I know that I just wrote yesterday, but I found some time today and I won´t be able to write until I get back from Arequipa on Wednesday or Thursday. I HAD to write about one of my favorite experiences yet. My dream come true, learning how to make chocolate! Best. Day. Of. My. Life. There is a place by the plaza called the ChocoMuseo that makes their own chocolate right there. When you walk in you are overwhelmed with the smell of chocolate. I could´ve cried I was so happy. Sofia, Anna, and I booked a two hour class to learn to make chocolate for last wednesday. They took us and five others through the step by step process from the bean to the bar. First you have to ferment and dry the beans, but that is done in the place they are picked. We started with the roasting. It´s really simple, you just take a pot and heat them for 10 minutes. They kind of smelt like they were burnt, but I guess not. After that, you have to peel the husks off. They usually make a coco bean tea out of the husks, which is quite good. We put the nibs into our individual mortar and pestals and our teacher declared a prize for whoever could grind theirs the best in 3 minutes. Naturally my competitive side came out and I hustled to work. I took second. The only man there got first and won a bag of coco husks. Darn men and their superior strength! Once you grind them, you add sugar and get dark chocolate :) They put it in a machine for 24 hours to make it smoother and then temper it to make it shiny. We received a bowl of chocolate to put into molds and add things like peanuts and raisins. I picked up mine yesterday and I am thoroughly enjoying them. I´m going to bring back several bags of coco beans so that my mom and I can make some when I get home.
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| The beans on the right, roasting away. |
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| How to make chocolate |
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| This is what happens after 3 minutes of quick grinding. |
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