This Kekchi Maya, woman named Adalia, is preparing me a Traditional hot Cacao drink, called Cacao Ooh in her native language, it is made from Cacao beans grown organically right here on the farm. The drink also contains all spice seeds for extra health benefits and flavor and jaguar beans which makes the consistency more milky.
After the cacao beans are fermented for 10 days they are roasted on the fire with the all spice seeds and jaguar beans, occasionally Adalia keeps turning the beans, they make a lovely relaxing sound on the hot plate which is placed on an open fire
The beans are taken from the fire, placed on the table and crushed with an ancient stone to remove the skin, Adalia then scrapes everything into a bowl and starts tossing the beans so the skin flies out. This takes a lot of skill and rhythm to make sure everything doesn't going flying out, just the skin falls on the table and the beans remain in the bowl.
She then takes the beans and starts grinding them on this ancient grinding plate with the stone she was using to crush the beans. This grinding plate is also known as a corn mill, because it is used to grind corn, chili and other things! It has been passed down to her from her mother, and so on for generations.
This part of the process also takes a lot of work, Adalia vigorously is grinding the beans into a paste, first they are coarse but she keeps going, the friction warms the beans. She says on a warmer day its easier but today we had rain so it was taking her a bit longer. After about 5 minutes or so of continuously grinding back and forth the magic starts to happen and the paste gets really smooth and gooey ready to eat. She says to me 'now its finger licking chocolate...try some!'
Of course I took a little and it was amazing! nothing beats fresh chocolate like this, gown right here from this beautiful food forest. She then proceeds to take the paste in a natural bowl made from a pumpkin, she pours a little hot water and starts mixing the two until smooth. Then the paste is ready to be diluted with more water to make a hot cacao drink, which we both enjoy under the shelter of the grass roof.
Its warming and comforting, and I'm incredibly grateful to have this experience of what a real Maya cacao drink is like.
For the Maya the chocolate was traditionally a very scared drink, the beans were considered highly valuable and used as a currency, it was considered the food of the Gods.
I have deep respect for the cacao plant, these pods are the real traditional seeds, not hybridized to be huge pods that you find in cheap candy bars. Hybridized seeds are know known to have less nutrients and less taste. So by persevering the traditional seeds and way of life is crucial here and this family are doing a good job of protecting this wonderful place, which is one of the most bio-diverse regions on the planet, yet under threat to cattle ranching and cash crops.
Eladio Pop featured below is the head of the family, he saved his land from being slashed and burned to the ground. Its not that slash burn is necessarily inherently bad, because it can has been done sustainably in the past and can even be a preventive measure for fire. However in modern times with rising populations and other complications slash burn methods are no longer sustainable, this is what Eladio Pop saw when his father was burning the land. Eladio was worried he would not be able to live self sufficiently and in harmony with nature. He knew he wouldn't have any wood from the forest to build his future home. So he decided to make a change and returned to the way his ancestors used to live, by sharing and working with the forest so it becomes an abundant paradise,and provides almost everything he needs.
This is such an inspirational story, it was so much more than just enjoying chocolate but being able to see how we can transform our mindset and live in harmony with nature. To produce good organic, healthy food for ourselves and the wildlife around us.
You should definitely check out what this family is doing here are there links:
https://agouticacaofarm.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/eladioschocolateadventure/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT0Uk1PrN_2hvQJWHaZJjLQ
Proceeds from the post will go to the Pop family
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