Sweet scientific discovery in the world of chocolate

DNA sequencing for healthier chocolate on CNN.com

Give me a Z for Zippy!

My apologies for obsessing about Horchata. However, I must say a quick Colombian Hot Chocolate made in a blender turned into a family love affair. I selected SOL Chocolate de Mesa con Azucar Morena or Table Chocolate with Brown Sugar from Columbia to make a hot chocolate with Horchata.

Since table chocolate has a grainer texture than our typical American chocolates, I always use a blender for simplified blending. After one square of the SOL chocolate was cut, I heated the Horchata in the microwave for 1 minute and 20 seconds. Next, I added the Horchata and the SOL chocolate to the blender and hit the pulse button a few times. Tada! Instant frothy hot chocolate. I poured my frothy blend into a mug and placed it in the microwave for another minute.

Immensely pleased with the combination of zippy flavors, I proceeded to enjoy a second cup. When my husband came in, he indulged in a cup of this Colombian brew.


Horchata and SOL Chocolate de Mesa con Azucar Morena has officially become a household favorite!

Recipe:
1 cup Horchata
1 tablet of Central/South American or Spanish Chocolate (SOL is preferred)

Central American’s cacao production revitalization

The Ngobe Indian people of western Panama in Central America are returning back to their roots! For centuries, the people of Central America grew, harvested and indulged their own chocolate beverages. In the 1990’s, they moved away from growing and harvesting cacao due to poor prices and a fungus infestation. With a global upswing in chocolate consumption, the indigenous people are reviving their cacao plantations.

Like other cacao growing regions, cooperatives are being established allowing growers to secure proper prices and profits for their beans as well as manage the relationships with buyers. As more chocolate manufacturers look for fair trade products, Central America as an edge over the Ivory Coast, the largest cacao grower in the world, which has been tied to child-slave labor. The native people of Central America work their own plantations thus removing the child-slave labor stigma.

Personally, I think it is nice to see people from Belize to Panama return to an industry they perfected so long ago.