Mexican Chocolate & Molinillo

Thu Nov 29 13:19:05 UTC 2007

MOLINILLO + CHOCOLATE--48,100 Google hits
MOLINET + CHOCOLATE--1.240 Google hits
MOULINET + CHOCOLATE--2,140 Google hits
...
When in San Antonio, try a Mexican Hot Chocolate at Mi
Tierra..."Mexican Chocolate" does not appear in Robb Walsh's "The
Tex-Mex Cookbook" (2004)...The Texas/Southwest Food Museum is always
hopping this time of year, and we serve Mexican Hot Chocolate to
thousands of happy school children. They really enjoy the "molinillo"
demonstration, too...No, there is no such Texas food museum. Remind me
to kill myself.
...
About seven years ago, the OED revision started in the middle of the
alphabet at the letter "M." I strongly argued for an entry for
"Mexican chocolate," and an entry was indeed made. The dish is popular
in Texas and I've just added it to my website.
...
Where OED screwed up is by not adding "molinillo," the "little mill"
that is traditionally used in making "Mexican chocolate." OED does
have an entry for the French "molinet," and one 1648 mention of
"molinillo" is indeed there. The OED notes that the "molinet" is
"historical," but the "molinillo" is still used to make Mexican
chocolate to this day.
...
The Google hits seem to justify an OED entry for "molinillo."
...
...
...
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/mexican_chocolate_or_mexican_hot_chocolate_and_molinillo_or_little_mill/
...
Entry from November 29, 2007
Mexican Chocolate or Mexican Hot Chocolate (and "molinillo" or "little mill")
Mexican chocolate (or "Mexican hot chocolate") has been served in the
Americas since before Europeans arrived. Mexican hot chocolate is a
popular treat in Texas (especially San Antonio and South Texas) around
Christmas and New Year's, often served with buñuelos (pastries).

Mexican chocolate is cooked with cinnamon, milk, sugar, salt, and
sometimes nutmeg and cream. The chocolate is traditionally ground with
a "molinillo," or little mill.

Gourmet Sleuth
Mexican Chocolate
Mexican chocolate is made from dark, bitter chocolate mixed with
sugar, cinnamon, and sometimes nuts.  The end result is a "grainy"
less smooth product.  Chocolate is frequently purchased in "disks"
although it is also available in bars and syrups.

Gourmet Sleuth
Mexican Molinillo
The molinillo [moh-lee-NEE-yoh] is the Mexican chocolate "whisk" or
"stirrer".  It is made of "turned" wood and it is used to froth warm
drinks such as hot chocolate, Atole, and Champurrado.

History and Lore
This tool was actually invented by the Spaniard colonists in Mexico
around the 1700's.  Prior to the invention of the molinillo, chocolate
was froth by pouring it from one cup to another.  The first molinillos
were made to fit into a container with the handle extending out of the
top.  The molinillo was then rotated between the users two hands
placed palm-sides together.  The twisting motion frothed the
chocolate.

European Adaptation
The Spanish explorers were so enamored with the flavor of chocolate
that they took it back to Spain where it became the the Kings'
Official Drink in the New Spain and Europe.  Around the end of the
XVIII century(1780 - 1800) , Europeans started preparing chocolate
with milk and sugar to create what we know today as Hot Chocolate.  In
fact the drink became so popular many of the leading European
porcelain manufactures such as Limoges in France began making
specialized pots and cups just to serve chocolate.

Wikipedia: Hot Chocolate
Hot chocolate, hot cocoa, drinking chocolate or just cocoa is a
beverage, usually served hot, typically consisting of chocolate or
cocoa powder, milk or hot water, and sugar. While nomenclature varies,
drinks described as hot cocoa generally do not contain cocoa butter,
while drinks described as hot chocolate may contain cocoa butter.

The beverage became popular in Europe after being introduced from what
is now Mexico in the New World.

(Oxford English Dictionary)
Mexican chocolate, chocolate flavoured usually with cinnamon, almonds,
and other spices; a hot chocolate drink made with these ingredients
(in quot. 1847 prob. not as a fixed collocation).
1847 Boston Daily Advertiser 29 May 2/4 Speaking of chocolate, one
does not know what the perfection of chocolate is, until he comes to
Mexico. The *Mexican chocolate is a fine, rich, spicy drink, scarcely
imitated in other countries.
1851 E. S. WORTLEY Trav. U.S. 205 Mexican chocolate..is nectar and
ambrosia at once… Coffee at Mocha would surely seem nothing, or
positively nauseous, in comparison.
1935 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Apr. 92/2 The Mexican chocolate is made as
follows: While the milk and chocolate are boiling, sticks of cinnamon
are added [etc.].
1973 S. MORGAN Saga Texas Cookery 24 [If] Mexican chocolate..is not
obtainable, use the same amount of sweet chocolate..and add 1/2
teaspoon cinnamon to the mixture.
(Oxford English Dictionary)

(Oxford English Dictionary)
molinet, n.
[< French moulinet (1611 in sense 2; 13th cent. in Old French as
molinet in this sense; 1623 in sense 'quick circular motion made with
a stick'; only attested from 1680 in sense 1) < moulin (see MILL n.1)
+ -et -ET1. Cf. MOULINET n.]
A small stick for stirring chocolate into hot milk or water. Now hist.
1648 T. GAGE Eng.-Amer. xvi. 106 The Chocolatte..is stirred in a cup
by an instrument called a Molinet, or Molinillo.
a1685 M. EVELYN Mundus Muliebris (1690) 11 A Tea and Chocolate Pot,
With Molionet, and Caudle Cup.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew, Molinet, a Chocolate Stick.
1936 Burlington Mag. Oct. p. xxiii/1 A chocolate pot..(1686)... The
lid has a small cover through which the molionet was inserted.

How We Cook in El Paso
tested recipes compiled by the Ladies of the Robert E. Lee Chapter, U. D. C.
El Paso, Texas
1909
Pg. 75:
MEXICAN CHOCOLATE

(MORE ON WEBSITE--B.P.)

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org