The Story about Chocolate

This week Capella Pedregal is celebrating our first birthday! As no birthday goes without a cake, we made a wish for a chocolate one! Our pastry chef Jan Moeller knows the best chocolate, and his desserts are beyond imagination. As chocolate carries an important part in Mexican history and today, we’d like to share with you with the following article about chocolate, re-published with the permission of ESCAPES magazine.

“You probably know of a popular novel Like Water for Chocolate by Mexican novelist Laura Esquivel. If you have wondered about the title and about what water has to do with chocolate, we’ll reveal you an ancient truth about this popular food. Chocolate, perhaps the most popular of sweet foods, has a long history in Mesoamerica and was an important part of Mayan and Aztec culture, at which time it was neither sweet nor a food, but a beverage, and a sour one at that.

Today’s word chocolate derives from Nahuatl, the language of Aztecs, from word xocolatl, meaning bitter water*. The Aztecs made a variety of drinks made of chocolate, combined with honey, nuts, seeds, spices, flowers, hot chili pepper among others. The thick and cold drink was believed to be a health elixir with aphrodisiac qualities, bringing wisdom and power to anyone who enjoyed it.

Aztecs valued cocoa bean so much, that they used is as a currency as well. Four cocoa beans could get you a pumpkin, 10 a rabbit and 100 would buy a decent slave. The Aztecs attributed the creation of the cocoa plant to their god Quetzalcoatl, who descended from heaven on a beam of a morning star carrying a cocoa tree from paradise. The scientific name of cocoa tree Theobroma is very suitable to its heavenly attributes, as it means “Food of the Goods”. The Aztec emperor Montezuma drank thick chocolate dyed red. The drink was so prestigious that it was served in golden goblets that were thrown away after only one use. He liked it so much that he was purported to drink 50 goblets every day! In Aztec times, the chocolate drink was used in important religious and social rituals, primarily by priests, emperors, soldiers, wealthy and honored merchants.

Montezuma was the one who introduced cocoa beans and chocolate to young Spaniard Hernán Cortés, who conquered México in 1519 and in 1528 returned to Spain with some cocoa beans. The Spaniards were the ones first starting to add sugar to the drink, and discovered that sweet it was quite a delicacy. The formula for this highly demanded and noble potion was kept a secret, which Spain managed to keep from the rest of the world for almost 100 years!

Slowly, the secret was revealed, and chocolate was introduced to royal courts in France in 1615 and Austria, in 1711. A Frenchman opened the first chocolate house in London in 1657, and Italians began serving chocolate in Florence and Venice in 1720. The chocolate was first introduced to United States in 1764. Industrial Revolution in 18th century helped make chocolate available to masses. We got first eatable solid chocolate in 1847 by an Englishman Joseph Fry, and… you know the rest.

Today, chocolate in Mexico is still widely used. Not just as a drink or sweet food, but also as an ingredient in popular sauce mole, used for poultry, and more. The most traditional use for chocolate is for hot beverages such as Atole, Champurrado and Mexican Hot Chocolate.

Atole is originally made with corn masa. It can also be made out of grits, wheat or rice, and have chocolate for taste. It is frequently served with tamales.
Champurrado is also served as a dessert with Churros or a sweet bread called Pan Dulce. This drink is whipped up using a wooden whisk called a molinillo (you can also use a blender). The whisk is held between the palms of your hands. Then using a back and forth motion the whisk moves back and forth in the mixture until it is aerated and frothy.
Tejate is an Oaxacan specialty. An interesting cold drink is made of dark chocolate, corn masa, cocoa flowers, then marinated and frothed.
Mole is a sauce that varies in content depending on the region. The traditional red mole contains chilies, garlic, nuts, tomato, spices and chocolate. It is important to note that the amount of chocolate is very small and enhances but does not overpower the sauce. The sauce is served with turkey or chicken. Mole does not use the Mexican flavored chocolate but instead a dark bitter, unspiced version.”

HOT MEXICAN CHOCOLATE

Although Montezuma drank his frothy chocolate cold, we can enjoy a delicious whipped version of hot Mexican chocolate.

In a bowl, put 1 cup sugar, ½ cup cocoa powder, and mix with enough water to make a thin paste. In a large pan, bring to a boil 4 cups milk.
Break 2-4 cinnamon sticks into the milk.
Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
Carefully stir in the cocoa mix.
Turn off heat and whip to a froth just before serving.

The article is originally published in ESCAPES magazine and re-published with their kind permission. Capella Pedregal’s Pastry Chef Jan Moeller accompanied ESCAPES in their chocolate journey and prepared several chocolate delights. You can try his chocolate and other amazing sweet creations in Don Manuel’s fine dining restaurant at Capella Pedregal Hotel & Resort. On the images: Jan’s Chocolate Olive Cake, Chocolate Mole, Chocolate Fudge, Raspberry Sorbet, and Don Manuel’s Signature Dessert “Study of Yucatan Chocolate”.

*There are several explanations about the origin of the word chocolate; the mentioned one is one of the most cited.