[MR] Period Chocolate Recipes

[Karen Adams]

Greetings, Lord Davitt,

You're right -- chocolate came to Spain in the 16th century.  But from most
of the resources I have, it was used as a seasoning and not necessarily a
sweet until much later.  

Penelope Casas' book __The Foods and Wines of Spain__ (ISBN #0-394-51348-7)
is a classic and includes some redactions of Ruperto de Naldo's recipes.
(De Naldo was chef to King Fernando, Naples' Spanish ruler, during the 16th
century.)  She includes historical commentary with her recipes and it can
give you a pretty good foundation for finding the source documents.  I have
tried most of her recipes -- especially those including chocolate in entrees
instead of desserts -- and they are **excellent.**  In no way do they taste
like Hershey bars; remember, you're using bitter chocolate for this instead
of the sweet stuff.  It adds a smoky, round flavor to meats, game, fowl and
even fish (believe it or not!) and suits the modern palate well.

Here are a couple of dishes I would (highly!) recommend:
*  Perdiz con Chocolat (Partridge in Chocolate-Flavored Sauce) -- sounds
funny but it's fabulous.  If you're worried about spending the $$ for
partridge use chicken instead.
*  Estofado a la Catalana (Catalan-Style Beef Stew) -- This recipe is
excellent and very economical.  Its main meat is beef chuck and although it
does call for the use of butifarra sausages, you can substitute sweet
Italian-style sausages instead with no problem.  Given the preparation
methods, I wouldn't see any problem using venison instead of beef if you've
got it......?

Once you get used to using chocolate like this you'll find yourself adding
it to lots of modern dishes as well.  We add it to our prize-winning venison
chili -- and never would have thought of it without cruising Casas' book
first :)  I hope you enjoy!  If I can be of any help to you please don't
hesitate to let me know :)

In service,
-- P. Magdalina Ilianova