With Peru's rich culture of cacao production and many chocolate lovers amidst our group, we were eager for the opportunity to take a chocolate-making class at Cuzco's ChocoMuseo!
We began by hovering around the CM kitchen countertops and were introduced to our hilariously sarcastic chocolate-making instructor, Guil.
The many chocolatiers were ready to go!
First, the cacao beans had to be pan-roasted in a clay pot to remove their water content and bring out their nutty, aromatic flavor. As per Inca tradition, we took turns "giving love" to the cacao during the stirring process. We each learned to say the Quechua phrase "Munaykuki" and blew a kiss into the pot to extend our affections to the star ingredient.
Poast-roasting, we removed the shells from the cacao through a pinching and twisting motion. We crushed the freshly toasted beans into a cocoa paste using a mortar and pestle. Not pictured is the very intense (and somewhat hostile) competition that was facilitated to see which team could make the best paste. Marco, Paige, and Neelasha emerged as the winners, and I am still coping with this grave loss.
We then took a brief intermission from chocolate making to see how the roasted cacao shells could be recycled and steeped in hot water to make a scrumptious tea!
Some of the cacao paste we had just crushed up was then set aside to make two more special drinks.
The first was a luscious beverage with a rich flavor akin to a dark hot chocolate. Blake did the honors of mixing the drink between pitchers, and the cacao itself was then strained from the liquid.
The second drink was a traditional Incan beverage called "Chicha de Cacao." This drink was traditionally consumed by the ancient Incas and included cacao, ground chile pepper (a common Peruvian spice termed "aji"), cloves, honey, and fresh blood (yes, you read that right). Guil guided us through the process of combining these ingredients and had us all convinced that he was going to draw blood from Marco's forearm as a sacrifice. We may or may not have chanted "¡Sacrificio!" in gleeful anticipation. After we were disappointed to discover that no one was to serve as a sacrificial lamb for the sake of Chica de Cacao, we had yet another competition. This time, groups took turns mixing the drink using a wooden tool called a "molinillo," while collectively singing a song of their choice. Lexi, Mina, Emmie, Claire, and Blake's rendition of "SkeeYee" was particularly memorable.
Following this thrilling interlude, we returned to the chocolate crafting. Although the temporal constraints of our two-hour class did not allow for us to directly engage in the next few steps, we learned how the ground cacao is pressed to create cocoa butter and then mixed with milk, cocoa liquor, and sugar in a large granite stone for 20-24 hours.
After this mixture is tempered through a marbleization process, it is ready to be combined with optional add-ons and put into molds. We received a fresh batch of silky chocolate and were presented with a variety of fun ingredients to incorporate, including flaky sea salt, puffed quinoa, coca powder, aji pepper, coconut flakes, coffee beans, "Peruvian air," and gummy bears.
Our creativity burgeoned with every moment during this step. We spooned the chocolate into Peru-themed molds and delicately added our flavor enhancements, aptly placing each ingredient to ensure ideal presentational quality.
Once we designed our chocolates to satisfaction, we had to wait for our masterpieces to settle in the fridge: a true test of patience. However, during pick-up an hour later, we were elated to see the manifestations of our bean-to-bar process and try the mouthwatering fruits of our labor.
To ChocoMuseo: thank you for a fun, educational (and, at times, terrifying) experience with a highly delectable final product.
To the chocolates I made: you're long gone now, but Munaykuki!
LOVE the awesome photo documentation!! Wish there was technology to taste photos. Sigh. And I'm still proud of you even though you didn't win the cocoa paste competition.