I
was making plans for the upcoming end of the world, which according to the
Mayan calendar is on December 21, 2012, and being an ice cream guy I was
thinking that going out with a dish of ice cream would have to be the best exit
possible. Of course, any regular
customer to Private Island Ice Cream has seen Mayan Chocolate on our menu, and
quite a few have tried it. Many have
even become repeat buyers, and it has become one of our most popular flavors. So
what else could I possibly be eating when the end comes than Mayan Chocolate?
Chocolate
comes from the cacao plant, which is native to Central America. It was probably
originally eaten by both monkeys and humans for the pulpy flesh of the seed
pods, and the bitter seeds were left behind, scattering around the region and
making the plant very widespread.
Eventually someone figured out that the seeds, while bitter, still had
some attractive qualities. The Olmecs were probably the first to try cocoa around
4000 years ago, but it was the Mayans who first started cultivating it around
600 AD, creating great plantations and making cocoa an integral part of their
culture. There are numerous carvings featuring cocoa pods, and cocoa became an
important element to their society. It was considered food of the gods, and
represented fertility and life, and was used in religious rituals. Sugar did
not exist in the Americas at that time, so the primary way to enjoy cocoa was
to mix it with hot peppers and other ingredients in a cold drink, and pour it from
cup to cup until it became frothy. It was bitter and spicy, and was certainly
an acquired taste, but it was very popular among Mayan society. It was available to everyone, but it was
especially enjoyed by royalty, who drank it from a special cup. This drink was
called Xocoatl, from which the modern word chocolate derives.
The
Mayans started trading cocoa with the Aztecs, who treated it as sacred, and
only certain people like royalty and priests were allowed to drink it. Cocoa
became valued as currency to the Aztecs, and there are even examples of cocoa counterfeiting,
in which empty pods were filled with dirt and resealed. Eventually it was
imported to Europe, sugar was added, cocoa butter was developed, and the food
that we enjoy today as chocolate was developed.
Private
Island Ice Cream's Mayan Chocolate combines three powders. First you taste the
rich chocolate flavor, then you taste the cinnamon, and then the heat of the
cayenne pepper sneaks in. I always enjoy watching someone have their first
Mayan Chocolate experience. When someone
takes their first bite, the usual reaction is that it isn't very hot, and I
tell them to wait. In about 5-10 seconds
their eyes will suddenly widen, and they'll say "There it is!" It is
a very dynamic flavor profile and a truly unique ice cream.
So
on December 21, you'll find me in my shop, enjoying a bowl of Mayan Chocolate. I
hope you'll join me and together we'll celebrate the end of the world with a
great ice cream experience.
