Chocolat Chaud

I drink hot chocolate every day of the year without exception. I even take my own brew when visiting friends just to be safe. It's my coffee, my cup of tea, my hot lemon juice in the morning. When I stayed at M.'s pied-à-terre this May there was no stove. Just an electric teapot.
These African copper pots are in the window of L'Etoile d'Or Denise Acabo's shop in the 9th. I tried sneaking a packet of drinking chocolate into the local Café Vavin, and ordering lait chaud (hot milk). What a mess and embarrassing too :( It's hard enough not to make a complete fool of yourself in France without asking for more trouble. Here's my secret -- in desperation I heated up my milk every morning in the electric tea pot

When you're obsessed with hot chocolate, you constantly test new brands and concoctions. All accessories are of interest. In my search I'd spot a real chocolate pot (une chocolatière) but always the price was très cher.

I began to toy with the idea, but 160 euros+ was too steep even for the obsessed. Drinking chocolate in France started in 1615 when Anne of Austria, Louis XIII's queen, introduced la "boisson des Aztèques" to the French elite.

Early one morning after my swim, the chocolate pot of my dreams called me. La Vaissellerie was closed but I rushed back at opening time. Yup, it was a chocolatière, minus some working parts. And le prix was 1/4 of the others. Early pots were made out of coin silver and later porcelain became more practical. Madam de Pompadour ordered the 1st porcelain chocolate service from the Sevres factory.Traditionally la chocolatière has a rounded paunchy base with a horizontal wooden handle. The lid should have a hole where the wooden beater (le moulinet ou moussoir) fits snuggly so you can rotate it quickly between the palms of your hands. Mine is missing this bit. It's a faux choco pot...still it's mine to have and to paint.

My California friends Ann and Larry Walker, found this wonderful pot with all it's parts it a small town, Maury, near Les Pyrénées, where they have a summer house. Try making your hot chocolate the night before. Let it brew in the fridge for 6 hours, then reheat it. I tried it once or twice but you have to be a plan-ahead sort of person which I'm not...