The history of chocolate in Colombia
Colombians have had a long history with chocolate. The cacao tree comes from the Amazon basin – yes, Colombia (as well as other neighboring countries)! Evidence of the use of cacao goes back thousands of years.
That early cacao was from wild (uncultivated) trees. The imagination could go a bit bonkers thinking about wild chocolate trees. As in, trees with chocolate bars hanging from branches. That’s not exactly the way cacao trees work, which we’ll discuss in another article.
Cacao trees were first apparently cultivated farther up north, by the Aztecs and Mayans. In fact, the Aztecs and Mayas are the ones who gave us the words we use today for this precious dark ingredient: chocolatl (hot water) and cacahuatl (cacao beverage). As you might imagine from those words, they didn’t eat chocolate – they drank it.
Cacao didn’t reach Europe until the 1700s, and that’s where the chocolate drink became the chocolate dessert, a sweet treat mixed with sugar.
That same tradition of drinking rather than eating chocolate is still honored in Colombia. And the love Colombians have for this ancient ingredient reaches down to our day. But just how do they consume it?
When and how Colombians drink hot chocolate
In Bogotá, hot chocolate is more than just a drink. It forms part of a hefty snack that comes with an arepa or a piece of bread – whether a simple roll, an almojabana, a buñuelo, or a pan de bono.
They also include another ingredient that we’ll get to in a minute.
People will drink hot chocolate in the morning at home with areaps. Or they’ll stop by their neighborhood bakery and have their hot chocolate in a combo with a caldo (a brothy soup with meat or chicken) or a tamal (which is quite an explosive combination).
Their afternoon snack of hot chocolate and bread or cake is part of their daily culinary ritual called “tomar las onces.”
In our opinion, the gooey goodness of a cheesey arepa or hot pan de bono combined with the comforting thickness of hot chocolate will soothe any pain of the soul.
Hot chocolate in Colombia…with a surprise!
The truly important thing you need to know about hot chocolate in Colombia…
The thing that you have to prepare for emotionally –
Now brace yourself –
…is that in Bogota people often drink hot chocolate with cheese.
Cheese. In. The drink.
Gooey, mushy, melted cheese. In your hot chocolate.
Called chocolate santafereño, it is traditionally prepared with water rather than milk. It’s called santafereño because the city of Bogota has been called, at different times in history, Santa Fe de Bogota.
So when in Bogota, make sure you drop some chunks of cheese into your cup of hot chocolate. After a minute or two fish out the melted chunks and feel part of a long cheese and chocolate tradition.
How to make Colombian hot chocolate
How do you make hot chocolate the Colombian way? I enlisted the help of a Colombian grandmother from the Boyacá region to help me with this.
Step 1: Gather your tools
- olleta, an aluminum pot used to make hot drinks – see picture below
- molinillo, or wood beater – see picture below
- chocolate bar (in Colombia, hot chocolate is made with bars of chocolate rather than powder)
- water or milk
Step 2: Add the liquid to the pot
Add milk or water and heat it until you see bubbles forming along the edges
Step 3: Add the chocolate
Add one piece of chocolate bar for each cup of liquid.
The grandmother that guided us through this process used the typical Corona brand that you can buy at any Colombian supermarket. The chocolate bar is already divided into the size pieces you need per cup. You can buy sweetened or unsweetened bars.
If you use a higher quality bar, you can experiment to get the right mix (depending on how dark the chocolate is). Start with 48g or 1.7 oz. You can chop the chocolate into smaller bits before adding it to the liquid.
Step 4: Beat the mix
As the liquid heats up, put the molinillo in the pot. Take the stick between the palms of your hands and rub it back and forth vigorously.
As you work up speed, the liquid will start to get frothy and the melting chocolate will make the liquid brown.
Let it boil up a bit, remove the pot from heat for a moment, then let it boil up again. This process of beating the chocolate and letting it boil up creates a frothy, thick drink – even if you’re not using milk.
If you’ve used a typical olleta, remember that the metal handle gets quite hot. Use a dry towel or pot holder to grab the handle to serve the chocolate.
Step 5: Pour the hot chocolate into cups
If you use sweetened chocolate, you won’t need to add additional sweetener. If you’d like to do the Colombian thing, add panela to the hot chocolate.
Now you can either add the cheese to each cup yourself, or let your guests have the privilege.
What cheese do we recommend? When in Colombia, doble crema or Paipa cheese. If you’re not in Colombia, you can use Mozarrella or a soft white Mexican cheese like Chihuahua.
Join us for a Colombian Coffee and Chocolate Workshop to learn more about Colombian cacao producers and what cacao (and chocolate) mean to Colombians.
Where you can drink hot chocolate in Colombia
La Puerta Falsa (La Candelaria) – Calle 11 #6- 50
Distrito Chocolate – Carrera 2A # 17-60
Pastelería La Florida – Carrera 7 # 21-56
Chuculat (Quinta Camacho – Chapinero) – Carrera 10A #69-23
