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Page 7
As a beverage for mothers or nurses cocoa is recommended by Dr. Milner
Fothergill, in his work on "The Food we Eat," in preference to
porter, stout or ale, an opinion now becoming generally adopted. It
may, therefore, be regarded as the indispensable, all-round nursery
food, if not the constant stand-by of the family.
That it is as nutritious for old as well as young we have an
interesting proof in the fact that the first Englishman born in
Jamaica, Colonel Montague James, who lived to the age of 104, took
scarcely any food but cocoa and chocolate for the last thirty years of
his life. For athletes and all who desire the development of the
muscular tissues, its use is most beneficial. Professor Cavill, in his
celebrated swim from Southampton to Portsmouth, and his nearly
successful attempt to swim across the English Channel, considered it
to be the most concentrated and sustaining food he could use for that
trying test of endurance.
In his "Treatise on Food and Dietetics," Dr. Pavy remarks that:
"Containing, as pure cocoa does, twice as much nitrogenous
matter, and twenty-five times as much fatty matter as wheaten
flour, with a notable quantity of starch, and an agreeable
aroma to tempt the palate, it cannot be otherwise than a
valuable alimentary material. It has been compared in this
respect to milk. It conveniently furnishes a large amount of
agreeable nourishment in a small bulk, and, taken with bread,
will suffice, in the absence of any other food, to furnish a
good repast."
Indeed, the value of cocoa as food for ordinary mortals as well as for
mythical beings cannot be better summed up than in the words of
Professor Lankester, Superintendent of the Food Collections at South
Kensington, who declares:
"It can hardly be regarded as a substitute for tea and coffee;
it is, in fact, a substitute for all other kinds of food, and
when taken with some form of bread, little or nothing else need
be added at a meal. The same may be said of chocolate."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] According to Drs. Playfair and Lankester:
Tea contains 3 per cent. theine.
Coffee " 1� " caffeine.
Cocoa " 2 " theobromine.
Probably the proportion of caffeine in coffee would be more correctly
stated as 1� per cent. Theine and caffeine are identical, but
theobromine (C_{7}H_{8}N_{4}O_{2}) differs from both in the greater
proportion of nitrogen which it contains.
[2] Dr. Johnson's analysis:
Dried milk 35 \
Cocoa essence 34� \ Flesh formers in
Cocoa-nibs 23 / each hundred parts.
Best French chocolates 11 /
[3] Mr. O.L. Symonds, "Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom."
[4] The _Cacao theobroma_. There are several other varieties of cacao,
but none of them produce the famous food.
[5] The _Cocos nucifera_, or "nut-bearing coco."
[6] _Erythroxylon coca._
[7] Or, as otherwise written, _cacava quahuitl_.
[8] 10 George III., c. 10.
[9] To make cocoa in perfection, for three breakfast-cups: in a quart
jug (with rounded bottom and narrower neck by preference) mix 1�
dessert spoonfuls (� oz.) of Cocoa Essence with equal bulk of
powdered white sugar, and stir to a thin paste with a little boiling
water. Mix in an enamelled saucepan one breakfast-cup of milk with two
cups of water (cups to be about � full), and boil with care. When on
the boil, pour this over the contents of the jug, and whisk vigorously
for a few seconds (see illustration, p. 1). Serve to table without
delay. To make a richer drink, use equal parts of milk and water. To
ensure the beverage being served as hot as possible, it is desirable
to warm the jug before the cocoa is put into it. The effect of this
method of preparation is to impart to the cocoa a more mellow taste,
and to produce a deep froth on the surface, giving it a most
appetizing appearance. The thorough mixing to which the cocoa is
subjected also materially lessens the amount of sediment in the bottom
of the cup.
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