SUGGESTIONS 



RELATIVE TO 



THE COOKING OF CHOCOLATE AND COCOA. 



BY MRS. EI.LEX II. RICHARDS, 

 Of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 



THE flavor of the cocoa bean seems to be almost universally liked, 

 and the use of the various preparations made from it is con- 

 stantly increasing. From the sweet chocolate with which the 

 traveler now provides himself in all journeys in which the supply of 

 food is doubtful either in quantity or quality, to delicate coloring and 

 flavoring of cakes and ices, nearly all kinds of culinary preparations 

 have benefited by the abundance of this favorite substance. 



In these forms, chocolate is used in a semi-raw state, the bean having 

 been simply roasted at a gentle heat, ground and mixed with sugar, 

 which holds the fat. By varying the quantity of the chocolate to be 

 mixed with the ingredients of the cake or ice, an unlimited variety of 

 flavors can be obtained. 



In preparing it as a beverage for the table a mistake has been fre- 

 quently made in considering chocolate merely as a flavor, an adjunct 

 to the rest of the meal, instead of giving it its due prominence as a real 

 food, containing all of the necessary nutritive principles. A cup of 

 chocolate made with sugar and milk is in itself a fair breakfast. 



There is much to be said in favor of preparations of the whole bean 

 which secure all of the valuable nutrition contained in this " food for 

 the gods," and rightly understood, it is possible to make them more 

 important articles of diet than they now are. But since the large per- 

 centage of fat seems to require correspondingly large quantities of 



