Cacao preparation — traditional Oaxacan stone grinding

Oaxaca, Mexico — pre-Columbian cacao preparation; the most direct link to Mesoamerican drinking chocolate tradition

Traditional Oaxacan chocolate preparation involves roasting cacao beans, removing their husks, and grinding on a heated stone metate (or at the local molino) until the cacao liquor flows. Sugar, cinnamon, and almonds are added during grinding to produce a thick, aromatic paste — Mexican chocolate. This paste is used for champurrado, atole de chocolate, hot drinking chocolate, and as a component in moles. The stone grinding produces a rougher, more rustic texture than industrial chocolate — with visible spice and nut particles throughout.

Rustic, aromatic, cinnamon-spiced, sweet — quite different from European dark chocolate; warmer, less bitter, more complex through spice