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1893 text

Chocolate was introduced into England about the year 1652. In the “Publick Advertiser” of Tuesday, June 16-22, 1657, we find the following; “In Bishopsgate Street in Queen’s Head Alley, at a Frenchman’s house, is an excellent West India drink called chocolate, to be sold, where you may have it ready at any time, and also unmade at reasonable rates.”—M. B.

This text was written as a footnote in the 1893 Wheatley transcription of the diary, the same one that is used for the diary entries on this site.

Annotations

  • Chocolate in Pepys’ day

    Chocolate at this time would have been drunk, not eaten. It was a relative newcomer to Britain, having been brought from South America only in the previous century. It was often drunk in establishments called chocolate houses, and was thought to improve the health.

  • A rich drink.

    At this stage chocolate was a drink rich in fat, as it was made from whole chocolate, containing the full complement of natural cocoa-butter. Much later (19th century) the cocoa-butter was extracted for the confectionery trade.

    In Pepys’ time the beverage tended to be further enriched by the addition of eggs, sack and/or spices. It must have resembled a sort of chocolate-flavoured egg-nog.

  • The Natural History of Chocolate, by D. de Quelus, 1730

    http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24588/24588-h/24588-h.htm

  • “Chocolate at this time would have been drunk, not eaten.”

    Therefore, also have a look at:
    http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/310.php

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References in the diary

1660
Jun: 19
1661
Apr: 24
1662
Oct: 17
1663
Jan: 6
1664
Feb: 26
May: 3
Nov: 24