CACAO

The Maya believed that the kakaw (cacao) was discovered by the gods in a mountain that also contained other delectable foods to be used by the Maya. According to Maya mythology, the Plume Serpent gave cacao to the Maya after humans were created from maize by divine grandmother goddess Xmucane.

There are several mixtures of cacao described in ancient texts, for ceremonial, medicinal uses as well as culinary purposes. Some mixtures included maize, chili, vanilla (Vanilla planifolia), peanut butter and honey. The first Europeans to encounter cacao were Christopher Colombus and his crew in 1502, when they captured a canoe at Guanaja that contained a quantity of mysterious-looking “almonds,”. The first real European knowledge about chocolate came in the form of a beverage which was first introduced to the Spanish at their meeting with Montezuma in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1519.

Cacao had immense symbolic value. It was a rare luxury and an import that could not be grown within the boundaries of the Aztec Empire. There are no detailed descriptions of how cacao solids were prepared, but there are a number of allusions to the fact that it was eaten in some form. Cacao was most commonly drunk as xocolat ("bitter water", the origin of the word chocolate) and was the beverage of warriors and nobles. It was considered a potent intoxicant and something that was drunk with great solemnity and gravity which was described as something "not drunk unthinkingly" by the Spanish chronicler Sahagún.

Chocolate could be prepared in a huge variety of ways and most of them involved mixing hot or tepid water with toasted and ground cacao beans, maize and any number of flavorers such as chile, honey, vanilla and a wide variety of spices. The ingredients were mixed and beaten with a beating stick or aerated by pouring the chocolate from one vessel to another. If the cacao was of high quality, this produced a rich head of foam.

Hot Chili Chocolate

* 1 2/3 cups milk
* 1/2 vanilla bean
* red 1/8 tsp chili powder.
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 30/50 g bittersweet chocolate

Split red chili pepper and remove the seeds. Also split the vanilla bean, lengthwise. In a saucepan, heat milk to simmering with vanilla bean, chili pepper and broken up cinnamon stick. Continue to simmer for a minute or two. Grate chocolate, and whisk into the hot spiced milk until melted. Remove mixture from heat and let sit for 10 minutes, to steep. Strain, and heat through again if necessary. Serve hot. Serves 2.