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Chocolate Mayordomo - Mexican Chocolate from
Oaxaca
Oaxaca city has a handful of prominent chocolate producers with a premier example being
Mayordomo. The Mayordomo chocolate mill is owned by the Concha family who maintains
several mills in Oaxaca. While Majordomo boasts being the the largest chocolate
manufacturer in Oaxaca City, production is limited but still considered an affordable
commodity throughout Mexico.
Mayordomo Chocolate
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History and Lore of Chocolate
The botanical name for chocolate is Theobroma,
which means "food of the gods". The name is appropriate for the importance
of chocolate in the Mexican culture. Chocolate is among the many things the
Spaniards acquired from the Aztecs. The native Aztec people made a variety of drinks
made of chocolate combined with honey, nuts, seeds, and spices. The drink was used
in rituals by priests as well as nobleman. While many historic references are made to the
Aztecs and chocolate, the Aztecs actually adopted the use of chocolate from the earlier
Mayan Culture.
The
Beans
Oaxaca does not grow the cocoa beans
but imports roughly eighty percent from the state of Tabasco and the rest from Chiapas.
While the beans are referred to as "raw" they are actually dried.
dried, whole cocoa beans
Traditional Uses for Mexican Chocolate
mexican chocolate, formed into a disk
Hot Drinks - The most traditional use for chocolate was for hot beverages
such as Atole, Champurrado and Mexican Hot Chocolate. Learn
more about Mexican Hot Beverages. Also see the recipe links
on this page.
Atole is frequently served with tamales. Champurrado is also served as a dessert
with Churros or a sweet bread call Pan Dulce. These
drinks are whipped up using a wooden whisk called a molinillo (moh-lin-nyee-oh) (or, a
blender). The whisk is held between the palms of your hands. Then using a back and
forth motion the whisk moves back and forth in the mixture until it is aerated and frothy.
Tejate - A Oaxaca specialty. An interesting cold drink is made of dark
chocolate, corn masa, cocoa flowers, then marinated and frothed. (See photograph of a
Mexican woman making tejate).
mexican
molinillo (chocolate whisk)
Mole (moh-Lay) - A sauce that varies in
content depending on the region. The traditional red mole contains chilies, garlic,
nuts, tomato, spices and chocolate. It is important to note that the amount of
chocolate is very small and enhances but does not overpower the sauce. The sauce is
served with turkey or chicken. Mole does not use the Mexican flavored chocolate but
instead a dark bitter, unspiced version.
Mayordomo produces two versions of mole including Mole Negro made with rich roasted mulato
chiles and the Mole Rojo made with the guajillo chile.
Buy Online
GourmetSleuth - We carry Mayordomo and
Ibarra Mexican
chocolate as well as piloncillo sugar and the molinillo chocolate whisk in a convenient
"beverage kit" or purchase each item separately as well. You can also
purchase a complete line of traditional cooking items such as molcajetes, tortilla press,
metate y mano, comals, and lemon/lime squeezers.
mexican beverage kit
This Mexican Beverage Kit is available at GourmetSleuth.com.
View
All Mexican Cooking Tools in our catalog. We sell
molcajetes, tortilla presses, lemon squeezers, metates, all the essential Mexican
products.
Credits
and Resources
Mexican
Beverages - Our page dedicated to the varieties of traditional Mexican Beverages.
Chocolate - Read more about the history, uses, and health
benefits of chocolate.
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Chocolate Mayordomo
The Mayordomo factory is located in Oaxaca, Mexico. Oaxaca is famous for it's
extraordinary chocolate and it's now world renowned "seven moles".
Mayordomo chocolate is now imported in small quantities to the U.S. and is available now
at Gourmetsleuth. The varieties with a *
are typically in stock in the U.S.
Amargo Vainilla (vanilla) made with cacoa beans, sugar,
vanilla and almonds. 8.8 oz bar (200 g)
*A la canela (with cinnamon). All the traditional
ingredients plus additional cinnamon. 8.2 oz (250 g)
Choco Redondo. Traditional Mayordomo sweet Mexican
chocolate disks. Use for mole [moh-LAY] or for drinking. Comes in large disks, scored for
easy cutting. A very economical way to purchase this excellent chocolate. 4.41 lbs
*Choco- Classico, Mayordomo Sweet
chocolate made the traditional way of Oaxaca. 500 g (17.6 oz) All mayordomo
chocolate is made for traditional Mexican hot chocolate but can be used in
cooking and baking as well
Licor de caco, unsweetened chocolate but made with all the
other traditional ingredients. Perfect for recipes calling for unsweetened chocolate as
well as for diabetics. 7.1 oz (200 g) bars.
*Choc-oro (chocolate with almonds) classic ingredients of
bittersweet chocolate, sugar, almonds and cinnamon (canela) with an extra scoop of
almonds. 17.6 (500 g) bar.
Semi-amargo. The traditional semi-sweet version with
sugar, almonds and cinnamon. 17.6 (500 g) bar.
Mole Negro. Oaxaca is famous for their mole. Mayordomo
creates the sauce from the traditional recipe using roasted mulato chilies, sesame seeds,
cocoa, banana, onions, raisins, almonds, cinnamon, and other spices. 15.8 oz (450 g).
The traditional Oaxacan "jarra" pot
used for frothing hot chocolate.
How To Make Chocolate, the Old Way...
In this century most people simply buy chocolate. In some villages chocolate is
still made by hand. The cocoa beans are roasted, then ground using a metate y mano
that has been heated over coals. The crushed, heated beans melt and are combined
with sugar, spices and sometimes nuts.
We normally associate the advent of chocolate bars with the European culture. In
reality, the women of Guatemala formed ground chocolate into bars for storage, long before
the Europeans began the practice.
The picture below shows a woman making chocolate using a nice large metate y mano.
Woman making chocolate using the traditional
metate y mano. Photograph from: RCI Endless Vacation, March/April 2002. This is from an
exhibit at the Field Museum, in Chicago,
Illinois.
Recipes
Mexican
Hot Chocolate - Mexican chocolate mixed with warmed milk then frothed with a
molinillo.
Champurrado - A special hot chocolate thickened with masa
and flavored with piloncillo and aniseeds.
Atole - A warm almost porridge-like drink made thick with masa.
The chocolate version is Champurrado, other versions are flavored with fruits or nuts.
Mole - Made with chilies, garlic, nuts, tomato, spices and
chocolate.
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