Audiobook · read by volunteers
Chocolate: or, An Indian Drinke
Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma
Read by Esther, hefyd, Laurie Anne Walden · 3 chapters · 57 min
About the book
In the early seventeenth century a Spanish physician wrote a treatise in praise of a drink then new to Europe, and an English translator later put it into English as Chocolate: or, An Indian Drinke. It is a curious and delightful document. The author sings the praises of chocolate, promising that when wisely and moderately used it preserves health, averts sickness and cures a surprising list of ailments, including the plague of the guts and various troubles of the lungs. He describes the cacao nut, how the drink is prepared, which spices go into the cup and what virtues are claimed for it. It is part cookery book, part medical manual and part sales pitch for a food that has since conquered the world. Three LibriVox volunteers share the reading of the three sections, and the whole is under an hour. A small gem for food historians and anyone with a sweet tooth.
Introduction
The author of this treatise is Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma, a Spanish physician of the early seventeenth century about whom little is known. He lived and wrote in the age of the Spanish empire, when cacao was arriving in Europe from the Americas.
His work, originally written in Spanish, was a very early guide to the preparation and use of chocolate. The English version read here is the translation of James Wadsworth, who published it in the middle of the seventeenth century under the title Chocolate: or, An Indian Drinke. Its seventeenth-century spelling and phrasing have a charm of their own, with capital letters and unusual spellings that bring the period to life.
The treatise describes chocolate as a remedy and a nourishment as much as a pleasure. It lists the conditions that it is said to treat and gives instructions for making it, with ingredients such as spices and sugar. Medical claims of the time, of course, belong to the medicine of its age and should be read as historical curiosities rather than advice.
The text is organised in numbered points, which the recording groups in pairs under titles such as The First and Second Points, and the three sections are an introduction and dedications, followed by two further parts, and lasts about an hour. Three volunteers take part in the reading. It will appeal to anyone interested in the history of food, early modern medicine or the first days of chocolate in Europe.
Public domain
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text