This weekend was our second free weekend of the trip, and it was very relaxing!
Friday night we went out to eat pizza at this Italian restaurant. It was actually really good! We enjoyed eating food that did not contain beans, eggs or corn.
Saturday we learned how to make chocolate from cacao beans. It was an interesting process. You can buy the beans in the market, already dried for 10 days in the sun. Once you have the beans, you separate them into large, middle and small sized beans. Then, you toast each pile separately in a frying pan without oil or water. The beans are ready when you hear popping, sort of like the sound of popcorn, and when the color of the beans turns a deep café color. After this, you let them cool until you can crack the beans and take the shells off (the shells make great fertilizer). Once all of the beans are collected, you send them through a machine called a “Molina.” Large chocolate companies etc. have electricity powered ones, but we used a hand crank machine. It was hard work!
The first time the beans go through, they get squished into a grainy paste. The paste gets sent through the machine a second time, and turns into a smooth paste. As the beans are grinded, the natural oils in the chocolate are released to make it smooth. That paste is then mixed with sugar. For every pound of chocolate, you add a pound of sugar. However, it is common that vendors and companies use 3 pounds of sugar for every one pound of chocolate. This is done because sugar is cheaper then chocolate.
After mixing in the sugar, we sent the sugar/cacao mix through the machine another time. This made an ever thicker yet smooth paste. I think we had about 4 pounds of chocolate, plus the 4 pounds of sugar, so it took a while to hand grind. Once the third process of grinding is completed, the mixture is placed in a plastic bag on the counter. It is important to smack the bag with the palm of your hand for a few minutes in order to further release oils. Once this is done, it is time to make shapes with the chocolate.
Once the chocolate is dry (depending on the climate it takes 1-3 hours), the chocolate is ready to make hot chocolate. All that needs to be done is mix hot water with the chocolate and then add a bit of milk. I’ve actually been just eating the chocolate. It is very strong, but I prefer dark chocolate.
Saturday afternoon I headed to Iper, the Xela mall, with a bunch of girls to go see HP7.2. It was really interesting to see the movie in Spanish. The dubbing was done well. The movie was pretty action filled, and I know the story, so I was able to follow along. It got a little difficult during the speaking and philosophical parts, but I remembered what was said in the book. I will definitely have to see it in English when I return.
The mall in Xela feels a lot like a mall in the US. There is a WalMart and other stores that were familiar. They also had a froyo place! But I was freezing so I decided to pass. We did go into a very will known bakery called San Martin. The place smells amazing! You walk in and grab a basket and tongs and then pick out all the items you want to buy from shelves. The have all different types of breads and mini cakes and pastries.
Sunday, I hiked Cerro Que Mado, a mountain that was challenging but totally worth it! The whole hike took about 6 hours and we climbed 2,000 feet in total. The path was totally empty aside from our small group, and it was so peaceful! It was also nice to breath clean air (our joke here is that we are going to return to the states with smokers lungs and diabetes because the air in Xela is so dirty and every food item is full of sugar). Parts of the trail were very rocky and required thinking prior to moving, but we enjoyed the challenge. At the end, there was a cave that we had to maneuver ourselves through.
Kate gave us directions to the trail head and Geoff, a member of our group, wrote them down. The directions are pretty hilarious. They said things like “turn right at the yellow school,” “when you see three really cute dogs, go left,” “when the trees change type, keep going straight,” “when you see a triangular rock, walk around it and you will see the trailhead.” They were functional though! Aside from one little mistake that took us 5 minutes off the path, we didn’t get lost once!
I’ve attached some links to pictures of the views on the mountain... they are from a photobucket site so I hope they work! I did not bring my camera to the chocolate making class, but as soon as I get others pictures, I will post them!
No comments:
Post a Comment