A university lecturer has uncovered notes that suggested the way to make a 17th century counterpart of what many of us are crazy about in this day and age, the chilled coffee drink. Only, in this case, it's chocolate. It even came with health warnings about drinking too much of the brown confection.

Dr. Kate Loveman, an English lecturer at the University of Leicester, claimed that the recipe instructed the maker to mix chocolate, some "snow" and a little salt and "shake the snow together (for) sometime" in what is supposed to be the first sample of its kind.

She said, "It's not chocolate ice-cream but more like a very solid and very dark version of the iced chocolate drinks you get in coffee shops today."

Due to the fact that in those times, freezing food was a pain in the neck, this iced dessert would have been a luxury. Dr. Loveman discovered a myriad of other recipes in a note written by one of the country's earliest chocoholics, the Earl of Sandwich, in 1668. His great, great grandson is allegedly the one who invented the sandwich. Dr. Loveman has now published a paper on the introduction of chocolate into England.

She said the chocolate was initially made popular in England by 1640 as an exotic drink derived from cocoa beans. During the 1660s, chocolate usually went hand in hand with advice about safe consumption.

There was even a doctor during that time that gave warnings about how the composition of hot chocolate could bring about insomnia, excess mucus, or hemorrhoids.

"People worried iced chocolate in particular was 'unwholesome' and could damage the stomach, heart, and lungs. She added, "There were ways around this and the Earl thought the best way to ward off the dangers of eating frozen chocolate was drink some hot chocolate about an hour afterwards."

Long story short, the chocoholics of today didn’t just recently appear. Chocoholics have been around for like forever, or at least ever since it became known to man.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Joanna Maligaya

Staff Writer/Content Developer at Chocolate University Online

Ever since she can remember, Joanna has always considered chocolate as the ultimate food for her soul. She believes in the saying, “9 out of 10 people love chocolate, and the 10th always lies.”

Latest posts by Joanna Maligaya (see all)

• Whipped Cream Chocolate Frosting Recipe - December 3, 2014
• Chocolate Hazelnut Cake Recipe - November 26, 2014
• Broiled Banana Chocolate Pudding Recipe - November 19, 2014