Chaw Popox (Cacao Atole with Foam)

Ingredients

• 80 cacao beans (Theobroma cacao), toasted and peeled
• 1 ncheed plant woody stem, bark stripped — approximately 50 cm long, ~1.3 cm thick
• 10 small pieces Ceylon cinnamon stick
• 1 litre (4 cups) water, room temperature or cool
• Hot atole, prepared separately, for serving

Method

1. 1
   Toast cacao beans over dry heat until hulls crack and separate. Peel thoroughly. Set aside.
2. 2
   On a metate, grind the stripped ncheed stem together with cinnamon pieces until the woody fiber begins to break down into a rough paste.
3. 3
   Add cacao beans gradually to the metate. Grind in, then repeat the full grinding cycle. Complete eight passes in total, until the combined paste is smooth, cohesive, and glossy.
4. 4
   Transfer paste to a deep vessel. Add 1 litre of cool water and mix to dissolve.
5. 5
   Beat the mixture vigorously — by hand, molinillo, or by pouring between two vessels at height — until a dense foam accumulates on the surface.
6. 6
   Scoop foam immediately and place atop hot atole. Serve at once.