Instant karma got me. I only did the tiniest of favours for a friend and got the answer to my dreams. After seeing cafe photos posted online by a friend in Santiago, I remembered how much I liked the cafes there. In fact, I like the cafes here too, but not really what they serve. The hot chocolate is usually not hot and not chocolatey - just warm milk with that sugary fake chocolate syrup stuff - and marshmallows on the side to add yet more sickly sweetness. In Santiago I loved a type of hot chocolate called a Submarino. A submarino is very easy for baristas and so much fun for kids or people like me; it's a glass of hot milk served with a bar of real, dark chocolate which you sink into the milk and stir in yourself, watching the flecks of chocolate swirl through the glass. The best hot chocolate I've found so far in Perth is at San Churro, a Spanish style chain of 'chocolaterias'. Their main version og hot chocolate though I'm not a fan of - it's super thick, too thick for me, as they add flour so it ends up kind of gluey. They do have a 'couverture hot chocolate' though which is just hot milk with real chocolate melted into it - the taste and texture is perfect. Mixing the chocolate in yourself is more fun though and the price, AU$5.95, does seem a bit steep right?? -just for a decent cup of chocolate?
So I was thinking of hot chocolate, obsessing about it a little even, for most of a night, rueing that all the hot chocolate powders I find are too much full of sugar and even salt. I settled for making my own with cocoa and adding sugar to taste. Another kitchen tool, the battery-powered milk frother, gives that velvety lightness to the milk/soy milk so it's cafe style at home - but better.
The next morning before work took me just ten minutes' walk up the other end of the road I work on to collect some natural remedies for my friend. I don't usually walk up to that part of the street so after picking up the medicine, crossed the road to check out a second-hand shop. Right before the second hand shop though I found, to my delight, a new Spanish restaurant and supplies shop. At nine o'clock in the morning I was the only customer so asked the lady working there for some product advice. It turns out she was from Chile and had lived in NZ for 14 years so she was more than happy to chat with me. Hortense even taught me how to make Mote Con Huesillos, a drink I'd enjoyed in Chile. And yes, they sold the mote, and the huesillos and I bought them, as well as some unsweetened chocolate for making my own hot chocolate - a proper one :) Recipes follow! (P.S. I just read some good reviews of the restaurant part too).
Recipe for one cup of hot chocolate:
30g approx of dark chocolate
(if sugarless chocolate add sugar to taste, about 1-2 t)
1 cup or more of milk/ soy milk (depending on size of glass/mug you'll serve it in)
Heat milk with chocolate. Stir or use milk frothing whizz to combine. Serve when hot enough and frothed enough.
Additions - pinch of chilli powder and cinnamon for a more Mexican style hot chocolate.
Mote Con Huesillos
This non-alcoholic and wholesome drink is a bit stange - I mean, it's filling - it could be a dessert! But it's refreshing, surprisingly enjoyable and very popular in Chile. Read about the history of it here.
6 huesillos (dried whole peaches)
150g trigo mote (hulled wheat berries)
about 2 T sweetener like honey or sugar - I used apple juice concentrate
6 cups water
extra water to cover mote
A kiosk selling Mote con Huesillos drink in Vina del Mar, Chile. Photo from my visit there in 2004.
In a saucepan soak the huesillos in the 6 cups of water overnight. The next day add 1 or 2 cinnamon quills, the sweetener and a few pieces of orange or lemon zest. Boil for approx 25 minutes to bring out the flavours. Leave to cool.
In another saucepan, add the mote and cover with fresh water. Boil until the mote is soft. Drain, rinse under cold water and leave to cool.
Put both parts (the huesillo with 'nectar' and the mote) in the fridge until ready to use.
To serve, add a couple of tablespoons of mote to a glass, add a huesillo and top up with the nectar liquid. Often this drink is served with two huesillos per glass but it depends on how big the glasses are.
Variation: You could try pearled barley in place of the wheat. Apricots instead of peaches. This is what I initially thought it was, actually!
No comments:
Post a Comment