Cacao
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SPEAK UP EXPLAINS
cacao
Tanto "cacao" como "cocoa" se utilizan indistintamente en inglés (con una ligera diferencia de pronunciación) para referirse a la planta del «cacao» y al polvo resultante de moler los granos de cacao, que es el principal ingrediente del chocolate. También se denomina cacao a la bebida que se prepara mezclando cacao con agua o leche y azúcar.
beans
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beans:
granos
first arrived in Europe from the New World in 1585, and by the early 17th century chocolate was the favourite drink in palaces and mansions
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mansions:
mansiones
around Europe. As it became more popular, the recipe
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recipe:
receta
was refined and hot chocolate was drunk sweet and mixed with cinnamon
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cinnamon:
canela
or other flavours
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flavours:
aromas
.
PUBLICITY
Printed pamphlets described its miraculous qualities, saying that hot chocolate could improve
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improve:
mejorar
fertility, cure indigestion or even tuberculosis, and reverse ageing
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reverse ageing:
revertir el envejecimiento
. It was also considered to be a powerful aphrodisiac.
RICH CLIENTS
Towards the end of the 17th century, special ‘chocolate houses’ began to appear in London, particularly in the exclusive area around St. James’s Street. The most famous were White’s, Ozinda’s and The Cocoa Tree. Frequented by the crème de la crème of British society, the chocolate houses helped to associate chocolate with luxury, decadence and even rebellion in the popular imagination. Although
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although:
aunque
the rich clients originally came for the delicious hot drink, they were also attracted by the chocolate house culture of gambling
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gambling:
apuestas
and discussion about everything from poetry to politics.
REBELS
As the chocolate arrived in England from Europe, it was often associated with Catholicism. This was the era of Jacobitism
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jacobitism:
Jacobismo
, the underground
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underground:
clandestino
movement of mainly Catholics who wanted to restore
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to restore:
restaurar
the Catholic Stuarts’ dynasty to the throne of England, instead of
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instead of:
en vez de
the Protestant monarch. King George I in particular feared
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to fear:
temer
that chocolate houses were attractive places for Jacobite rebels to meet. In 1715 the proprietor and several customers
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customers:
clientes
of Ozinda’s were imprisoned as traitors, and a secret underground passage was discovered, leading from the site of The Cocoa Tree to a tavern in Piccadilly. This was almost certainly
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almost certainly:
casi seguramente
an escape route for Jacobite conspirators.
GAMING
White’s on the other hand was more famous for gambling than politics. Established in 1693 by Francesco Bianco, an Italian who called himself Francis White, it was so famous as a gambling den
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den:
covo, tana
that the artist William Hogarth used it as the setting
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setting:
ambientación
for his painting The Gaming House. Drunk with chocolate mixed with alcohol, White’s members placed absurd bets
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to place bets:
hacer apuestas
, such as whether
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whether:
si
a man, carried in from the street in a desperate condition, would live or die, or which raindrop
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raindrop:
gota de lluvia
would reach the bottom of a windowpane
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windowpane:
cristal de la ventana
first. Once, £180,000 was lost on the roll of a dice
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on the roll of a dice:
lanzar los dados
, an enormous sum both at the time and today.
White’s still exists today as an exclusive gentleman’s club at 37 St. James’s Street, with five hundred members and a nine-year waiting list
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waiting list:
lista de espera
. Whether they still serve hot chocolate is a secret.
