La Famille du duc de Penthièvre en 1768
Around 1657 a Frenchman opened a shop on Gracechurch Street in London wherein he sold chocolate, exotically advertised “as a West Indian drink [which] cures and preserves the body of many diseases.” The French, ever more sophisticated than the English, had been drinking chocolate since the early 17th century, touting it as a remedy for many ailments. Not everyone was a fan, however. Madame de Sevigne commented on its excessive popularity throughout the Versailles court in a letter to her pregnant daughter during the year 1671, warning “the Marquise de Coëtlogon drank so much when she was expecting that she gave birth to a little boy, black as the devil, who died.” Clearly, a woman of sound science.
Despite such declarations, hot chocolate was an exalted beverage for the upper classes. It was taken daily by Louis IV during his public morning ablutions and Madame du Barry notably gave the aphrodisiac, mixed with amber, to stimulate her lovers. Marie Antoinette likewise indulged, arriving on French soil with a personal chocolate maker in tow. Adhereing to 18th century recipes circulated among the wealthy and later the middle classes, vanilla and sugar were mixed with cocoa paste to create a sweet, drinkable chocolate similar to the today’s darkest chocolate, if a little more bitter. It wasn’t until 1727 that milk was added, creating the creamy confection we know as milk chocolate.
Recipes
The variation in chocolate recipes are almost endless, most imbibed for their powers of remedying illness or seducing one’s would-be lovers. Marie Antoinette created a most noble position at court, Chocolate Maker to the Queen, and as such had quite the arsenal at her disposal. Her peculiar recipes included, ”chocolate mixed with orchid bulb for strength, chocolate with orange blossom to calm the nerves, or chocolate with sweet almond milk to aid the digestion.” “Chocolate a la capucine,” though not credited to Antoinette, would have proved useful to french ladies at court, who were beginning to suffer abuse over fattening their bottoms on too much chocolate. All one needed to become svelte was “4 oz. of chocolate, 6 oz. sugar, eggs beaten well and a good half-litre of Madeira!” Consume at breakfast and don’t eat until dinner. . .because you have passed out. (The Temptation of Chocolate).
Among the weirdest recipes recorded: the Marquis de Sade’s “chocolate cantharnidine”, an toxic, aphrodisical blend derived from beetles and mixed with cacao. Needless to say, formal complaints to the court followed and the debauched Sade received a royal scolding.
The Scene
Back in England, the prevalence of coffee houses was rivaled only by chocolate houses, tea having yet to fully hit the scene. One of the most famous establishments was Cocoa Tree, a gentleman’s club at 64 James’s Street. Of note, the 19th century poet Lord Byron was a distinguished member, as well as many prominent Whigs earlier in the 18th century. White’s Chocolate House, as seen below, was also quite fashionable among the younger set.
Consumption of chocolate, along with every other luxury enjoyed by the rich, dwindled in France during the French Revolution. Still, during the royal family’s Flight to Varennes in 1791, Marie Antoinette refused to part with her silver chocolatière. The original service contained “one hundred items made of silver, crystal, porcelain, ivory, ebony and steel.” Spectacularly useful after the loss of one’s head, I’m told.
For more, make sure to check out:
Hot Chocolate, 18th to 19th Century Style
Chocolatier to the Kings of France, particularly Pistoles of Marie Antoinette
Rèunion des Musees Nationaux, Chocolate Related Museum Pieces
