So I had a couple of days off to regroup after the Inca Trail and before the Amazon Jungle adventure so I decided to take a Chocolate making workshop in Cusco at Chocolate Museo.
It was a lovely venue over looking one of the squares in Cusco. The smell of chocolate wafted down the stairs.
We were educated on how the cocoa bean grows, where it likes to grow and how it is harvested. Then we were given some beans to see how they looked.
First they need to be roasted in a large open stone pot. As they heat up the smell of chocolate is stronger. Once they crackle like pop corn they are removed from the heat. We are given the roasted beans to peel off the outer shell. The remainder is put into a pestle and mortar where we grind them into a paste. Then they are put through another hand operated grinder to form a finer paste.
With this paste we are able to make 2 different types of Hot Chocolate that Peruvians frequently drink, one with water and spices, one with milk and cinnamon, both delicious.
The chocolate used to make eating chocolate is slightly different and has to have been mixed for 24 hours. They have some ready for us to use. We are given moulds and pour the liquid chocolate into them along with our choice of additives, almonds, salt, coffee beans etc etc. After an hour we have are very own chocolate to take home.
A very well organised, educational and fun way to spend a few hours.
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