Food - Drink
Mexican Chocolate Discs Are The Ingredient Your Pantry Is Missing
By ERICA MARTINEZ
Everyone’s pantry is usually filled with things like pasta, stock or broth, rice, oils, and flour, but a product you might not consider are Mexican chocolate discs — a chocolate from Mexico that resembles a hockey puck more than a typical bar. The round blocks of chocolate are studded with sugar and have shallow indentations for easy cutting.
Mexican chocolate is made from cacao seeds, which are fermented, dried, shelled, ground, made into a paste, mixed with flavorings, and then molded into shape. It also contains plenty of sugar in its unadulterated form, although the sugar isn’t dissolved because there is no addition of extra fat, making these chocolates very gritty.
Mexican chocolate can be used in both sweet and savory dishes, like Mayan hot chocolate, Mexican mole, chili, and any dish you want to make less bitter; however, the chocolate has to be grated as it doesn't melt. Popular brands of Mexican chocolate discs include Nestle's Abuelita and Ibarra, but there are several more you can find online.