There is a museum near Plaza de San Francisco called the Choco Museum, and it is all about chocolate! When I was first doing research on Cusco and what to do in the city, this Choco Muse popped up everywhere. So, naturally, we had to go.
Verity, Bob, Kevin, Hope and I went for a brief little tour of the tiny museum on Tuesday. Inside the museum they have a
small cafe, a replica of the coca tree, and tons of information about coca, chocolate, the Mayans, Incas, Spanish, and how chocolate is used today. We were able to try some milk chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate pisco (passion fruit and orange flavored), chocolate jam (strawberry flavored), and cocoa tea (which was amazing!). I bought myself some cocoa tea for when I get back to the states.
What is also really neat about this museum is that they offer chocolate-making workshops, where you get to create your own chocolate while learning each step of the process. Verity and I signed up for the 13:30 slot, and had an amazing time. There were five others that signed up for the workshop: 2 from Maryland, 2 from Australia, and 1 from Japan. We were able to try the cocoa bean before it is processed. At first, you get a banana-like taste which then turns completely bitter. We grinded the beans into paste using a mortar and pestal, then a kind of pasta maker machine. Then we got to the good stuff: making our own chocolates. I decided milk chocolate instead of dark. There were so many additional ingredients like M&Ms, ginger, cinnamon, coconut, almonds, Brazilian nuts, more sugar, chili, orange, etc. I made a little bit of everything (except chili). I even tried to make an Almond Joy. They had to set for an hour, but Verity and I had to go to placement. The wait to get the chocolate was excruciating. I've only had one, and I'm waiting to have them all when I get back home to the states.
Verity, Bob, Kevin, Hope and I went for a brief little tour of the tiny museum on Tuesday. Inside the museum they have a
small cafe, a replica of the coca tree, and tons of information about coca, chocolate, the Mayans, Incas, Spanish, and how chocolate is used today. We were able to try some milk chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate pisco (passion fruit and orange flavored), chocolate jam (strawberry flavored), and cocoa tea (which was amazing!). I bought myself some cocoa tea for when I get back to the states.
What is also really neat about this museum is that they offer chocolate-making workshops, where you get to create your own chocolate while learning each step of the process. Verity and I signed up for the 13:30 slot, and had an amazing time. There were five others that signed up for the workshop: 2 from Maryland, 2 from Australia, and 1 from Japan. We were able to try the cocoa bean before it is processed. At first, you get a banana-like taste which then turns completely bitter. We grinded the beans into paste using a mortar and pestal, then a kind of pasta maker machine. Then we got to the good stuff: making our own chocolates. I decided milk chocolate instead of dark. There were so many additional ingredients like M&Ms, ginger, cinnamon, coconut, almonds, Brazilian nuts, more sugar, chili, orange, etc. I made a little bit of everything (except chili). I even tried to make an Almond Joy. They had to set for an hour, but Verity and I had to go to placement. The wait to get the chocolate was excruciating. I've only had one, and I'm waiting to have them all when I get back home to the states.