Comfort Me with Chocolate

The thick Tuscan version of chocolate is really a meal on it's own.

I am a huge fan of the book and movie “Like Water for Chocolate” by Laura Esquivel. It wasn’t until a trip to Mexico City where I ate at my friend Ricardo Muñoz Zurita’s restaurant at the University of Mexico City, that I actually understood the nuances.

Ricardo served chocolate both with water and with milk and in Mexico it accompanies savory meals. He also had special ceramic cups made which retained the heat during the entire meal, which for me, made it almost impossible to drink. Below, is the foto of the traditional cups made from coconut shells, which I had at the local mercado.

The history of chocolate in Mexico is fascinating from the Olmecs in 1000 BC to the Aztecs and Mayans and then the Spanish bring it to Europe. Columbus of course being Italian and Catholic,brought cocoa beans to Rome to the Pope, who was a Medici.

In the 1600’s Florence,which was under Medici rule, were experimenting with infusing chocolate. One of the most famous was with jasmine blossoms. It is a recipe that is so rare and you need so many jasmine blossoms to make it. I have tasted it once made by a local artisan friend of mine.

Today, you can buy boxed chocolate packages in the grocery stores to recreate this thick chocolate at home,most of these use cornstarch or potato starch to thicken the chocolate with cocao powder.

You can find versions which are almost as thick as pudding which you need a spoon to eat it instead of drink it.

It’s more of a snack here, merenda, meaning something to have outside of mealtime. To me it is a meal. Today, I made two sizes, I only really need the espresso cup size, but as more of a snack, the cappuccino cup size really fills you up.

When asked, always get the whipped cream on top, you need it

Another favorite is a gelato “affogato” with hot chocolate, which means “drowned” in hot chocolate. You can also order your gelato “drowned” with alcohol or hot coffee! It’s a personal favorite.

For my paid subscribers, I am including the recipe with video on how to make the chocolate and a list of places I suggest to go for fabulous cioccolato caldo.