hearts. Chocolate was touted as the perfect family drink for breakfast and supper. By the 1800s, charlatans began to cash in on chocolate's high place in the esteem of medical and health professions, and various sinister forms of "medicinal" chocolate began to appear, such as pectoral chocolate made with Indian tapioca (recommended for people suffering from consumption), and analeptic chocolate made with a mysterious Persian tonic. By the end of the century, pure chocolate was approved of by hospitals and sanitariums, as well as by numerous public institutions and themilitary. As the taste of chocolate was improved upon over the centuries, its devotees multiplied. The drink became the focal point of European chocolate houses, and society revolved around these establishments, often as places for rendezvous and flirtations. It was inevitable that chocolate would become a focus of attack by moralists who viewed the chocolate houses as centers of moral licentiousness. The drink itself seemed addictive, as those who imbibed did so often and with a passion, so chocolate was branded as evil and satanic by some zealots. The Church played an important role, both directly and indirectly, in the history of chocolate. The Jesuit missionaries, with their international network of monasteries and convents, were probably the main link that brought chocolate from the New World to Europe, and until the 18th century chocolate was made by monks and nuns. Chocolate was popular with the clergy because it sustained them through their lengthy fasts. The Church eventually became aware of the rise in the consumption of tropical commodities such as chocolate, tea, coffee, tobacco, rum and sugar, and it denounced (except for sugar) these stimulants as potentially dangerous. Even so, there was a certain amount of rule-bending when it came to chocolate. Chocolate became a problem for the Bishop of Chiapa, whose church was continually disturbed by the upper class women attending mass there. The ladies professed to be unable to endure the long church service and sermon without consuming cups of hot chocolate. The efforts of their maids to provide the ladies with the needed beverage created interruptions and chaos, and the bishop, intending to end the problem, posted a notice threatening excommunication to anyone who ate or drank in church. The indignant women ignored the bishop's warning, continuing their chocolate drinking, and when the priests attempted to remove the cups of chocolate from the hands of the ladies' maids, swords were drawn against the priests by the men in attendance. Local priests warned the bishop that the women would have revenge, and their predictions proved true eight days later, when the bishop fell ill and died an unpleasant death, supposedly after drinking a cup of chocolate that had been poisoned. People take chocolate seriously. Illustration to accompany article is at: http://www.art.com/asp/sp.asp?PD=10070352 Caption: Hot chocolate was thought of as the perfect family drink.