Aztec Hot and Spicy Chocolate Recipe

9/28/2012

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The Aztecs didn’t just had rich culture and religion in their time of reign, they’ve also got an even richer taste for food! One of their original food was the chili hot chocolate, in fact they were the ones who discovered chocolate’s existence, thus they are the righteous owners of the original chocolate recipe.  Experience a different kind of chocolate recipe today, a more ancient chocolate recipe, the original one. This isn’t just a mere chocolate my friends, this is hot chocolate with literally hot chili pepper! Try this extraordinary recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz bittersweet chocolate or 3 tablets of Mexican chocolate, cut into ¼ inch pieces
  • 1 chili pepper, pitted and cut in half
  • 5 cups light cream or whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon almonds, ground
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1 vanilla bean, split vertically
  • Whipped cream
  • 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
  • 2 cups boiling water

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You can also add some marshmallows if you want.
Directions:

Prepare 2 saucepans, one larger than the other. 

Put the larger saucepan over medium-high heat.  Pour 2 cups of water and bring to a boil, then toss in chili pepper. Cook until water has evaporated into 1 cup. Remove chili pepper, then strain water and set aside.

In the other smaller saucepan, put over medium heat and cream the milk, vanilla bean, and cinnamon sticks until small bubbles appear over the edges of the saucepan. Don’t let it boil through, reduce to low heat.

Add chocolate pieces and granulated sugar afterwards. Make sure that you are stirring constantly until the chocolate has melted and all sugar granules have dissolved into the mixture. Remove from heat and take the cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean from the pan.

Gently pour the chili-infused water, make sure you do this a little at a time, all the while tasting the mixture to taste the chocolate’s strength. If chocolate is too thick, add some more milk.

Pour your hot chocolate into a large mug and top with whipped cream with a finish of ground almonds.  Get a sweet pastry to get along with this wonderful hot chocolate.

Sit back and enjoy your Aztec choco!

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Aztec, the Great Farmers

5/29/2012

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The Aztecs lived in a relatively advanced and high structured society compared to other civilizations in the era. They had a rich culture as well as intricate agricultural skills. The Aztec people were great farmers and they relied on farming as their source of food and trading resources. Through their own way of farming called Chinampa, the Aztecs were able to cultivate highly-productive gardens where they could do both farming and reclaiming of water.

Because they were great farmers and their economy greatly relied on agriculture, they flourished and feasted on a variety of foods. Stories about the Aztec cuisine and fascinating details about the Aztec food had can be found in many written historical accounts.  Discover what foods the Aztecs relied on and enjoyed during their time. The existence of some popular Mexican foods today, like the guacamole and tortillas, is credited to the Aztecs. Learn more about the Aztec food right in this blog. 

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The Aztec Diet, Foods and Cuisine

5/29/2012

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In 14th century, the Aztecs, who migrated south from the deserts of New Mexico, had vastly occupied lands in the valley of Mexico and an area rich in lakes, which were filled with many kinds of living resources such as fowls, fish, frogs, water insects, and algae.  The newcomers, Mexica people adopted their new home with enthusiasm. They dominated, thrived over this vast land, and established a strong and powerful empire that once became one of the most renowned empires in world history. 


The lives of the Aztec people were filled with celebrations. They feasted on abundant foods such as white tortillas, grains of maize, turkey eggs, turkeys, and all kinds of fruit. Fruits they often enjoy are sweet potatoes, sweet manioc, avocados, and come cacti.  
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The Aztec Staple

The Aztecs relied heavily on maize or corn for sustenance like all other Mesoamerican civilizations before. Corn was their staple food that without it, a meal was not a meal. . The Aztecs consumed maize in several forms, usually in the form of tortillas. In fact, the making of tortilla was one of the basic lessons imparted by mothers to their daughters.  Tortilla, a round, flat, toasted bread, has been a significant part of the Aztec cuisine as well as most Mesoamerican cuisines since the Classical period until today.

Until now, Mexico is still one of the top maize cultivating countries in the world.

 
Animal Foods
Dogs, turkeys, and the Muscovy duck were the only common domesticated animals in ancient Mesoamerica as well as in the Aztec empire. All these animals were used as food source, but comprise only a small part of the Aztec diet. However, Archaeologists have also uncovered some bones of fish, deer, rabbit, iguana, dog, turkey and other animals in the remnants of the Aztec households, but these were only in very few concentrations.
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Chocolate

Chocolate is one of the greatest gifts given by Mexico to the world.  The Aztecs flinched from chocolate at first, but after the Indians set the example, they found it good, especially when turned into a thick chocolate drink. Montezuma, one of the Aztec emperors, was served thousands of jars of foaming chocolate, and this became a prized delicacy to him. 
Since then, cocoa beans have been a prized food and treasure to the empire. The beans were not just used as food by the Aztecs, but as a form of regular money as well for trading. The Aztecs prepared chocolate drink a lot different from the hot chocolate prepared in the present world. The Aztecs made the drink sugarless but with spices, peppers and corn meal. This hot drink can still be found today in Mexico and is known as atole. 
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Guacamole

One of the most renowned Aztec foods in history and today is guacamole, a dip made from mashed ripe avocados, tomatoes, and several spices. The Aztecs were known as the earliest cultivators of avocados and creators of this ever-famous dip. In fact, the name guacamole originated from two words of their own Nahuatl language. These two words are āhuacatl which literally means avocado and molli means sauce. Today, guacamole is often paired with another known Aztec delicacy, tortillas. Perhaps the traditional duo of guacamole and tortillas began way back in the Aztec period.

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Other Aztec Crops and Vegetables

 The Aztec's basic diet and cuisine mainly comprised of vegetables and fruits , supplemented by a few game animals. As their principal source of protein, the Aztecs relied on many species of beans. The Aztec diet also featured diverse species of chilies, with a wide range of flavors and hotness. Chilies are their alternative source of essential vitamins A and C. 

They also serve as condiments and stimulants. Squashes and calabashes were the third significant crop to the Aztecs. Huautli (amaranth), another very high protein grain, was rank as second most important crop next to maize. The Aztecs cultivated several varieties of onions, as well as red tomatoes, xictomatl, and green tomatoes (tomatl). Sweet potatoes (camotli) were also important root crops in the Aztec cuisine. 
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Experience Chocolates the Aztec Way!

5/29/2012

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Discover more facts about our favorite sweet treat, chocolate, which has been a prized food for the Aztecs as early as the 14th century. David Wolfe, author of Sunfood Diet Success System, shares some of these stories about the origins of chocolate in Mexico. According to Wolfe, chocolate from cacao beans was one of the biggest foods in the entire history of Mexico. Also learn from the uses of cacao beans during the Aztec and Mayan civilizations, the specific nutrients and antioxidants we could get from cacao beans and why the Aztecs and Mayans consider cacao beans sacred.  
Learn how to make hot chocolate the Aztec way. With real good Aztec ingredients, you may experience the warmth and  goodness of chocolate drink made from pure cacao beans. It's obviously very nutritious. So learn how the Aztecs prepare this antioxidant rich drink  in their own unique way. 
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