The co-founder of a small bean-to-bar chocolate company visits another world: a giant storage warehouse.
The author describes the ancient Mexican art of cocoa-milling--but he can only reveal so much.
It's not easy to find high-quality, organic cacao. But the work pays off in the form of a rich chocolate bar.
Hand-milled in Mexico for centuries from cocoa beans, corn, and the flower of the "funeral tree," it's like an artisinal Frosty. The local producers, who also sell it, each make their own customized versions of the chocolatey beverage, adding such extras as chilies, salsa, or herbs.
Mexican chocolate has strong flavors and rustic textures you just won't find in a bar of the European stuff. It's no wonder: chocolate has been a food--not a candy--in Central and South America for thousands of years before it ever got to Europe.
Andrew Sullivan
Megan McArdle
Marc Ambinder
Ta-Nehisi Coates
James Fallows
Jeffrey Goldberg
Clive Crook