The Foodie Press: Traditional Colombian Hot Chocolate

One of the best parts of working in an international market like Jungle Jim’s is getting the opportunity to meet people from around the world and having them share bits of their lives with you. Which is exactly how we got this recipe for traditional Colombian hot chocolate; Caesar, from International Foods, shared with us how his family makes this delicious (seriously, it is so good) drink!

Hot chocolate is a staple in every Colombian home, and it’s made with Colombian chocolate, making it more rich and less sweet than what we’re used to seeing in America.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 4 pieces (squares broken off of the bigger bar) of Colombian chocolate
• 4 teaspoons of granulated sugar (if using unsweetened chocolate)
• pinch of cinnamon
• pinch of cloves
• pinch of cayenne

Preparation:

1. Warm the milk or water in the chocolatera or small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Once it’s hot, add the bar of chocolate, sugar, and spices.
3. Cook, stirring until the chocolate completely melts.
4. Blend with an immersion blender to froth up the milk and fully integrate the chocolate.
5. A chocolatera and a molinillo are the right tools that will make this recipe more authentic and tastier! The chocolatera is an aluminium pitcher used to heat the milk and molinillo is a wooden whisk, used to froth the chocolate. The round end of the molinillo goes down into the pitcher and the wooden handle is rolled quickly behind your hands, like you would start a fire with a stick. We used an immersion blender and a saucepan in place of the traditional tools.

This drink is best served in smaller cups, since it’s so incredibly rich! Try topping it with some fresh whipped cream, or for a more authentic flair, queso fresco. Now, we know what you’re thinking; cheese in my hot chocolate? No thanks! But the salty flavors mix perfectly with the rich sweetness of the hot chocolate.

We know what we’ll be drinking when the temperatures dip back down this weekend!

(Thank you to Caeser for your expertise in writing this article, and to the Cooking School at Jungle Jim’s for helping with the preparation.)