The Story
New Historically Inspired Chocolate Line Hits the Spot
Whether youre a chocolate lover who is tired of standard Hersheys fare, a history buff, or simply a fan of Colonial Williamsburg, the new American Heritage chocolate line is a must-try. Mars Incorporated has teamed with the Williamsburg Products Program to develop a historically inspired chocolate line featuring chocolate sticks, a chocolate bar, and a chocolate drink mix. The products were created using 18th century chocolate recipes and are flavored with spices like nutmeg, cinnamon and cayenne pepper to create a unique line unlike any modern chocolate product.
The Historic Division of Mars Incorporated was inspired to make American Heritage chocolate after seeing a demonstration of 18th century chocolate-making performed by staff from Colonial Williamsburgs Historic Foodways program. They invited the staff to their chocolate research and development facility in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania to learn more about colonial chocolate production so they could best adapt those processes for the production of the American Heritage line.
Jim Gay has been a Historic Foodways journeyman in Colonial Williamsburg since January of 1993. In addition to cooking, brewing beer, butchering, baking, and making candies, Gay is an expert on chocolate and makes a new batch the first Tuesday of each month in the Governors Palace kitchen. According to the press release for American Heritage Chocolate, the chocolate production process Gay follows involves "roasting cocoa beans, shelling them, crushing them in a large mixing bowl and transferring them to a heated grinding stone. Using an iron rolling pin, the cocoa beans are ground into a liquid and sugar and spices are added."
Gay said that when the Mars Corporation first heard of the CW chocolate program, they couldnt believe that the Foodways staff was actually making chocolate by hand.
But, said Gay, "the employees came down and [said] Wow! They really are!"
Even though it is difficult to adapt the hand-made process to large-scale production techniques, the Mars Corporation has figured out a way to replicate what is done in CW by hand to create the new line, which Gay says is "comparable, but different" to the chocolate he makes.
"Its spiced roughly the same and cooked roughly the same."
Gay explained that 18th-century chocolate "isnt something youre used to." Its less sweet than modern chocolate and grittier because its impossible to grind the particles that finely using hand-made processes. Gay also said that "each month [the chocolate] has a slightly different texture and flavor; the flavor profiles always [change]."
What Gay is most concerned with is the history behind the food, and he sure knows his stuff when it comes to chocolate. The earliest record of chocolate in Williamsburg, said Gay, was actually at the Wren Building, where James Blair served it to burgesses. In Europe the only people that could afford chocolate were the elite, but it was so much more available in the colonies that it was even at the College.
"People are interested in the history and want to feel like [they are part of it]; they can do that with food as [easily] as they can through any other way," said Gay. The American Heritage chocolate line is great in that it makes it easy for people to see how a modern product tasted at a different point in history.
Maggie McDonald, a sophomore, interns at the Palace kitchen and at the Peyton Randolph House kitchen through the National Institute of American History and Democracy. She said the chocolate line is a great idea, because it brings a taste of the experience right to visitors.
"...People watch us making [the chocolate in the kitchen], but then due to health codes and such we cant give them any. Now they can get some to try for themselves!"
"This isnt the next M&Ms," said Gay, but people will like it "for the history."
The next time youre wandering around CW, stop in one of the stores and pick up a chocolate stick or two. You can even pop into the Palace kitchen and say hi to Gay, who will be making chocolate next on April 4. Its certainly a cool way to branch out from your usual Sexchange junk food and sample the flavor of an 18th century treat.
The American Heritage Chocolate products are available through five museum sites and Colonial Williamsburg is the largest retailer. The products can be purchased in CW at the Craft House in Merchants Square, Tarpleys, Greenhow, Raleigh Tavern Bakery and DuBois Grocer, and Williamsburg Revolutions at the Visitor Center. You can find out more at www.americanheritagechocolate.com.