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Food Histories'R'Us

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Some people's children read novels, some read comic books, mine read histories of food. Go figure! The nut doesn't fall far from the tree. And we are all nuts for food, apparently.

Riley checked The Story of Chocolate out of the library this week and has been telling us all about how the Mayans fermented the cocoa beans, how Daniel Peter and Frederic Nestlé (but he prounouces it to rhyme with trestle) invented milk chocolate, and how M&M is named for (Forrest) Mars and (Bruce) Murrie.  At least he knows me well enough to know that if he asked for a package of M&Ms the answer would be 'no.'  Instead he asked if I could make him some xocolatl, the spiced Aztec hot chocolate.


The Mayans made chocol haa; the Aztecs, after they conquered the Mayans, made xocolatl.  Xocolatl comes from the Aztec language, xococ meaning sour or bitter, and atl meaning water or drink.  Bitter water.  That's a far cry from our milky hot chocolate drinks, but he's adamant: "Make it exactly the way it says in the book."  Okay fine.  Here goes...
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