Cacao Nuts.—The cacoa or cacoa nuts, of which chocolate is made, is the seed of the fruit of a tree common in South America and the West Indies. The seeds of the nuts, which are nearly of the shape of an almond, are found to the number of from thirty to forty in a pod. The pods are oval, resembling a cucumber in shape. The different sorts are distinguished by name, according to the places which produce them; thus, the cacao of Cayenne, Caraccas, Berbice, and the islands of St. Magdalen and Domingo. These all differ in the size of their almonds or seed, quality and taste. The most esteemed is the large Caraccas, the almond of which, though somewhat flat, resembles the shape of a large bean. The next are those of St. Magdalen and Berbice. The seeds of these are less flat than those of the Caraccas kind, and the skin is covered with a fine ash-colored dust. The others are very crude and oily, and only fit to make the butter of cacao. The kernels, when fresh, are bitter, and are deprived of this by being buried in the ground for thirty or forty days. Good nuts should have a thin brittle skin, of a dark black color; and the kernel, when the skin is taken off, should appear full and shining, of a dusky color, with a reddish shade. Choose the freshest, not worm-eaten, or moldy on the inside, which it is subject to be.

Equal parts of the cacao of Caraccas, St. Magdalen and Berbice mixed together make a chocolate of first-rate quality; and these proportions give to it that rich and oily taste which it ought to have. That made from the cacao of Caraccas only is too dry, and that from the islands too fat and crude.

Roasting.—Take a sufficient quantity of nuts to cover the bottom of an iron pot two or three inches deep, place them on the fire to roast, stirring them constantly with the spatula that the heat may be imparted to them equally. A coffee-roasting machine would answer for this purpose admirably, taking care not to torrefy them too much, as the oil of the nut suffers thereby, and it becomes a dark brown or black, grows bitter and spoils the color of the chocolate. Musty or moldy nuts must be roasted more than the others, so as to deprive them of their bad taste and smell. It is only necessary to heat them until the skin will separate from the kernel on being pressed between the fingers. Remove them from the fire and separate the skins. If you have a large quantity, this may be accomplished by putting them in a sieve which has the holes rather large, but not so much as to allow the nuts to pass through; then squeeze or press them in your hands, and the skins will pass through the meshes of the sieve; or, after being separated from the nuts, they may be got rid of by winnowing or fanning them in a similar manner to corn. When they are separated put them again in the fire, as before directed, stirring them constantly until warmed through, without browning. You may know when they are heated enough by the outside appearing shiny; again winnow, to separate any burnt skin which may have escaped the first time.

The Making of Chocolate.—An iron pestle and mortar is requisite for this purpose, also a stone of the closest grain and texture which can be procured, and a rolling-pin made of the same material, or of iron. The stone must be fixed in such a manner that it may be heated from below with a pot of burning charcoal, or something similar.

Warm the mortar and pestle by placing them on a stove, or by means of charcoal, until they are so hot that you can scarcely bear your hand against them. Wipe the mortar out clean, and put any convenient quantity of your prepared nuts in it, which you pound until they are reduced to an oily paste, into which the pestle will sink by its own weight. If it is required sweet, add about one-half or two-thirds of its weight of loaf sugar in powder; again pound it so as to mix it well together, then put it in a pan, and place it in the stove to keep warm. Take a portion of it and roll or grind it well on the slab with the roller (both being previously heated like mortar) until it is reduced to a smooth impalpable paste, which will melt in the mouth like butter. When this is accomplished, put it in another pan, and keep it warm until the whole is similarly disposed of; then place it again on the stone, which must not be quite so warm as previously, work it over again, and divide it into pieces of two, four, eight, or sixteen ounces each, which you put in molds. Give it a shake, and the chocolate will become flat. When cold it will easily turn out.

The molds for chocolate may either be made of tin or copper, and of different devices, such as men, animals, fish, culinary or other utensils, etc.; also some square ones for half-pound cakes, having divisions on the bottom which are relieved. These cause the hollow impressions on the cakes.

The Bayonne or Spanish chocolate is in general the most esteemed. The reason of its superior quality is attributed by some to the hardness of the Pyrenean stone which they employ in making it, which does not absorb the oil from the nuts. They do not use any pestle and mortar, but levigate their nuts on the stone, which is fixed on a slope; and in the second pounding or rolling the paste is pressed closely on the stone, so as to extract the oil, which runs into a pan containing the quantity of sugar intended to be used, and is placed underneath to receive it; the oil of the cacao and sugar are then well mixed together with a spatula, again mixed with the paste on the stone, and finished.

Cinnamon, Mace or Clove Chocolate.—These are made in the same manner as Vanilla chocolate, using about an ounce and a half or two ounces of either sort of spice, in powder, to that quantity, or add a sufficiency of either of these essential oils to flavor.

Chocolate Drops, with Nonpareils.—Have some warm chocolate, as for pistachios; some add a little butter or oil to it to make it work more free; make it into balls about the size of a small marble, by rolling a little in the hand, or else put some of the paste on a flat piece of wood, on which you form, and take them off with a knife. Place them on sheets of white paper about an inch apart. When the sheet is covered, take it by the corners and lift it up and down, letting it touch the table each time, which will flatten them. Cover the surface entirely with white nonpareils, and shake off the surplus ones. When the drops are cold they can be taken off the paper easily. The bottom of the drops should be about as broad as a sixpence. Some of them may be left quite plain.

Good chocolate should be of a clear red-brown. As the color is paler or darker, so is the article the more or less good. The surface should be smooth and shining. If this gloss comes off by touching, it indicates an inferior quality, and is probably adulterated. When broken, it ought to be compact and close, and not appear crumbly. It should melt gently in the mouth when eaten, leaving no roughness or astringency, but rather a cooling sensation on the tongue. The latter is a certain sign of its being genuine.

Chocolate Harlequin Pistachios.—Warm some sweet chocolate by pounding it in a hot mortar; when it is reduced to a malleable paste, take a little of it and wrap round a blanched pistachio nut, roll it in the hand to form it as neat as you can, throw it in some nonpareils of various colors; let it be covered all over. Dispose of the whole in the same manner; fold them in colored or fancy papers, with mottoes; the ends should be cut like fringe. Almonds may be done the same way, using vanilla chocolate, if preferred.

Stomachic Chocolate.—Four ounces of chocolate prepared without sugar; vanilla, one ounce; cinnamon in powder, one ounce; ambergris, forty-eight grains; sugar, three ounces; warm your paste by pounding in the heated mortar, or on the stone; add your aromatics in powder to the sugar, and mix it well with the paste; keep it close in tin-boxes. About a dozen grains of this is to be put into the chocolate pot when it is made, which gives it an agreeable and delightful flavor, and renders it highly stomachic. It may also be used for flavoring the chocolate tablets.

Vanilla Chocolate.—Ten pounds of prepared nuts, ten pounds of sugar, vanilla two ounces and a half, cinnamon one ounce, one drachm of mace, and two drachms of cloves, or the vanilla may be used solely.

Prepare your nuts according to the directions already given. Cut the vanilla in small bits; pound it fine with part of the sugar, and mix it with the paste; boil about one half of the sugar to the blow before you mix it to the chocolate, otherwise it will eat hard. Proceed as before, and either put in small molds or divide it in tablets, which you wrap in tinfoil. This is in general termed eatable chocolate.