Part 8 (1/2)

You know that tea parties are very common. The most celebrated tea party ever held was called the ”Boston Tea Party.” See what you can find out about it.

A CUP OF COCOA

On the eighteenth day of June, in the year 1771, this notice appeared in the _Ess.e.x Gazette_ of Ma.s.sachusetts:--

”AMOS TRASK,

At his House a little below the Bell-Tavern in

DANVERS,

Makes and sells Chocolate,

which he will warrant to be good, and takes Cocoa to grind. Those who may please to favor him with their Custom may depend upon being well served, and at a very cheap Rate.”

This seems to have been the first notice of the manufacture and sale of cocoa and chocolate in our country. What is peculiar about the notice?

In those days the raw product was brought to Ma.s.sachusetts by the Gloucester fishermen. They obtained it in the West Indies in exchange for fish and other things which they took there.

When the Spanish soldier, Cortez, conquered Mexico in 1519, he found that the people of that country were very fond of a drink which they called ”chocolatl.” It was served to their ruler, Montezuma, in a cup of gold. When the Spaniards went home, they of course introduced the drink into their own country. For a long time it was very expensive and was not commonly used outside of Spain, for the Spaniards kept the secret of its preparation.

Cocoa and chocolate are products of the seeds of a tree called the cacao tree. It is a tropical tree and grows in both the Old and the New World.

Although the cacao tree grows wild, it is also cultivated in orchards much like fruit orchards which you have seen. The trees are seldom more than twenty feet high, but they are rather inclined to spread out. They require some shade, and so other trees are often planted between the rows to shade them. The trees begin to bear when five or six years old, and continue to yield for forty years. There are generally two chief harvests each year, but the fruit is ripening all of the time.

The blossoms, which grow in cl.u.s.ters, are small and pink or yellow in color. They grow directly from the branches or the trunk of the tree.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 39.--Cocoa Pods and Leaves.

(Permission of WALTER BAKER & CO., Ltd.)]

In about four months after the tree has blossomed, you will find dark yellow or brown pods hanging from it. These look a little like ripe cuc.u.mbers, but they are more pointed at one end and are grooved or fluted. These pods are from six inches to a foot or more in length, with a rather thick, tough rind.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 40.--Native Cocoa Pickers. Ceylon. (Permission of WALTER BAKER & CO., Ltd.)]

How do you think the pods are gathered? They are cut off by men carrying long poles, sometimes of bamboo, to the ends of which knives are fastened. Only the ripe pods are cut off and collected in a heap under the tree. They are left in these heaps for about twenty-four hours, when they are cut open and the seeds are gathered in baskets.

The seeds are called ”beans.” There are five rows of them, about the size of almonds, within the pink pulp of the fruit. When fresh they are white, but when dried they are brown. If you taste one, you will find it bitter.

You have often seen on packages of chocolate, as well as on the cans of breakfast cocoa, the picture of a young woman carrying some chocolate upon a tray. It is the picture of a beautiful girl who once served chocolate in the old city of Vienna. Her name was Anette Baldauff, and she married a rich count and ”lived happily ever after.” It is said that a painting of her hangs upon the walls of the great art gallery in Dresden. Point out the cities I have mentioned.

The seeds are carried from the orchard to the sheds, where they are prepared for market. Here they go through a process of fermentation or ”sweating.” For this purpose they are placed in a covered box, or they may even be covered with earth. This is called ”claying.” Now the seeds must be dried. They are spread out on platforms, raised a little above the ground, so that the air can circulate underneath. You notice that the roofs do not cover them just now, for their only purpose is to keep off the dew and the rain. They are fastened to frames which have wheels under them. During the day they are not used, but at night they are rolled over the cocoa.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 41.--Drying Cocoa Seed. Ceylon.

(Permission of WALTER BAKER & CO., Ltd.)]