European Exploration, Perception of the Other, and the Columbian Exchange
How did the Columbian exchange link worlds?
Tommaso Strozzi was a traveling Jesuit priest and educator in the humanities from Naples. His poem below describes the new delicacy of sweetened Aztec cacao, chocolate, considered a useful beverage for stimulating the mind and often drunk by writers and poets. The excerpt from his poem shares a description of the making of hot chocolate from his friend Lisius.
I barely accomplish this task when the water murmurs and, with a whisper, she herself summons the sweet libation into her swell. Without delay I toss the precious dainties into the steaming liquid, gathering up the remnants with my finger, if they have anywhere stuck to the paper, moistened by the hot steam. . . the mouth opens and, longing to lick the vessel with its lips, sips the foamy cups with suspenseful suck. What a flavor! What pleasure from the sucked up dew! What a bouquet! I wager that there is nothing more pleasing to the learned palate.