Jillian Henderson

Making the Mediterranean

October 21, 2015

Observation Assignment Week 2

            Aztecs and Mayans initially used chocolate in rituals as a religious drink and form of money after Cortes brought cacao back from his travels.  How chocolate was brought back to Europe is still a mystery, but the first official record of chocolate in the continent came from a shipment of cacao beans from Sera Cruz to Seville in 1585.  Chocolate was assumed to have been brought by Columbus to King Ferdinand, but it was completely acclimated into the Spanish court by the 17^th century and it was popularized due to the fact that settlers and whites drank chocolate in a hot, liquid form, sugar and cinnamon were added to add sweetness to the taste, and the creation of solid chocolate made it easier to transport from place to place. After the invention of a wooden stick, called a Molinilo, the preparation of chocolate drinks became much easier, and the chocolate drink was used as a drug or medicine because it was dry and warm meaning it could combat a cold, and it became a recreational drink over time, losing its original connection to having a spiritual meaning.

            Chocolate made its way to Italy in 1606 and brought debate with it over whether chocolate was a food or a drink due to fasting restrictions.  The debate was ended when it was decided that chocolate was a food if more nourishment than just water was added, and a drink if not, and chocolate continued to be intertwined with religion in Italy.  Italian chocolate then made its way to France, who soon decided that chocolate was over-roasted, bitter, not nourishing enough, and also thought to possess women.  French people were initially discouraged from eating chocolate, but after their invention of the chocolatier in the early 19^th century, it became more popular to consume. 

            Lastly, the chocolate drink found its way to England in the 1650s along with coffee and tea.  While chocolate was strictly for the aristocracy in France, it was available to anyone that could afford it in England.  Coffee (coffea Arabica) was a shrub native to northeastern Africa and used as medicine, and the tea bush (camellia) was domesticated in China for its leaves, and imported to Europe as a commodity in 1610 by the Dutch East India Company.  Coffeehouses sold coffee, tea, sherbert, chocolate, cock ale, and cider, but they were shut down during the political unrest between the Whigs and the Tories due to the fact that Whigs frequented coffeehouses.  It is assumed that it did not take much time for chocolate to make its way to England’s North American colonies after Pepys in London first tasted chocolate.  High colonial officials would bring chocolate with them to their administrative posts in Virginia and Massachusetts, introducing a new popular commodity to the colonies.

            While chocolate eventually found much success in all of these colonies and countries, it was not a success story everywhere.  Expert Charles Perry thinks chocolate never gained popularity in the Near East and Central Asia due to the cultural conservatism of these places.  This failure was not due to a lack of trying from Europeans, however.  Portuguese merchants and Jesuit missionaries took chocolate with them on their journeys to these areas, but the locals remained uninterested in the product.  Chocolate’s one success in the Asian continent was the Philippines, but still, the Chinese eat roughly one bar of chocolate for every 1,000 consumed by British people.

Close Reading of a Painting

Frans Van Mieris Il Vecchio

This is a still life painting from 1675 during the Baroque period, where the goal of realism was to mimic real life qualities and arise an appetite for food.  It has been suggested that this painting represents the artist, himself, as well as a few members of his family.  If this is true, his family seems to come from wealth due to the fact that there is a child serving them wine and there is a table behind the woman laden with fruit and wine.  The women are dressed lavishly in bright garments which were the first thing to catch my eye.  There is also a monkey on the table sucking on a pomegranate seed, and in the ancient world and mythology, this was considered an attribute of Venus and a symbol of desire, fertility, and marriage.  This is further complimented by the fact that there is a mini Cupid hanging over them, and Cupid is known as the god of desire, love and affection, being portrayed as the child of Venus.  The image almost looks as if it is someone peering into the room-an outsider-due to the placement of the curtains and the focus of the lighting.  It is clear that the person looking at it is supposed to focus on the women being served, the plate of food and wine, and the cupid looming over their heads as everything else in the room is dark.