No matter how you celebrate Valentine's Day, the event is likely to be touched by the country of Ecuador. Ecuador produces some of the most highly prized chocolate and the most beautiful roses in the world and they export worldwide. The roses grow in the high-altitude soil and year-round sunshine of the north central mountainous area and the most flavorful cocoa beans grow in the hot and humid Amazon rainforest at a lower level. When we were in Ecuador we visited both areas.
We did not participate in the rose growing but In the Amazon rainforest we had the fun opportunity of making chocolate. We produced a rich and wonderful chocolate fondue with local freshly harvested cocoa beans. Producing the chocolate sauce was a detailed process that we all got to participate in. The photos below show all of the steps to our final delicious product, a thick chocolate sauce, which we then ate with locally harvested bananas and pineapple.
The photos are numbered in the order of the steps of the process. 1. First our guide heated the cocoa beans over a high heat until the beans separated from the shells. After we let them cool we pulled the beans out of their shells and threw the shells away. The beans were almost bitter at this point so we weren't tempted to eat them. 2. After we had all the beans and had discarded the shells (the chickens at the homestay ate all of the shell droppings so it really wasn't a messy process) we ground the beans to a course powder form. 3. Then we put the bean mash over the fire again, but this time we added a "secret mix" of milk, sugar and spices to make it taste just perfect. 4. After that we all joined in a fondue of our own making with the locally harvested fruit. Even though I'm really not a chocolate lover it was a special and wonderful treat!
We did not participate in the rose growing but In the Amazon rainforest we had the fun opportunity of making chocolate. We produced a rich and wonderful chocolate fondue with local freshly harvested cocoa beans. Producing the chocolate sauce was a detailed process that we all got to participate in. The photos below show all of the steps to our final delicious product, a thick chocolate sauce, which we then ate with locally harvested bananas and pineapple.
The photos are numbered in the order of the steps of the process. 1. First our guide heated the cocoa beans over a high heat until the beans separated from the shells. After we let them cool we pulled the beans out of their shells and threw the shells away. The beans were almost bitter at this point so we weren't tempted to eat them. 2. After we had all the beans and had discarded the shells (the chickens at the homestay ate all of the shell droppings so it really wasn't a messy process) we ground the beans to a course powder form. 3. Then we put the bean mash over the fire again, but this time we added a "secret mix" of milk, sugar and spices to make it taste just perfect. 4. After that we all joined in a fondue of our own making with the locally harvested fruit. Even though I'm really not a chocolate lover it was a special and wonderful treat!
RSS Feed