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A sweet discovery Evidence reveals chocolate enjoyed in St. Augustine in 1500s

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Kara Sundstrom
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« on: December 31, 2009, 02:54:32 am »

A sweet discovery
Evidence reveals chocolate enjoyed in St. Augustine in the 1500s
Posted: December 28, 2009 - 12:11am

 By MARCIA LANE

In a plastic container inside the storerooms at St. Augustine's Government House is a slender wooden stick with a carved knob on one end. Think of it as an electric mixer without the electricity.

That humble whisk -- known as a molinillo -- is a big deal to archaeologists because it proves that chocolate dates back at least to the 1500s in St. Augustine.

"It shows a probable connection to Mexico or Central America that St. Augustine had," said City Archaeologist Carl Halbirt. "It's evidence for the presence of the chocolate drink (in St. Augustine)."
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Kara Sundstrom
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« Reply #1 on: December 31, 2009, 02:55:42 am »



The Utopian Chocolates solid gold box decoration from the late 1800s was found near Orange and Cordova streets. By DARON DEAN, daron.dean@staugustine.com
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Kara Sundstrom
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« Reply #2 on: December 31, 2009, 02:56:02 am »

The molinillo could also be the earliest evidence of chocolate's presence in North America, although Halbirt won't say that. He can only relate the find to St. Augustine.

"It's the only one we've ever found," he said, turning the small wooden stick around in his fingers.

The cacao bean, the basis for chocolate, was originally grown from rainforest trees and used in Central America and Mexico as currency. For thousands of years, chocolate was known as a drink rather than as candy.

Archaeologists found the molinillo in a well during a dig on the city's south side. Halbirt says the finding of the molinillo as well as pits of oyster, clam shells and animal bone shows the area may be associated with street vendors or a feasting place.

That well and the water in it are the reason the wooden stirrer survived. The structure of wood would normally disintegrate; the water kept that from happening and preserved the stick.
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« Reply #3 on: December 31, 2009, 02:56:23 am »

For now, the stirrer, light in weight and about five inches long, is in a plastic bag filled with a solution that keeps it from disintegrating. In time, Halbirt hopes to have the money to have it conserved.

How did the stirrer get in the well?

Maybe it was knocked into the well by a Spanish merchant sipping a cup of hot chocolate.

His drink was nothing like the hot chocolate we enjoy today. It was based on a recipe first in use by the Mayans and the Aztecs, one that involved cacao, cold water and hot peppers.

A treasure
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« Reply #4 on: December 31, 2009, 02:56:35 am »

The Mayans, and later the Aztecs, used the cacao seed -- what chocolate comes from -- as currency. According to accounts from the time, a rabbit was worth four to 10 beans, and a mule, 50.

The beans formed the basis of early currency, and for the Aztecs, cocoa beans made a drink for royalty, a drink called chocolatl.

The cacao tree is known scientifically as Theobroma cacao, or "food of the gods."

While Mesoamericans probably first cultivated the trees that grew wild, Mayans left drawings and other records showing the chocolate drink being used for both social and religious purposes. Some records depict the cultivation and processing of the cacao trees and beans.

Chocolate grows on cacao trees, which are 40 to 60 feet in height. The trees produce a fruit pod, and inside the pod are the cacao seeds.

Mayans gathered the pods, dried and roasted the seeds and then ground them into a paste. To the paste they added chili peppers, water and other ingredients for a mixture they then poured back and forth in containers to form a thick foam.
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« Reply #5 on: December 31, 2009, 02:57:13 am »

The Aztecs couldn't grow the seeds in their area of the world, but they traded with the Mayans, and cacao became a cornerstone of their trading empire. Eventually they demanded cacao seeds as tribute.

For their drink they used more seasonings and added achiote, from the annatto tree, to turn the chocolate a blood-red shade for ceremonies.

The foam was considered to contain the "spirit" of the drink.

In the Mayan Empire, though the seeds were currency, everyone got to enjoy the chocolate drink. The Aztecs used the seeds for currency, but only the elite got to savor the drink.

Europe learns the secret
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« Reply #6 on: December 31, 2009, 02:57:31 am »

It wasn't until Spanish explorer Hernan Cortez conquered Mexico and the Aztecs in 1521 that the Spanish learned about chocolate. One of the spoils of war was cacao, and in Spain the beverage soon became popular. However, the Spanish decided the bitter taste had to go. They get credit for adding sugar, cinnamon and other spices and for heating up the water.

They also came up with the molinillo, the wooden whisk/spoon with a sort of bulb on the end. That simplified the process of whipping the chocolate into a smooth foam. The user rubbed the molinillo between his palms, causing the drink to froth.

Unlike today's plastic stirring straws, the wooden molinillos were used over and over.

The drink was eventually introduced to the Spanish court, which made it fashionable. The wealthy and church officials were the only ones who could afford the drink.
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« Reply #7 on: December 31, 2009, 02:58:38 am »

Special pots of brass and similar metals were made to serve the drink. The pots were fitted with a top and there was a hole for the molinillo.

The Spanish kept their new-found treat, which also was noted for giving a burst of energy, to themselves for almost 100 years, according to historians.

During that time the English would seize the Spanish treasure ships coming from the New World and take their cargos. They knew what to do with the gold, but sometimes they would find these odd, bitter seeds. No one knew what to make of them, and they were dismissed as trash, possibly rabbit droppings, according to one source.

Eventually the chocolate secret did get out, and by the 1600s, chocolate -- or, rather, the chocolate drink -- became popular.
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« Reply #8 on: December 31, 2009, 02:59:18 am »

In France no one but the aristocracy was allowed to drink it, while in England, if you had the price of a drink, the chocolate brew was yours. In 1657 the first chocolate house opened in London, and it became a place to socialize, talk and ****.

Fast forward to the Industrial Age when inventions and machinery changed chocolate from a handmade product to one that could be mass-produced. It also introduced chocolate candy and made it affordable.

Today, it's a multibillion dollar business worldwide. In the U.S. there's even a National Chocolate Day on Oct. 28.

In his digging, Halbirt found another reminder of chocolate's role in the Nation's Oldest City: a gold strip that was once atop a box of candy.

The words "Utopian Chocolate" are on the strip of real gold.

"We found that while digging ...," he said, holding up the delicate strip. "Maybe it dropped off a box of candy, or maybe someone just threw away the box once it was empty."

Whichever, it's one of the few pieces of gold Halbirt has ever found digging in St. Augustine.
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« Reply #9 on: December 31, 2009, 02:59:31 am »

*

A NEAR MISS

Christopher Columbus just missed being the first European to "discover" the cacao bean. On his 1502 trip to the New World, his son wrote the natives tried to trade beans for European goods. Columbus took some but discovered they were bitter and no use could be found for them.

*
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« Reply #10 on: December 31, 2009, 02:59:42 am »

DID YOU KNOW?

* The word "cocoa" was the result of the misspelling of "cacao."

* Today, about 70 percent of the world's cacao crop is grown in Africa.

* In 1847, the first chocolate bar created to be eaten as a snack was introduced by Fry & Sons Company of Bristol, England.

* In 1893 Milton S. Hershey, a confectioner in Pennsylvania, saw chocolate-processing equipment at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and bought it. He used that to build his chocolate factory in the town now known as Hershey, Pa.

* The first Valentine's Day candy box is credited in 1868 to England's Richard Cadbury (Cadbury Chocolates).
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« Reply #11 on: December 31, 2009, 02:59:57 am »

* In 1890 Robert Stroehecker came up with the first chocolate Easter bunny.

* A recent survey revealed 52 percent of U.S. adults like chocolate best. Tied for second at 12 percent of the vote were berry flavors and vanilla.

* U.S. chocolate manufacturers use 40 percent of the almonds produced in the U.S. and 25 percent of the domestic peanuts.

* U.S. chocolate manufacturers use about 3.5 million pounds of whole milk every day.

* Sixty-five percent of American chocolate eaters prefer milk chocolate.

Source: The Field Museum, Green and Black's Organic Chocolates, National Confectioners Association
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« Reply #12 on: December 31, 2009, 03:00:13 am »

*

St. Augustine is a city of archaeological discoveries.

You can keep up with what's happening and find out more about archaeology in the area by going to a new Web site launched by the City of St. Augustine.

A grant from the St. Augustine Research Institute helped pay to develop the site, which is designed to "encourage, coordinate and disseminate active academic research."

To see the site, go to:

www.digstaug.org or

www.staugustinegovernment.com

http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2009-12-28/sweet-discovery
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