FOOD & DRINK
WORDS COLOURMYTRAVEL
H O W C H O C O L AT E C A M E T O B E I N M A LTA
BUILT BY THE KNIGHTS OF ST JOHN IN THE MID-16TH CENTURY ON THE STR ATEGICALLY LOCATED MEDITERR ANEAN ISLAND OF MALTA, VALLETTA QUICKLY BECAME A VERY IMPORTANT AND COSMOPOLITAN HARBOUR CITY, AND A PERFECT PLACE THROUGH WHICH FOREIGN CULINARY PR ACTICES AND NEW EXCITING INGREDIENTS WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ENTER THE ISLAND. And, through the influence and strong links that the multi-national
no wine! This highlights the fact that at the time, chocolate was
Knights enjoyed with overseas regions, some ingredients were able
a drink. The treatise provides us with a drinking chocolate recipe
to come into Malta relatively earlier when compared to other parts
that included orange peel, spices, nuts and aniseed. We also know
of Europe. One example of this was chocolate.
that in Malta, cocoa beans were used as the principal ingredient for the preparation of a cold drink, a granita, a sorbet, and even
Malta was among the pioneering countries to have introduced the
an ice cream. By the late 1700s, chocolate wrapping paper started
drinking of chocolate in Europe. Originating in Mexico, cocoa beans
to be printed in Malta, indicating that by this point, chocolate had
were probably introduced into our island by the Spanish knights. In
started to be consumed also as a solid.
the mid-1600s, a certain Francesco Buonamico wrote the Trattato della Cioccolata, claiming that “our island can truthfully boast
Due to its expensive market value and exotic nature, chocolate was
of having been a forerunner in the coffee and chocolate drinking
primarily consumed by the nobility, but despite its limited market,
crazes that swept across Europe in the 17th century”.
it continued to attract the attention of scientists interested in discussing its nutritional benefits. Although not all of them agreed
Born in Valletta, Francesco Buonamico was by profession a medical
that it had any, it was still recognised as a precious treat, and there
doctor, but as was the custom for intellectuals at the time, he
are various references where chocolate was offered to dignitaries
also specialised in other fields too: he was a botanist, antiquarian,
visiting our island. Grand Master Pinto presented chocolate as
linguist, scientist, poet, writer, theologian and enlightened traveller
a reward to a group of individuals who managed to infiltrate a
- best described as a post-Renaissance genius. Buonamico wrote
network of organised smuggling from the Order’s bakery. Grand
extensively and is best known for his travelogue, written over a
Master de Rohan had a personal chocolatier who worked at the
decade that he spent visiting 69 cities all over Europe. It was while
palace, while a number of Inquisitors of Malta are also known to
studying in France, at the age of just nineteen, that he wrote what
have treated their high-ranking guests with this sophisticated
is considered as one of the earliest treatises on chocolate.
drink. In an inventory of the Inquisitor’s Palace compiled in 1798, no less than three copper chocolate pots, among other specialised
In this eight-page manuscript, Buonamico claimed that South
equipment, are listed, with the sole purpose of satisfying the
American Indians resorted to chocolate drinking because they had
Inquisitor’s chocolate cravings!
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