Week 2 Reflection

Natalie Fong

Making the Mediterranean

10/20/15

Week 2 Reflection

           Chocolate. No matter when, where or what kind of situation, the utterance of this word always fills me with the upmost excitement. As long as I could remember, I have always been completely in love with chocolate whether it is in a solid state, liquid form or incorporated into another food. Chocolate’s popularity can be illustrated through its presence in a majority of food industries and its widespread availability. However, the chocolate that we are familiar with today is not the same chocolate that was prevalent centuries ago. Throughout its history, chocolate has taken on many different forms and has been used in various manners. Nevertheless, despite the differing appearances and uses, chocolate consistently remained a symbol of importance.

        In Mesoamerica, chocolate was originally consumed as a cold beverage. In this culture, chocolate was mostly reserved for religious rituals and purposes. However, when the Europeans decided to capitalize this commodity, they altered chocolate to suit their own personal palates. The chocolate beverage consumed in Mesoamerica proved to be too bitter for European taste promoting the addition of sweeteners and spices to cater to the European audience. Although we are now mostly familiar with eating chocolate in a solid form or incorporated into other sweets such as cakes or ice cream, I have experience with drinking chocolate. Recently, my roommate introduced me to a beverage that consisted of melted down solid bricks of chocolate. At first glance, I just assumed that this was a variation of the hot chocolate that I was familiar with. However, this beverage had a thicker consistency and more of a spiced flavor than most other hot chocolates I had drunk before. This chocolate beverage reminded me of what I would imagine to be fairly similar to how chocolate was consumed years ago.

        The religious aspect of chocolate was also adopted by many European nations, namely those that practiced Catholicism. Chocolate in its liquid form gained popularity throughout the Catholic community because it provided a religious loophole. In Catholicism, fasting, a practice in which one could not eat for a designated amount of time, was widely enforced. While fasting, one could however still drink, which is where the significance of chocolate played a role. Monks and other members of the Catholic church began to favor drinking chocolate during periods of fast since it was filling and would keep their hunger at bay. Technically, chocolate was not a food in its beverage form, therefore Catholic authorities could not argue against the practice.

        Nevertheless, chocolate’s significance throughout history is not limited to religious practices. Chocolate can be seen referenced in multiple works of literature through multiple time periods. Chocolate was mentioned in both the “Mistress of the Inn” and “Il giorno” even though both pieces of work were written in different time periods. In these two separate pieces, chocolate was a symbol of social status and wealth. The characters in both of these writings were of wealthy stature and enjoyed chocolate for their breakfast. This also illustrates another use of chocolate and its transition from medicinal use to being eaten for pleasure.  

         The painting that I chose to analyze was Jacques Stella’s painting, “Christ Served by the Angels.” I initially chose this painting because I found how the angels in the painting were portrayed very intriguing. The angels in the painting are drawn in equal proportion and on the same plane as Jesus.  I found this interesting because in many other portraits Jesus is usually the focal point with the other characters being in the background and of smaller stature. In the painting the angels are gathered around Jesus as he sits in front of a shallow table laden with fruit. The bowl of fruit includes apples, grapes, tomatoes and what seem to be olives. Beside the fruit is also a loaf of bread, which may represent the body of Jesus as it does in communion. New World products that are represented in this painting include tomatoes, apples and olives. The only Old World product in the portrait is the bread and grapes.