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Chocolate: or, An Indian Drinke / By the wise and Moderate use whereof, Health is preserved, Sicknesse Diverted, and Cured, especially the Plague of the Guts; vulgarly called The New Disease cover

Chocolate: or, An Indian Drinke / By the wise and Moderate use whereof, Health is preserved, Sicknesse Diverted, and Cured, especially the Plague of the Guts; vulgarly called The New Disease

Chapter 5: The Allowance of Melchor De Lara, Physitian Generall for the Kingdome of Spaine.
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About This Book

A medical and culinary treatise that presents a cacao-based beverage as both a pleasurable drink and a panacea, describing its plant origin, ingredients, and methods of preparation alongside recipes and practical directions. The text catalogs claimed health effects — digestive aid, respiratory remedies, treatments for fluxes and internal ailments, stimulation of fertility, assistance in childbirth, cosmetic benefits, and preservation of general vigour — supported by endorsements, prefaces, and a translator's encomium. It combines empirical observations, therapeutic advice, dosage guidance, and social commentary on consumption habits, aiming to introduce the imported confection into domestic practice and to instruct readers in its uses and procurement.

The Allowance of Melchor De
Lara, Physitian Generall for the
Kingdome of Spaine.

I Doctor Melchor de Lara Physitian Generall for the Kingdom of Spaine, at the command of Don John de Velasco, and Asebedo, Vicar Generall of Madrid, have seene this Treatise of Chocolate, composed by Antonio Colmenero of Ledesma; which is very learned, and curious, and therefore it ought to be Licensed for the Presse; it containing nothing contrary to good manners; and cannot but be very pleasing to those, who are affected to Chocolate. In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my Name, in Madrid the 23. day of August. 1631.

Melchor de Lara.