Oaxaca
Posted in: Travels & Adventures
I've been told by some sellers of bicolor seeds (unfermented) that they are also used in tejate, though I have yet to find a tejate vendor who admits to using it - cacao blanco they call it here.
A few weeks ago, I had occasion to "discover" this cacao blanco when I asked about at the Sunday Tlacolula market. I bought some and roasted it, then bought more later at the central de abastos. They make a wonderful nutty tasting roasted snack, that, if roasted right, you can sometimes peel by hand. They require more roasting than theobroma cacao, and the skin is thicker.
I also ground some up using my champion juicer. This works great with cacao, actually turning out a decent liqueur through the fine screen, and pushing what remains of the skins/husks (I'm still not very good at winnowing) through. With the bicolor, the fat seems to be denser and with a higher melting point. Running it through the champion juicer was much harder than with cacao. It would not go through the fine screen. Maybe I needed to run it through a couple more times, I don't know. Anyway, I've been making a delicious hot chocolate with some fine "almendra blanca" criollo beans from Tabasco, and in my latest pot, I included about 15% bicolor. It's delicious! Very buttery and creamy, and mildly nutty. I've also tried making a "hot chocolate" with only bicolor, and that's also delicious, though it tastes not at all of chocolate.
So much fun experimenting!...