I decided to try my hand at making some delicious chocolate treats at a Chocolate Making Workshop on August 6th from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm run by the Choco Museo in Cusco. The museum runs workshops 3 times per day and it is common to see people attending them when you go into the museum/store. When our workshop started, our group of a dozen people went upstairs to see what a cacao pod and tree look like. Quite an oddity, as large cacao pods grow off the trunks and numerous tiny pink and white flowers, so small they need to be pollinated by midges who breed in the decaying leaves under the tree. We were able to try some of the mucilage - the sweet, white, mild fruit surrounding the chocolate bean. The first step in our class was our attempt to peal the cacao beans. Collectively, we failed. It wasn’t possible to open the beans from their tough shells, not without roasting them a bit. Once we turned the beans around for awhile in a roaster they proved much easier to take apart – and we each began to shell our individual pile of beans.
As we worked our chef/guide for the day told us about the history of chocolate. Chocolate is from the rainforests of the new world, but typically more associated with other parts of Central/South America (20 degrees north and south of the equator only) – and not primarily in Peru. Nevertheless, the appeal of growing cacao is increasing and in 2011 Peru produced 56,500 tons of cacao, which is more than double the amount (23,672) produced in 2001. This translates into a lot of chocolate as just 1 hectare of land (growing 400-600 trees) can end up producing chocolate for 7,500 chocolate bars. We also learned that there are three different types of cacao: criollo (fine and sweet; 1% of production), forastero (fruity and bitter; 80-90% of production), and trinitario (spicy and sharp; 10-15% of production.)
While we were shelling, we were given some of the raw, roasted cacao beans to try, which were extremely bitter. Each of us received a small mortar and pestle with which to grind up additional beans (the nibs) into a powder. For about ten minutes we continued to grind the beans over and over again – and although we could get them into a soft powder, we could not get the mixture totally smooth. We were told the best way to smooth out the chocolate was to put it in a 24 hour grinding machine along with milk and sugar. So much easier!
With the shells of the cacao beans a cacao tea was made for us to try. (Simply by soaking the cacao bean shells in hot water to extract the taste.) The taste was a much better than the raw beans themselves, tasting slightly sweet - a bit like watered-down hot chocolate.
Next we tried Mayan hot chocolate called Kakawa. This drink was made from a chocolate base, which they called xocolatl or “bitter water.” The Mayans drank chocolate during their marriage ceremonies, and they prepared it by mixing cacao powder, chili, and honey together with hot water. The drink was pretty intense and too much for me, but I could see how the spicy and sweet taste could appeal to the Mayans. Supposedly they put human blood in the mix, and our guide tried to pierce one of the guest’s tongues with a needle to include her blood in the mix. He wasn’t able to puncture her (she was pretty nervous) and luckily (for hygiene's sake) we all got to drink the mixture without the inclusion of her blood.
Our final drink we tried was a taste of the ‘original’ European hot chocolate. When the Spanish discovered chocolate in the Americas it started as a drink which fascinated them for more than 100 years. The craze spread throughout Italy, France, and eventually England in the 1600’s and 1700’s, transforming the royal courts and upper class, and the drink itself transforming by being mixed with milk, sugar, and other sweeteners. It wasn’t until the industrial revolution that chocolate made its way to the masses. The west’s love of chocolate was really solidified when World War I soldiers received newly created chocolate bars from the Queen for Christmas in their rations.
After the final drink it was time to mold our own chocolates from the pre-mixed (in the 24 hour mixer) chocolate. We each received our own bowl of milk chocolate and little jars of candies, raisins, peanuts, Oreo bits, sprinkles, and other mix-in’s. Each person chose their own plastic molds and got to design our own chocolates. I placed Smarties and Oreo bits in each chocolate, in between each layer of chocolate so the crunchy treats would be located in the middle of the chocolate. I topped each of the 15 chocolates with more liquid chocolate and various toppings – and then they went into the fridge to chill for a couple of hours.
Later that evening Colin and I returned to the chocolate museum to pick up the chocolates I had made. After a couple hours in the fridge they looked perfect. Once popped out of the plastic molds we got to place them in a plastic bag with a pretty ribbon wrapper. The final result looked so professional, and we were told that our prize was worth nearly 30 soles or $12 USD. Fantastic!
The chocolate managed to last Colin and I for 4 days, but it was really hard to ration it because it was so delicious! Don’t miss making your own chocolate when you are in Cusco!
Francesca
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