This Hot Chocolate Agasajo is a historical recipe with lots of interesting flavors. I used to make it at my restaurants, and my customers loved it. The particular version from my book Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America (W.W. Norton, 2012.) This book won the James Beard Award for Best Cookbook and the International Association of Culinary Professionals Award for Best General Cookbook in 2013.
More on Hot Chocolate from Maricel Presilla
In 1520, cacao was first brought to the Iberian Peninsula from the Americas. What followed was a love affair between Spaniards and chocolate that has lasted until today, but in no other era was chocolate more appreciated and sought after than in Spain’s seventeenth century. On every street there were stands that ground processed cacao mixtures and sold hot chocolate. And every afternoon in bourgeois and aristocratic households, chocolate reigned supreme. Elegant afternoon soirees called agasajos centered on the drinking of chocolate. This was served along with marzipan, nougats, and cold drinks to female guests seated on low stools. The hot chocolate was frothy and heavily spiced with rosebuds, saffron or achiote, and even hot peppers, strongly reminiscent of the heady cacao concoctions enjoyed by the conquistadores in the Americas.
Hot Chocolate “Agasajo”
- Yield: 8 Cups 1x
Description
This is how you elevate your hot chocolate.
Ingredients
- 2 quarts whole milk
- ¼ oz dried rosebuds (sold as rosa de Castilla in Hispanic markets; also available at Middle Eastern shops)
- 2 tsp saffron threads, lightly crushed
- Ceylon cinnamon sticks (canela)
- 1 small dried hot chile árbol or piquín, or to taste
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 vanilla beans, preferably Mexican
- 7 oz bittersweet chocolate with about 70 percent cacao content, coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Place the milk, rosebuds, saffron, cinnamon sticks, chile, and sugar in a medium nonreactive pot and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Split the vanilla beans in half, scrape out the seeds with a paring knife, and add both seeds and beans to the milk.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes.
- Strain the mixture into a large saucepan and set over medium heat. Stir in the chocolate and beat vigorously with a wire whisk or a Mexican molinillo until you have a good froth. Serve hot.
Notes
For a richer, more full-bodied drink, use 10 oz chocolate.
Recipe, Story, and Photography Courtesy of Maricel Presilla from Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America
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