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Please note, this is Elaine's last trip to Tabasco so if you have been putting this trip off for next year--please don't miss this last opportunity to visit Tabasco and Oaxaca with the "Goddess."
For a glimpse of chocolate’s early history as we observe customs and traditions still practiced by the indigenous people of southern México, join Elaine González on an intensive one week trip to Tabasco and Oaxaca, the two states of Mexico best known for growing, processing and enjoying this native ingredient.
Elaine González with Cacaotero Vicente Guiterrez Cacep,
owner of Chocolate Cacep in the state of Tabasco.
Elaine González, pictured right with Tabasco cacaotero Vicente Gutierrez Cacep, swears she has chocolate running through her veins. You would be hard pressed to find someone who knows more about chocolate and its history than Elaine. Her long relationship with the cacaoteros of Tabasco who grow, harvest and process the native criollo and other varieties of cacao, and those in Oaxaca who, in loving it so much, have made it one of their favorite ingredients, guarantees a trip that you could not experience with anyone else.
Elaine is so admired and respected in these two states, that private receptions are held for her and her guests and often bouquets of flowers are delivered to her throughout the trip, even as she boards the plane for home. She is the author of The Art of Chocolate, Chocolate Artistry, and a contributor to the candy chapter of the revised edition of the Joy of Cooking cookbook. She was awarded the title of Master Chocolatier Emeritus by the Retail Confectioners International organization in recognition of a 30-year career as a chocolate artisan and teacher. She was also inducted into the Candy Hall of Fame which is considered the candy industry’s highest honor. Elaine has a lot of stories, experiences, and knowledge to share with participants on this trip.
Just as the history of chocolate begins in the state of Tabasco, so will our trip, with participants flying into Villahermosa, the capital. There we will stay at the Hotel Cencali, located along the shores of the Laguna de las Illusions (Lagoon of Illusions) and near the jungle-like Parque La Venta, the home of the colossal heads created by the Olmecs, the first users of cacao
Olmec Stone Head, Parque La Venta.
Photo by Marilyn Tausend.
Our arrival in this region coincides with the Feast of San Isidro, the patron saint of La Chontalpa, the largest cacao producing area in all of México. We will watch and participate in colorful processions that travel to the church with children and adults bearing gifts of cacao, as they dance, and play music in the streets—reminders of the offerings their Maya ancestors once made to Ek-Chuah, the protector of cacao growers.
Prior to the festivities, Vicente Guiterrez Cacep, one of the area’s most influential cacaoteros will help us to understand the practice of growing, harvesting and processing cacao. At Vicente’s Hacienda Cacaotera Jesus Maria, we will see how cacao seedlings are planted, how the pods are harvested, fermented, and dried on the ground using methods and implements similar to those of their ancestors. In the Chontal Maya kitchen, we’ll see a demonstration of cacao beans toasted over an open fire and ground with corn on a stone metate to prepare Tabasco’s most beloved beverages—pozol and chorote We will also visit Vicente’s processing plant, Chocolates Cacep, where we will get a rare, very close-up look at how chocolate is made from bean to bar, while surrounded by the intoxicating aroma of molten chocolate. It will be an experience you will never forget.
After a short flight to the opposite side of the country, the colonial city of Oaxaca and the small nearby villages will be the chocolate tasting focus part of this trip. You will see cacao beans ground with sugar, almonds and cinnamon and use the resulting paste to make your own tablets. You will drink hot chocolate made from a similar mixture in bowls at a market stall, see the region’s pre-Hispanic celebratory beverage chocolate atole being made from cacao beans that have been buried in the ground for months. Techniques of making the king of Oaxacan moles, mole negro with its many ingredients, including chocolate, will be demonstrated and tasted.
Oaxaca is the site of Chocolate Mayordomo where Salvador Flores Concha proudly allows us to tour his factory, a special privilege he offers only to Elaine and to her groups. Plan to stock up on his “table” chocolates which are very hard to find outside of México. While in Oaxaca we will stay at Hostal de la Noria.
This trip is limited to 15 participants. Trip starts in Villahermosa, Tabasco and ends in Oaxaca, Oaxaca.
Cost is $3,100, exclusive of airfare, including connecting airfare from Villahermosa to Oaxaca. Single supplement is an additional $400.
Please email to cul_adv_inc@attglobal.net for more information.
all material copyright 2001 by
Marilyn
Tausend.
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