Behind the Line – Drinking Chocolate and the Molinet

“Turning her back to the sun, Emma stirred her drink with a makeshift molinet to mix back in the cacao butter that was congealing on the surface.“

– Emma Sharpe’s Adventures, Book 3, Chapter 4, page 40 (est.)

This ‘Behind the Line’ is based on text that is not yet official. It is taken from the first draft of Book 3 of Emma Sharpe’s Adventures. In this chapter, Emma has a chance for a moment of relaxation aboard her ship, the Shark. It’s an early morning at the beginning of Fall, a perfect time to be sipping a hot drink. But what would have in her mug? Tea? Coffee? Certainly not rum—not first thing in the morning!

What about hot chocolate? Emma has experienced drinking chocolate before. In Back to the New Adventure (Book 2), Emma and her family enjoy the drinking chocolate and other treats brought by Jack on a visit to their farm near the village of Kelston. What if she has developed a taste for it? She might even have a preferred recipe for mixing in spices and sweeteners.

That sounds possible, right? But, before going further, I had to look into the origin story of this ubiquitous modern treat, and most importantly, what were people doing with it at the time of Emma’s adventures.

Origins of Drinking Chocolate

Chocolate originated in Mesoamerica where cacao drinks had a special significance to the Mayan and Aztec cultures. Cacao was viewed as a gift from the gods and was so important that the beans were even used as a form of currency. In the 1500s, Spanish explorers brought cacao back to Spain and from there it eventually spread to the rest of Europe. Chocolate officially arrived in England from France in the mid-1600s, just a decade or two after tea and coffee.

The Mayans and the Aztecs flavored cacao with honey, chili, and annatto. Europeans added sugar and flavored the chocolate with spices from Asia. Chocolate was sold in solid blocks, or cakes, and could have the sugar and spices like cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, red peppers, or orange flower water already mixed in. The cakes would then be grated into hot water, milk, or wine.

Ye Olde Chocolate

In those early days, there was a high percentage of cacao butter present in the cakes of chocolate. This made the chocolate very nourishing, but the fat content was also said to make the chocolate oily and somewhat unappealing.

Before chocolate had modern emulsifiers and other chemicals added to smooth things out, the cacao butter would be manually mixed in using a stirring rod called a “chocolate mill,” or molinet, before serving. These “chocolate mills” were up to a foot long and typically made of wood. The carved bulb at one end would be immersed in the liquid chocolate and whirled between the hands to whisk the drink into a frothy consistency.

“…stirred in a cup by an instrument called a Molinet, or Molinillo, untill it bubble and rise unto a froath.” – Thomas Gage, page 106 in “A New Survey of the West-Indias” (1655)

So finding a box of chocolate cakes on a Spanish merchant ship in 1706 sounds pretty reasonable. But, because Emma is only making her own personal drink, I imagine that her makeshift molinet would be sized to fit her mug.

And that’s what’s behind the line in the quote above. 🙂