Cacaosophy

In 1671, Philippe Dufour republished René Moreau's French translation of Antonio Colmenero’s treatise on chocolate. The 1671 amended reprint of the obscure 1643 treatise was an attempt to encourage the French public to drink hot chocolate, which had grown in popularity in England and Spain. The treatise was wildly successful, Dufour reports, and by 1685 chocolate had become so popular among the French elite that he felt the need to write a second treatise: New and Curious Tre

In the seventeenth century, cultures seemed worlds apart, as depicted in the image of the “Four Continents” below. Europe, Asia, Africa, and Mesoamerica each occupies her own corner of the globe and each enjoys her own flora, fauna and, it turns out, beverages. However, Philippe Dufour and his translation of the treatise by the godfather of chocolate wisdom, Antonio Colmenero, helped link the Four Continents together. Before Dufour became known, Europe thought of coffee from

Today, popular chocolate can be purchased for pocket change; however, that has not always been the case. And while the dollar amount tacked to a chocolate bar has fluctuated over time, the amount of work and exploitation that goes into growing the cacao tree has not. In John Chamberlayne’s 1682 treatise, “The Natural History of Coffee, Thee, Chocolate, Tobacco in Four Several Sections...” coffee, tea, tobacco, and cacao are all grouped into the same unofficial classification.

“My endeavors should not have been for the bringing and fitting of roots, seeds, and other vegetables, to our climate, for to increase the number of rarities which we have here in our garden already; in which I perceive much may be done if further industry were used” --William Hughes In his 1672 treatise, The American Physician, William Hughes takes a botanical approach to the plants, trees, and roots grown in the Americas. But for Hughes, botany is not simple biological stud

No, he drinks Chocolate, which is a rich drink indeed. Prethee Peg tell me what manner of Liquor that is? The Coffee Man's Granado, a pamphlet published by Bollicosgo Armuthaz in 1663, is a playful piece on coffee with an ulterior motive to praise chocolate. Armuthaz launched his “granado” (a word with roots in the French word “grenade”) on another piece written against coffee in the same year, The Maidens' Complaint against Coffee. He uses this weapon to discharge his opinio