I was honored to be awarded The Gift of Happiness, an initiative by the Costa Rican Tourism Board to spend one million dollars to send people to Costa Rica for a week (600 trips were awarded). It was inspired by the fact that the country is consistently near or at the top of lists of the happiest countries on earth. I was given a choice of several itineraries, and I chose the one that focused on eco-tourism and seeing an authentic side of the country. I went from May 10-17, 2012. Here is a post from my amazing trip!
Last week, I wrote about my experience visiting the Bribri, an indigenous tribe who live out in the jungle. While we were there, we learned how to make chocolate. Cocoa butter, actually, but it’s a form of chocolate. I decided to make it a post of its own since it was such an interesting experience.
After our delicious lunch, it was time to make cocoa butter. Many cocoa plants grow on the trees in the area; we saw several colorful varieties on our hike to the village. When we arrived to the area they had set up for us, they already had cocoa beans removed and roasted to save time. But they showed us what a fresh cocoa plant looked like when chopped open. It was gooey and squishy. They let us take a bite of one, but we were told to be careful–too much of it would cause an upset stomach.
Next, it was time to get to the insides of the cocoa beans. They use a massive river rock to crush them.
They let us take a turn crushing the cocoa beans. It was amazing how heavy it was–the young Bribri man who showed us made it look effortless! My guide had to hold the plate steady for me. It felt like a workout.
Once the beans were crushed, we needed to pick out the shells. At first they joked that we had to do it by hand, but then the Bribri man picked up the tray and started wildly shaking it. It was amazing; the bits of shells flew right off, and the usable pieces of cocoa stayed on the tray.
We then put the chopped up cocoa bits in a grinder.
Below is my travel companion, Olga, churning the bits into cocoa butter onto a banana leaf. The natural fats in the cocoa beans make it turn into a wet goo, something like peanut butter. I took a turn as well, and it was extremely hard to crank it! You had to use a ton of force, and you had to keep a consistent motion or you’d lose your momentum and it would become very difficult again. They let us taste it, but it was strong and bitter.
The Bribri man put some of the cocoa butter in a pitcher of boiling water. He used a utensil made of tree branch with natural prongs at the bottom. He churned it with incredible speed to mix in the cocoa butter with the water. We added sugar and drank it. It was like hot cocoa, but richer and better.
They also took some of the remaining cocoa butter and mixed in sweetened condensed milk.
It turned into a perfect dip for bananas. It was a healthy and tasty treat!
It was really fun to see the process from beginning to end. Living in a city, it’s rare to see something like this. Have you ever had an experience like this?
