I’ve always known that coffee and chocolate share common traits.
Both start with a fleshy, sour fruit which has little value compared to
its bean. In fact, when either bean is separated from the fruit, they
need to be dried and processed. Both coffee and cocoa beans are
inedible before roasting. If you bit into either, you could easily
break a tooth. Both beans have long shelf lives before roasting and
stale after roasting. Both require crushing/grinding before use.
The primary reason that we went to San Ignacio was to visit Mayan
ruins in the area, but we wanted to see San Ignacio on its own merits
also. While exploring the city, we passed by a chocolate factory
offering tours of the manufacturing process.
Julia
and I had low expectations, but we were very pleasantly surprised and
would recommend the Ajaw Chocolate factory tour to anyone with even a
modest interest in chocolate and how it’s made. The fruit was nothing
like I would have imagined. The beans are separated from the fruit,
fermented and then roasted. At each stage, we were invited to touch,
smell, and taste.
In many countries, automated machinery is used to harvest and
process. That’s not the case at Ajaw. We were shown the stone grinding
process to create an intense chocolate paste.We were also offered the
opportunity to try grinding the roasted beans ourselves. Julia did
pretty well. I made a bit of a mess and got chocolate all over the
grinding stone. The guide is explaining to the others not to do that.
Next was my favorite part. We were given small bowls, some chocolate
paste that we had helped grind, and some hot water. We were then
invited to stir and taste. This was the traditional hot chocolate made
for the Mayan elites and leaders. Later, additives were used, including
cinnamon, honey or small amounts of red pepper. I tried all of those
and found it interesting how much the red pepper added to my enjoyment
of the drink. We were also given tastings of wine made from fermented
cocoa fruit. I liked that too, although not everyone else did.
Chocolate and coffee share one other thing in common. Our guide
complained that some of the world’s best known chocolate is advertised
as Swiss chocolate or Belgium chocolate. Just about everyone has heard
of French roast or Italian roast coffee. While both cocoa and coffee
beans may be processed anywhere in the world, neither are grown in
Europe. Our guide was very proud of locally grown Belize chocolate.
When people have that kind of passion about creating a product, the
quality almost always shines through. The chocolate was amazing.
