How to prepare Christmas hot chocolate with Peruvian cocoa? Tips from the experts

Closer and closer. We are just a few days away from celebrating Christmas and it is time to choose the chocolate that we will have on Christmas Eve accompanied by a good piece of panetón. Is this happiness? If it isn’t, it looks a lot like it. And it is that neither the summer nor the economic uncertainty will prevent Peruvians from taking that cup of chocolate warm and comforting as a family.

Did you know that only Peru has 14 producing regions of a huge variety of cocoa with its own characteristics? They can have citrus, tropical, red fruit flavors, floral tones and many more. How to choose the best among so many variety? Here you will have the recommendations of the experts in Peruvian cocoa so that this Christmas you give yourself the opportunity to savor several options within the national range and not just the classic version.

The paste should only have one ingredient: cocoa

“Peru is the country in the world with the most genetic types of cocoa,” explains Amanda Jo E. Wildey, anthropologist and cocoa and chocolate taster. Amanda is the owner of El Cacaotal, a Barranquilla shop and cafeteria ideal for tasting and learning everything about the national chocolate, its richness and varieties that are often coveted outside the country, but little consumed in ours. “Cocoa, like wine and coffee, changes its flavor depending on the environment, it can have the same genetic type of cocoa, but if it grows higher or in another type of soil, the flavor changes”, says the expert.

“Cocoa paste only requires one ingredient: cocoa,” Amanda sentence, referring to those chocolates that contain palm oil, sugar and others. “I always recommend buying 100% cocoa without sugar or anything, this allows each one to add sugar, cinnamon and cloves to their liking, therefore – Amanda emphasizes -,” It is important to read the ingredients so as not to consume things that we would not eat in life daily ”. As a professional advice, Amanda recommends looking at the details of the origin of the cocoa and thus understanding the possible flavors. Is there a correct preparation? We asked Amanda. “It all depends on the flavor or profile of the person who is going to have the cup of chocolate.”

Flavors are unnecessary

Unlike a few years ago, today you can find many more offers of Peruvian cup chocolates even in supermarkets, airports, bookstores, cafes, fairs and gourmet stores. It is much more accessible and the possibility of putting the cup of hot chocolate in your mouth becomes more real.

Vanadis Phumpiu, a consultant specialized in the cocoa production chain, tells us that now consumers read the labels, look for the origin and flavors, are more informed about the national production or have an interest in this treasure that still needs much more to do. discover. “Many French, Belgian and Swiss, who are chocolatiers, have never seen a cocoa in their life. We are lucky to be a country that produces not only cocoa, but also good chocolate. ”Says Vanadis. “Peruvians make quality chocolate, respecting the origin, with special roasts that allow the original flavor of the grain to prevail and it is not necessary to add a vanilla flavoring, a lot of sugar, creams, milk or over-toast the grain to hide the defects ”, He adds.

Review the percentages

For Vanadis, it is very important when buying a chocolate that the percentages are checked: “Avoid as much as possible that it has substitute fats, too much sugar and little cocoa mass. What has to prevail is that it has more cocoa paste than it is of origin. It doesn’t have to be hard, there are some that dissolve only with very hot water ”. Some brands offer pure chocolate. . But it becomes much more interesting –and an explosion on the palate– the search for the perfect flavor to accompany the cup of hot chocolate: “One from Jaén or Cajamarca could go with some raspberries, red fruits, pieces of strawberries, not only marshmallows. If it is from Piura or Cusco, you could put lemon or orange zest on it, they go well because of its medium citric profile, or pieces of walnut, as if to change the usual cloves and cinnamon ”, says Vanadis.

She comments that the consumption of our products and Peruvian chocolate should be an obligation: “We are putting in value not only cocoa but also the producer’s work. The cocoa zone has replaced coca with cocoa, there are a number of reasons why to consume Peruvian chocolate but the fundamental one is because we have an extraordinary, rich and ours cocoa ”, he reflects.

Women producers of the valley

Tsinane (‘woman’ in Ashaninka) is a trademark registered by the Qori Warmi cooperative (‘golden woman’ in Quechua). It groups approximately 100 female cocoa producers and farmers located in the valley of the Apurímac and Ene rivers, some are in the Junín part. Edgar Isla, manager of the cooperative, highlights that Tsinane chocolate is giving a buzz in the chocolate world for its native cocoa winner of gold medals at the International Chocolate Awards, as well as other distinctions.

Their chocolates originating from Vraem are aimed at a small specialty chocolate market. Currently, they are producing refined pasta for a delicious hot chocolate that many prefer in small bars to consume directly in the mouth for its fruit and flower flavors. Tsinane has presentations from 60 to 100%. “For hot chocolate,” Edgar tells us, “the required one is 100%, it does not need flavorings, some mix it with milk but it has natural flavors that are expressed very well in both cup and mouth chocolate.” Edgar explains that the and passion fruit, even very nice citrus flavors. In floral tones they have found jasmine and white flowers. In addition, flavors of nuts, honey, panela. “We want the whole world to recognize this valley not because of the image of terrorism or drug trafficking, there are interesting things like our cocoa with which the perception of this beautiful valley can be changed,” says Edgar Isla.

The millennial cougar

“We are a family business that emerged in 2015, but with more than 20 years of experience in cocoa,” Joel Puma, manager of Pumatiy and son of the founder Efraín Puma, tells us by phone. “We are from La Convencion, in the Kapashiari community in Koribeni, in the Cusco region, and we work with chuncho cacao. Today we work with more than 35 cocoa producing families. Year after year we have been conserving the quality and part of it are the recognitions that have gone hand in hand “. They have been exporting since 2018 and have 15 products,

How does Joel Puma recommend preparing the hot chocolate? “We should have a hot chocolate with pure cocoa. An attractive recipe is to make a kind of ‘dressing’. A liter of water is boiled and 100 ml is separated, there it begins to dilute 100 grams of chocolate. It will become doughy and the cocoa will begin to release aromas and flavors. After a while of diluting it, it browns in the pot, and once you have the mixture, the remaining 900 ml of water are just added. It will come out peculiar, it can be without sugar and it is not necessary to add milk, it comes out creamy. A secret: a pinch of salt activates the taste buds and makes us receive extraordinary flavors of cocoa ”.

Recipes and secrets from the experts

We called him and he shared his secrets: “As I use Peruvian chocolates with a good percentage and good flavor, I don’t add as many spices as is normally used, such as cinnamon or cloves, which are also very good. We use 100 grams of Madre de Dios chocolate, 62%, and add 30 grams of 100% chocolate powder, 150 ml of filter water and an average of 8 to 10 ounces of milk. If you use less milk, it comes out thicker, if you use more milk, it dilutes more and it will be easier to drink. You can use normal milk or almond or chestnut milk. I add 30 grams of panela to that percentage, which is basically the sweetness. Obviously, we will put a milk cream as if it were cappuccino, we beat the milk in a machine and only the foam goes to decorate. If you want you can zest it with citrus fruits, like oranges ”.

to prepare the most comforting hot chocolate: “I have always liked to prepare it in a pot. I put some water, chocolate pieces into paste, wait for it to melt and turn like fudge. When the pasta and water are blended, I add more water to make it a light drink. I do like to prepare it with milk, but I know there are people who don’t like it so it just doesn’t add. I add sugar and at the end the milk so that the sugar melts and homogenizes. When the milk starts to boil and rises, I turn off the flame so it doesn’t overheat. Personally, I don’t add cinnamon or cloves because I like to feel the taste of cocoa, but I do recognize that it is a very classic variation. I believe that at the end of the day, beyond having the correct recipe, it is to experiment until you find the taste that makes you happy ”.

“I dissolve about 20 or 30 grams completely with a little very hot water and I texturize it with milk, but if the chocolate is good and you don’t like milk, I wouldn’t need anything. It is another style of drinking hot chocolate, we are used to having more milk than chocolate, but I like to dissolve it in a little hot water and drink it short. You can put 50 grams of a good chocolate and make it longer and with more milk ”.

• At El Cacaotal (@elcacaotalperu) hot chocolate from three origins is served. One is a very classic profile of the chuncho variety from Cusco: “By its nature it has a lot of cocoa butter and provides a very thick cup. This particular paste has notes of nuts and spices, ”explains Amanda Jo E. Wildey. Another option is a chocolate made with Vraem cocoa: “It is a goose (or Vraem 99) and it is a cup of chocolate that tastes like strawberries and honey, it is incredible, maybe a person who was looking for a classic flavor will be disappointed when taking that cup because it does not taste like the chocolate that one automatically thinks, it has been the ‘bestseller’ of the cafeteria because it is a unique flavor that stands out for its note of red, floral and quite sweet fruits “. The third is an original intermediate from Amazonas: “It has a sweet flavor, but instead of being as chocolaty as that of Cusco it has more flavors like coconut, it is lighter and sweeter.”
• Pumatiy recently won first place in the XV Salón del Cacao 2021 contest
• Most of the women producing Tsinane chocolate are Quechua-speaking and from Ashaninka communities.

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