Chocolate in Jane Austen’s Day
What could be better than talking about chocolate? Speaking at the South Regional Library about chocolate as Jane Austen would have known it!
This past Monday I had the privilege of talking about one of my favorite subjects–chocolate–at the South Regional Library in the Woodlands. More specifically, Chocolate in Jane Austen’s day. We had a full house of chocolate lovers and lots of lovely chocolate treats to sample, including a pot of spicy hot chocolate.
I have to admit, I learned a great deal more than I expected from the research for this talk. For example, Neither Columbus nor Cortez may have been the ones to bring chocolate to Spain. It is likely to have been a Dominican priest bringing high ranking Maya nobles to visit the court of King Phillip II.
Even more fascinating–to me at least– was the plethora of non-drinking chocolate ways that chocolate was enjoyed in the regency era. Yep, that’s right, drinking chocolate for breakfast was actually NOT the only way Regency era aficionados could have consumed chocolate.
No, there were still no chocolate bars, nor bon bons, but some digging in period cookbooks uncovered a surprising number of recipes and ways that chocolate was prepared in the early years of the 1800’s.
In fact, I fell so far down the research rabbit hole, I started looking for modern analogues for the period recipes. Yeah, guys, I went in deep. And now I want to bring you along with me!
So, the month of March is now dedicated to Chocolate in Jane Austen’s day (and dragons, but that’s another post.) Watch this space for more on the history of chocolate in England and for period recipes with modern versions for your very own cooking pleasure. Ok, now I’m seriously excited for March!
What could be better than talking about chocolate? Eating it! Though I guess talking about it is so much better for the waistline *sigh*. It sounds like a very tasty rabbit hole to fall down. Looking forward to seeing what comes up during March.
P. S. I can’t remember if you’ve mentioned it in any of the books, but do dragons like chocolate?
Oooh, Chocolate in March. Sounds delicious. I can’t wait to see what you bring to our reading pleasure.
Oh, perfect!
My Jane Austen group is planning an upcoming panel discussion called “A Day in the Life” and ,when they asked for volunteers to represent Regency roles, I volunteered to be chocolate. Not what they were expecting, I must say. Your plan for the month will be so helpful.
Thanks for doing this!
Reading neglected post in reverse order. I rarely drink hot or cold chocolate drinks but when I do I enjoy them. Thanks for sharing your research.
Great post! As to contemporary use in recipes, I use a touch in both Black Rye Bread and Chili. 🙂 And then there’s Mole.