PERRY. (FR., Poire ; GER., Birnwein.)—Perry ia another wholesome beverage, reeeruhliug cider, and made from pears in the same manner that cider is made from apples. The harsher sorts, or those that are too tart for eating purposea, make the best perry.
The manufacture of this drink is exactly similar to that of cider ; and the remarks made concern ing the latter apply, in every particular, to perry. As shown in the table on p. 41 4, pears contain a little more sugar than apples, and coneequeutly yield a alightly larger proportion of alcohol.
Cocoa. (FR., Cacao ; GER., Cacao.) Cocoa, a preparation of the roasted seeds of the Theobroma Cacao, is very widely consumed in various forms. It is wholesome, pleasaut flavoured, and highly nutritious ; aud the quantitiea in which it is prepared and sold for use as a beverage proclaim it to be an artielo of commerce second in importauce only to tea and coffee.
As common beverages, these three have a strong claim to consideration, not only on aceouat of their uuiversal consumption in this couutry, but also eeause, familiar as people are with them, few really know how to prepare them in the most wholesome and agreeable form, and much of their flavour and tonic properties ifs frequently wasted by an incorrect mode of preparation.
The active principle in cocoa is theobromine, an alkaloid closely resembling those contained in tea and coffee, but of less powerful effects. It also c,ontains 50 per cent. of a peculiar fatty or oily substance, called butter of cacao ; and 20 per cont. of albumen, from which it obtains its nutritive properties. The cocoa of the shops is always mixed with a small proportion of arrowroot, or some other starch, in order to render it soluble, or rather emulsive. Being very nourishing and at the same time very easily digestible, cocoa, when well prepared, strengthens the digestive organs and quickly raises the tone of an exhausted or enfeebled system, Hence it is the favourite beverage of invalids and dyspeptic persons. Its exhilarating effects are nearly equal to those of tea and coffee. Upon some persons, however, it acts, for reasons which are not well known, as u mild emetic.
Cocoa appears in the market in three forms, besides that of chocolat : cocoa nibs, flake cocoa, and soluble cocoa. Cocoa nibs are tho roasted seeds from which the skins and husks have been removed in a "kibbling-mill." They should be of a dull, greyish-red colour ; but they are often coloured with Venetian red. Flake cocoa is the purest of the other two varieties, since it contains no sugar and only a small quantity of starch ; it is prepared simply by grinding the roasted " nibs " in a mill constructed of two metallic cones working one imide the other. Soluble cocoa is the form in which the substance is generally used ; it e,onsists of the roasted nibs ground up with varying proportions of starch and sugar, for the purpose of rerdering the cocoa readily diffusible in water. Sago and arrowroot are the most wholesome ingredients, but much adulterated and highly coloured starch of an inferior description is employed hy second-rate makers.
Chocolat is cocoa made into a paste with sugar and certain flavouring ingredients, usually vanilla. It is pleasant and nutritive, but sometimes disagrees with weak stomachs. Good, unadulterated chocolat may be known by the following characteristics :—It is compact, brittle, and of a reddish-brown colour. It should break only with a moderate effort, and the fracture should be clean, and the grain fine. When worked into a paste, it should be perfectly homogeneous. It should melt easily in the mouth and possess a pleasant, fresh flavour. It should dissolve readily in milk or water, leaving no residue. Chocolat is made by crushing cocoa nibs in a mill, the rollers of which are made either of stone or metal, and heated by steam in the interior. By this means, the fat or butter is melted, and the cocoa is softened into a thick, smooth paste. To this paste is then added the required amount of sugar and vanilla or other flavouring matter, and the whole is well mixed together in a mixing mill until the mass becomes perfectly homogeneous, when it is moulded into various shapes.