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Herbs & Cultures

Cacao in Mesoamerica →Maya healing knowledge →

Cacao drink with chilli and vanilla

Chocolate as the Maya and Aztecs drank it: bitter, spicy and with a frothy head.

Traditional use

Time
10 minutes
Makes
2 small cups
Cacao

Long before sugar was added, cacao in Mesoamerica was a drink: roasted beans, ground and beaten with water, flavoured with chilli, vanilla or flowers. The froth was the most important part and was made by pouring the drink from a height from one vessel into another. This version with warm water and a little honey comes close.

Ingredients

  • 40 g pure cacao mass or 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 400 ml water
  • ½ vanilla pod, split
  • A pinch of cayenne pepper
  • A pinch of ground allspice
  • To taste: honey or agave syrup

Step by step

  1. Heat the water with the vanilla pod until almost boiling.
  2. Remove the pod and whisk in the cacao, cayenne and allspice.
  3. Sweeten to taste.
  4. Whisk the drink frothy with a whisk or molinillo, or pour it from a height into another jug a few times.

Tips

  • A spoonful of maize flour stirred in turns it into a thick drink in the style of champurrado.

Registry

Herbs in this recipe

Read more about effects and safety on each herb’s page.

  • Caution

    Central America and the Caribbean · Food · № 30

    Cacao

    Theobroma cacao

    The seeds are the basis of cocoa and chocolate and contain theobromine and some caffeine. Health claims do not make cacao a treatment.

    Maya healing knowledge+2
  • Caution

    Central America and the Caribbean · Herb · № 222

    Vanilla

    Vanilla planifolia

    Traditionally attributed effects: gives a feeling of calm and comfort; fragrance.

    Maya healing knowledge+3Folklore
  • Caution

    Central America and the Caribbean · Herb · № 161

    Cayenne pepper

    Capsicum frutescens

    Capsaicin from chilli peppers is used externally for nerve pain and joint pain; high-dose capsaicin patches are an approved medicine. Internally it is mainly a warming spice.

    Maya healing knowledge+6Folklore
  • Caution

    Central America and the Caribbean · Herb · № 212

    Allspice

    Pimenta dioica

    The dried berries contain eugenol, like cloves, and give a warm flavour. In Caribbean folk medicine they are used for stomach ache and wind; research is lacking.

    Maya healing knowledge+3Folklore

Cultures and traditions

Where the herbs come from

The herbs in this recipe also appear in these traditions.