Longo Mai

Hola todos!

I know I haven't written in a while, I've been crazy busy with my lit. class that ended last week and starting my internship this week (more on that to come).
This weekend I visited Finca Longo Mai with Alfonso and his family. Longo Mai is a community of Salvadoran immigrants who grow various crops in what was originally going to be a co-op. This weekend was an amazing experience and I had a lot of fun talking to doña Edith, who is in charge of tourism at Longo Mai.

while I was there, I made a friend

On Saturday we went on a hike around the 'finca' (farm) and I ate a termite (kind of a weird taste wood mixed with mint), as well as the meaty stuff surrounding a cacao seed.

The green pod has the seeds that I ate
the meat off of, the yellow one is riper and
 better for drying the seeds

how to eat a termite: disturb the nest, lick your finger and
grab one of the termites that comes out to see what happened,
stick it in your mouth and swallow (too small to chew)

On Sunday I learned how to make chocolate.

Once the seeds/beans are dry, cook them until they are uniformly dark brown

 Once they are all dark brown, let them cool, and grind them.

Doña Edith is the one adding more seeds to the grinder.

The result is a paste that is a bit bitter since it is pure cacao. After we finished grinding the seeds, I went to church, and while we were gone, doña Edith made the paste into little patties of chocolate. Doña Edith made us hot chocolate before we left and it was super good, and I got to bring home some of the chocolate for my host family to enjoy.

Hasta luego!

Caylyn Anne