Chocolate

Chocolate is a drink that is generally served hot, in a cup, sometimes accompanied by whipped cream. It is prepared both with bitter cocoa - melted with milk, thickened with the addition of starch and sweetened with sugar - or with dark chocolate, melted in a bain-marie and then diluted with milk.

It seems that this drink was first offered by the Aztecs in Cortés when, in 1519, they conquered Mexico. It was prepared with ground cocoa beans and the "conquistador" liked it so much so that he wanted to take its recipe home. It also seems that, even before the Spanish conquest, the Maya considered cocoa beans as a bargaining chip: with four roasted and ground grains they obtained twenty-five cups of chocolate, with which a slave could be bought.

A cup of chocolate can provide 100 to 200 calories, depending on the ingredients added. It was once used to prepare it in the chocolate maker; later a tall and narrow cup was used, with one or two handles, fitted with a lid. Today it is more simply prepared in small casseroles (better if enameled or steel) and served in tea cups.