Mexican Champurrado - Chocolate Gruel

December 10, 2008

One of the things we pride ourselves on here at Taza Chocolate is having one of the finest traditional

Mexican chocolates in the world. Now you say, how can the finest Mexican chocolate in the world come from a small chocolate factory in Massachusetts? After spending much time studying the art of milling chocolate with traditional Mexican molinos (stone mills) and learning many recipes that are traditional to Southern Mexico, we have brought together the finest ingredients money can buy and blended them here in our factory in the traditional way.

We use only three organically grown ingredients in each of our Mexican chocolates and grind them using only the traditional molinos. Our cacao is organically grown on small family farms and we control the fermentation and drying process to ensure a high quality bean. We purchase these quality beans at a premium above fair trade prices, a practice called Directtrade. The almonds are grown on a small organic almond farm in California and our cinnamon and vanilla beans are grown on the Villa Vanilla farm in Costa Rica which is certified biodynamic. The sugar we use is an organic cane sugar from the Green Cane Project in Brazil. Every ingredient is a point of pride for the producer involved and we are lucky to have them.

Back to Mexico: If you go to Oaxaca City and drink some of their local Champurrado, a corn based chocolate flavored gruel) you can taste the true uniqueness of Mexican chocolate. It is very thick and rich due to the ground corn meal or rice flour and a healthy dose of chocolate para mesa (drinking chocolate). To make an authentic Champurrado check out the following recipe from the streets of Oaxaca:

What you need:

a saucepan

a pitcher (preferably earthenware)

a whisk or a molinillo

2 cups milk

1 disc Taza Chocolate Mexicano Cinnamon, grated (2-3oz depending on preference)

1/2 cup tortilla dough OR 1/2 cup masa flour (masa harina) mixed with hot water to make a dough

pinch ground anise seed (optional)

1-3 tbs brown sugar (or piloncillo if you have it) depending on preference

How you make it:

Combine everything in a saucepan and heat, stirring regularly until boiling. Remove from heat and pour into a pitcher and whisk until frothy. Serves 4 in medium sized mugs.

Champurrado. Mmmmmmmm.