Adventures in Cacao

It’s a very simple idea with a lot of steps. Cacao is grown in Nicaragua and I wanted to use it in my baking. At least once a week, I make chocolate cake, brownies or chocolate chip cookies. So far I have had to use imported chocolate – not even high quality, but expensive (relatively) Baker’s chocolate and Hershey’s cocoa from the States. The local high end chocolate makers don’t distribute unsweetened chocolate. My friend Laurence who makes delectable chocolate treats for his business, Eurocafe, explained to me how to go to the market, get the cacao, roast it and return to the market to find the miller to grind it into cacao paste.

So Silvia and I headed to the market for my Spanish lesson and bought some cacao. It was new to Silvia because she doesn’t usually use it. We found a guy with a big bagful and bought two pounds. Once I knew what it looked like, I saw it lots of places. The cacao beans are fermented and then dried, like coffee. They still need to be roasted, so we took them home and when Moni came to cook dinner I asked her how to roast them. It’s like roasting coffee at home – another skill I learned in Nicaragua. You toast the beans in a pan on the stove or in the oven until they are the right color – which is dark brown and the husks are easy to crack off. But actually, the husks aren’t that easy to get off. I spent two hours crunching beans between my fingers. (I unfortunately picked a time when I had no paid staff to help me; Jonathan did one bean and decided to focus on his beer and the sunset.)

Sunday morning we went to the miller with my pathetic little pile of beans. He was grinding up a huge quantity of masa for someone’s tortillas. He ran a lot of water through the machine and then threw my beans in. The were ground in about 4 seconds and my coco paste didn’t even extrude out of the machine, the miller used his hands to wipe the paste out and scrape it into my container. The service cost 7 cords (35 cents). I probably got about a cup and half of paste out of a pound of beans.

As my first baking experiment, I made brownies with my usual recipe substituting 1/3 of a cup of paste for 3 ounces of baking chocolate. They were heavenly; you could taste the smoke of the toasting.

Pig Business Update

Lucia and Eugenia came by today to give us an update on the pig business. Frankly, we were a little worried that they were going to ask for money to buy another pig to improve their margins. The cost of transport is the same for one pig or many up to a certain point and it has proven to be expensive for them. They have been talking about increasing the number of pigs to 3 a week for a while. They had stopped coming to weekly meetings – whatever, it is their business to run into the ground if they want to – so Jonathan and I agreed, not one cent more until they can clearly demonstrate a profit to us.

But they came to PAY US BACK! They had $100 saved up which they wanted to use as a first payment AND they had enough left over to buy three pigs this week! We are so excited. Jonathan told them we didn’t want the money right now, but he made them promise to open up a savings account with it. They were really uncomfortable with the idea of the bank. They felt like they would be giving their money to someone else. You mean you can take it out whenever you need it? Eugenia asked. Jonathan reassured them pointing out the money would be available for emergencies when they needed it.

Lucia is going to MINSA (Health Department) today to make sure everything is done by the book. With three pigs, they will also be able to eat some of the meat, which is something they haven’t been doing as it has all been going to customers.

How to make hot chocolate

Go to the market and find someone selling cacao. It is in an actual burlap bag and looks like small stones. Watch him scoop and weigh it and make sure he gives you a little extra instead of a little less. Take it home and roast it, use a comal on a wood fire if you have it, if not a stove and frying pan will do. Roast it about 20 minutes until it looks like good coffee. Let it cool and rub the skins off. Winnow away the remaining chaff. If you don’t feel like going back to the market and having the miller grind it for you, smash it up anyway you can. A rolling pin and cutting board work okay but scatter debris all over the kitchen. Put one big spoon of chocolate grounds and two big spoons of sugar in a mug. Steep in a tiny bit of hot water. Add steamed milk. Amazing flavor. Chew on choco nibs from between your teeth for the rest of the evening.

Autumn

Fall is in the air. It is now getting dark at 5:45 instead of 6:15. The boguanvilla are blooming and all of a sudden there are three people a day coming to the door with beautiful plants on their heads to sell. The watermelons aren’t any good anymore, but there are guavas. It is really quiet in Granada and all the restaurants are just hoping to be able to hold on until the tourists come back in December. We are still waiting for the rains.

Sukkot

My pool is reflecting the full moon of Sukkot as I write this. It has always been my favorite holiday, well for at least ten years anyway. In Seattle, I make the sukkah out of bamboo and sheer curtains and put fir boughs, laurel branches, grape vines on the roof. I always order a lulav and etrog from the temple. In the mornings I eat my breakfast out there with my oatmeal and coffee steaming and watch the heavy frost melt off the lawn. Every year, we have a potluck. Sometimes it is raining, but it is always fun. Then last year of course we had the best sukkah and supper of all for Noah’s Bar Mitzvah party.

I wanted to recreate our usual practice here, but last week I was overcome with lethargy and indecision. Finally, on Wednesday, I drove to Caterina with Silvia to look for some bamboo. I couldn’t find the street where all the bamboo folks I know are, so I asked around a little and someone directed me to Juan Nicaragua. I made the mistake of asking for reglas instead of cañas so he didn’t have any poles but he said he would get me some. Would Saturday be ok? No, I said, because I have to finish by Friday night. So we agreed I would come back Friday at 4. Which I did. Instead of the 1 to 2 inch poles that I thought I asked for, Juan’s wife and small son brought out eight 3-4 inch poles. They were pretty heavy and didn’t look like they would hold together with string the way I usually build my sukkah. But there was no other choice. Anyway, I noticed that Juan Nicaragua’s family makes some pretty nice baskets, so I asked if I could have one of those, too. Well, his wife said, these are already ordered by someone, but she hasn’t come yet. Oh I can come back, I said, how much are they? 32 cords ($1.50). Great, if this one isn’t available, when can I come back for another one? She replied, If you have 32 cords now, this one is available!

As we drove back, the fields were all ploughed, but not planted. Angel said the farmers are waiting for the rains to come, but they aren’t coming. Who knows when/if they will be able to plant. Then we discussed Daniel’s (Ortega is always referred to here just by his first name.) plan to buy all the beans and rice directly from the producers and sell them to venders to avoid price speculation. Like most current Sandinista programs, it sounds good in theory but we talked about the various ways it would get corrupted along the way.

We had to stop at La Colonia so that I could get wine for dinner and pesticide to spray my bamboo. Yes, the dark secret of environmentally friendly bamboo is that it is always full of bugs. It is all treated with poison. Except when it isn’t and then you have to treat it yourself so the powder post beetle doesn’t turn your house to dust. I am learning a lot about bamboo these days. Anyway, I was very apologetic because Angel had been working since 5:30 in the morning and it was almost dark. Don’t worry, he said, the day is for working.

I had to let the pesticide dry on the bamboo, so it was practically dark before I started on my sukkah. I decided there was no rush to finish the sukkah before sundown. Sukkot is a whole week and we could contemplate and consider and add to the design. There is no lulav nor etrog. Is it necessary to have the actual piece of material cultural or is it enough to have the idea of the prop and use it as a point of departure, of discussion. Is the absence of the lulav and etrog more powerful than the presence? Especially since here we are trying to figure out how to do the things we are accustomed to doing or even what is the minimum we need to do. Is the negative space more meaningful than the object? What is the minimum I need to do to feel like I am fulfilling my obligations as a Jew, a mother, a host?

This year it is two poles of bamboo with mosquito netting draped over them suspended over the courtyard and embellished with flowers. Jonathan had been judging the high school entrepreneur contest (like Junior Achievement but with a Sandinista edge) at Avi’s school so Avi and the beautiful Regina, his girlfriend, joined us in our makeshift Sukkah. It was just big enough to stand together and say a few blessings.

Yom Kippur

We decided to stay in Granada instead of going out to Carlos’ for Kol Nidre. I printed out the music for Noah to play on his clarinet. I was going to make chicken and rice, but then I got behind and said, Why make chicken and rice when I can get it already made from Chico Tripa for about 60 Cords a person? So Jonathan and Avi went to get us chicken while I set the table. We had a nice meal on banana leaves as the sun was setting, guzzling water to prepare for the fast.

Noah played Kol Nidre on his clarinet, which brought tears to my eyes. Then we tried to sing it twice, but it was hard to keep the tune and I really missed Wendy’s voice coming from the back of the synagogue with the lights out. Then we watched Moishe Oysher sing Kol Nidre in the 1939 Yiddish film "Overture To Glory" (Der Vilner Shtot Khazn "The Vilnius City Cantor”). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vkpsFwsQY4

We spent a quiet day at home; there was some reflection. For me, Yom Kippur is a day to be free from the demands of the body; to live for one day on a less material plane. I wondered out to the Cathedral thinking it would be a nice quiet place to sit, but they were having a pre recorded pop music mass in the chapel and it didn’t feel right. I missed Rabbi Beth in her new white tennies. I missed sitting in services with my family and friends. I missed being one of many. I really missed going to Bruce’s to break the fast and eating all that yummy food.

We broke the fast with bagels and dairy kugel. Avi came over after teaching. He mused that it was the first time he had ever done anything regular on Yom Kippur and it felt weird, but it was too hard to shift his classes for that day. The boys got ready for school. Noah wrote an essay about his Jewish name for school. In it, he said he liked being different, but he felt he was just part of one big Jewish pool. Just another drop of Jew, he said.

Party Time

Jules went to his first party Friday night. He was invited to a school mates Quince Años. I only found out about the party a few days before and I was a little scared by the words traje cocktail. I asked my guide in all things Nicaraguan, my friend Thelma, and she said Long sleeved shirt, tie, dress pants and nice shoes. Jules' research at school confirmed the dress code. Well, Jules has a pair of black chinos and that is it. It somehow hadn't occurred to me that he would need dress shoes in Nicaragua. After all, on all other trips to the country, he just took a pair of sandals and a pair of sneakers. I thought I was showing great foresight when I brought two pairs of running shoes for him. I hadn't anticipated the dress requirements of attending a private school in Managua.

My first stop was the used clothing store in Granada. It is like value village but in an open courtyard. I was hoping some big boned swede had donated some large dress shoes before he took off. No luck. I would need to go to Managua. Fortunately, Thelma needed to make some deliveries so she went with me. We stopped at a couple of stores and asked what was the biggest shoe size they had - only 11. With time running out, Thelma got on the phone and called her uncle - Tio, where is the best store to find size 14 shoes? He said, Your best bet is Lumesa, the one at Plaza Inter. Excellent advice, they had one pair of size fourteen shoes and they were acceptable. 32 bucks.

For the party, Jules wore a shirt of Jonathan's and a tie from Laurence and Hobbes wore Jules' bar mitzvah shirt. They looked very handsome. Angel drove and I told the boys to leave around 11 so Angel could get some sleep, but Angel said, its up to them they can leave whenever they want. I called Jules around midnight and he said he was just leaving. We waited up.

Thelma and I compared notes as each of our sons reported on the other one. Seems a good time was had by all. I just stopped by Jules' room on my way to bed and there is another invitation; this one with the ominous phrase - traje formal!