I made this weeks ago and haven’t been able to bring myself to write about it because in doing so, I drool all over my keyboard.
Mexican Hot Cocoa is not your run of the mill hot chocolate. It is a rich, thick, drinking chocolate that will leave your tastebuds delightfully confused.
“What did I just drink? Was that spicy, sweet, or bitter? Was that smooth or a little less than smooth?”
At least that’s what happened to me, and it left me wanting more and more.
But first, a very quick history lesson:
Chocolate has been used since the beginning of trackable life in Mesoamerica. The bean from which chocolate is derived comes from the cacao tree. The word cacao comes from both the Mayan word, “kakaw” and the Aztec word, “cacahuatl”. In both languages, it means “bitter water”. Due to an absence of sugar, the first chocolate drink wasn’t sweet at all. It was flavored with spices of the region including chili pepper, cinnamon, and vanilla.
Mexican hot chocolate cannot be made from a packet, it is instead made from hard semisweet chocolate, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. We added cayenne to ours. This form of hot cocoa is often served as a breakfast rather than a dessert.
Here’s a little bit of trivia for you: Drinking chocolate has been around for centuries longer than chocolate bars or chocolate you chew to consume.
Crazy, right?
When I saw a beautiful presentation of Disney*Pixar Coco at the D23Expo, I was moved to give my own Mexican hot cocoa a try. I love spicy chocolate and knew that I wanted to use a pinch of cayenne in this version. It was just enough to confuse my taste buds and I loved it. It was a little too thick for my youngest gringos, but my eldest gringo loved it and wound up drinking more than anyone else.
I encourage you to step outside of your thin Dutch cocoa box and give Mexican hot chocolate a try. Just don’t forget to take a moment to thank the ancient Mesoamericans for their first discovery and usage of this substance so many of us can’t get enough of these days.
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While you’re enjoying your rich cup of goodness, here are some Coco Coloring Pages to get your color on. Or hey, throw some your kids way and get them super stoked for Coco which opens in theaters on November 22, 2017!
Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel (voice of newcomer Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voice of Benjamin Bratt). Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector (voice of Gael García Bernal), and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel’s family history.
Like C O C O on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PixarCoco
Follow C O C O on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pixarcoco
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Visit the official C O C O website here: http://movies.disney.com/coco
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