Robin Carroll-Mann wrote:

> On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 20:25:37 -0400, "Bob (this one)" >
> wrote:
>
>
>>Had some Pre-Columbian coffee a little while ago. Along with some
>>xocholotl-chip cookies.
>>
>>Yummy.
>>
>>Pastorio
>
> I know someone who makes chocolotl chip cookies. She adds cayenne to
> them. (She doesn't pretend that there is anything historical about
> them, of course.)

Gary Jennings (who wrote the novel "Aztec" and others about them) was
a friend and a very knowledgeable foodie. He researched the background
for those novels for 8 years. Whew. How thorough can you get? That's
where I got that spelling for chocolate. The "x" is pronounced like "sh."

According to him, the crude (unconched) chocolate they enjoyed often
included hot peppers of one sort or another and was considered an
aphrodisiac. The Aztecs reserved it for royalty. Moctezuma reportedly
drank 50 cups of it a day. I hope they were small cups or he spent his
whole day in the potty.

Pastorio