46 COCOA : ALL ABOUT IT. 



From Spain the monks introduced the use of Chocolate 

 into France, in 1661. Our earliest record of the use of Chocolate 

 in England is said to be furnished by an advertisement which 

 appeared in the Public Advertiser, or Adviser, according to 

 one authority, of Tuesday, June 16, to Tuesday, June 22, 1657, 

 informing the public that "in Bishopsgate Street, in Queen's Head 

 Alley, at a Frenchman's house, is an excellent West India drink 

 called Chocolate to be sold, where you may have it ready at any 

 time, and also unmade at reasonable rates." 



D' Israeli, in his " Curiosities of Literature," speaking of the 

 introduction of tea, coffee and chocolate into Europe, says : 

 " Chocolate the Spaniards brought from Mexico, where it was 

 denominated chocolatl. It was a coarse mixture of ground Cacao 

 and Indian corn with rocou ; but the Spaniards, liking its nourish- 

 ment, improved it into a richer compound with sugar, vanilla and 

 other aromatics. We had Chocolate houses in London long after 

 coffee-houses ; they seemed to have associated something more 

 elegant and refined in their new term when the other had become 

 common." 



Silbermann, of Strasburg, printed a book on Chocolate, in 

 which he tells his readers: "After the Restoration there were 

 shops in London for the sale of Chocolate at los. or 15s. per lb. 

 O.Zinda's Chocolate house was full of aristocratic customers. 

 Comedies, satirical essays, the memoirs and private letters of that 

 age frequently mention it. The habit of using Chocolate was 

 deemed a token of elegant and fashionable taste, * * * 

 while the charms of this beverage in the reigns of Queen Anne 



