| Author | Content |
Sundownr
(Bev) Wytheville, VA
(Zone 6a)
December 11, 2008
09:39 AM Post #5880989
| Jill,
Our favorite chili is "Mexican Brown Beer Chili" that includes cocoa powder and cumin. We love the taste, but it does seem to need something "like" a sweetener, other than the molasses that is used. I've tried adding a little brown sugar, but that's not it! I lost the original recipe long ago, but I seem to recall a specific kind of cocoa on the list of ingredients that we didn't have, so, we just used whatever was in the pantry. Do you know of a Mexican cocoa that incorporates cinnamon in the mix?
I'll try adding a bit of cinnamon to the next batch of chili to see if that might be the "missing ingredient."
Thanks for the article. I enjoyed it very much.
Bev |
critterologist
Frederick, MD
(Zone 6b)
December 11, 2008
10:54 AM Post #5881245
| Thanks!
The Mexican style chocolate that I add to mole' sauce does have both sugar and cinnamon in it, and those tablets are also used to make cocoa. I've seen other chili recipes with both chocolate and cinnamon... I may have to try a little added cocoa in mine next time! (I often add a bottle of dark beer to deepen the flavor, and I'll bet chocolate would work equally well.) |
Sundownr
(Bev) Wytheville, VA
(Zone 6a)
December 11, 2008
12:38 PM Post #5881633
| The cocoa lends a remarkable and unexpected flavor to the chili, not at all chocolatey. I'll let you know if the cinnamon enhances the chili flavor next time. I may have to search for the Mexican style chocolate, too. Thanks for the info!
Bev |
roybird
Santa Fe, NM
December 11, 2008
01:27 PM Post #5881823
| Excellent article. The Mexican chocolate we have on hand is "Moctezuma" brand. I think we usually get "Ibarra" brand, though. This "Moctezuma" has sugar, cocoa liquor, soy-lecithin and cinnamon. I didn't know there was more than one kind of cinnamon. Good to know! |
critterologist
Frederick, MD
(Zone 6b)
December 11, 2008
01:34 PM Post #5881849
| Here, I can get a Nestle brand of chocolate tablets called "Abueleta" I think (has a picture of a grandmotherly person on it).
I like chocolate in mole' sauce, so I'm sure I'd like it in chili... you're right, it doesn't taste chocolatey like a candy bar, just gives this rich, deep flavor. |
Sundownr
(Bev) Wytheville, VA
(Zone 6a)
December 11, 2008
02:01 PM Post #5881939
| I'll check the ethnic isle in the grocery store here for the Mexican brands you both mentioned. Thanks all.
Bev |
roybird
Santa Fe, NM
December 11, 2008
07:02 PM Post #5882781
| "Abuela" is grandmother. Abuelita is probably "little grandmother". |
critterologist
Frederick, MD
(Zone 6b)
December 11, 2008
08:00 PM Post #5882955
| I thought I remembered that... thanks for correcting the spelling for me... I'm embarrassed by how little Spanish I know/remember. |
roybird
Santa Fe, NM
December 12, 2008
12:08 AM Post #5883573
| It may be spelled differently on the package. l.o.l. |
PullTab
Beautiful Brazoria C, TX
(Zone 9a)
December 15, 2008
08:59 AM Post #5893290
| Nestle brand of chocolate tablets called "Abuelita". For many years and to this day the young people in my house consider it their chocolate fix of choice. Friends have tried to bring them over to the dark side of milk chocolate or some fance swiss, but no,we want the Abuelita, with the grainy bits of sugar and the background of cinnamon like spice...a robust dark chocolate taste that doesn't exactly melt in your mouth none of that 'Special Dark' for us. For about 15 years now, those little paper wrapped disks of grainy goodness are the treats they go digging for in the Christmas 'Sock-ing". My son even has adapted a chocolate chip cookie recipe to the shaved and chunked bits of Abuelita, I think that is the only time we ever cook with chocolate, we eat it out of hand and have adobo instead. No matter how the package is spelled, I know where it lives and I know what it looks like and we spell it "YUM" |
critterologist
Frederick, MD
(Zone 6b)
December 15, 2008
10:31 AM Post #5893511
| I've nibbled on a bit when preparing mole' sauce -- it's tasty! |
Sundownr
(Bev) Wytheville, VA
(Zone 6a)
January 01, 2009
07:05 PM Post #5953416
| Jill, I wanted you to know that I finally found a Mexican chocolate drink at our local grocery store. The "Jaunita's" brand was the only one with cinnamon. Boy do we like this stuff!!! I can't taste the cinnamon at all, but there is a world of difference in flavor between this and what we're used to!
Thanks so much for the article, info, and the education we've found here.
Bev |
critterologist
Frederick, MD
(Zone 6b)
January 01, 2009
08:46 PM Post #5953990
| What fun!
I add a pinch of Ceylon Cinnamon to regular cocoa, and that works pretty well too, although there's something about the flavor that's still not quite Mexican Hot Chocolate. :-) |
