Handbook of domestic science and household arts for use in elementary schools

Egg is not essential to clear coffee, and the common practice of putting in dirty egg-shells cannot be too strongly condemned. Filtered Coffee. — Coffee to be filtered must be ground very fine. Use one heaping tablespoon of coffee to each cup of boiling water. Put the coffee in the strainer and pour the boiling water in it ; as it drips, keep adding water until the desired quantity has been added. This coffee must not be allowed to boil, but is ready for the table as soon as filtered. Have the coffee-pot hot, and keep it hot during filtration. The simplest form of a strainer to hold the coffee is a flannel or cheese-cloth sack suspended in the pot. For the individual recipe a strainer in which is put filter paper will answer every purpose. Cocoa Food Value. — The cacao bean contains fifty per cent of fat, thirteen of proteids, seven of a tannin-like principle, four of starch, and about one per cent of theobromine, a principle allied to theine and caffeine. Chocolate is the whole bean, crushed and pulverized ; but about half of its fat is extracted in the manufacture of cocoa. Therefore, cooked in milk, as it usually is, cocoa is an excellent food, partaking rather of the nature of a nutritious soup than of a drink. Natural History. — The cacao bean of commerce is the seed of a fruit from six to ten inches in length, and containing from twenty to thirty seeds. The color varies according to the degree of ripeness, from yellow to red, and at last purple. The tree succeeds best in a moist tropical climate. Preparation for Market. — The fruits are buried in damp earth with green leaves until they ferment. So much heat is developed during this process that the hand cannot be held in the heap even for an instant. Afterward the beans are dried in the sun, or else roasted by machinery. They are then crushed and broken up into small pieces, the cocoanibs of commerce. From these is made the chocolate and cocoa of commerce, the latter usually being freer from oil. The oil expressed from the nibs in the preparation of chocolate and cocoa is utilized in the making of cocoa butter, used in some places for cooking, although known to us on the fingers of the masseur. History. — When the Spaniards first lived in Mexico, they found the Mexicans drinking a decoction from the cacao bean, called by them chocolatl. It was speedily introduced by them into Europe, and was used there as a beverage before the introduction of either tea or coffee. In Spain it was soon regarded as almost a necessity, but has never been so highly esteemed in other countries. Kevertheless, the great botanist, Linnaeus, was so fond of it that he named the tree from which it grew theobroma, — food of the gods. Adulteration. — Cocoa is quite commonly adulterated with starch. This may be easily detected under the microscope by those who are familiar with the peculiar appearance of starch granules. Preparation for the Table. — Unlike tea, or even coffee, cocoa must be boiled to be agreeable. The infusion of cocoa made by steeping without boiling is bitter and unnutritious.