Real Hot Chocolate

fx

Fri, 17 Jun 2016 10:02:27 GMT

Sorry I bought it in France I think in Moustiers Sainte Marie.

fx

Wed, 23 Mar 2016 13:34:06 GMT

Not sure where I bought it, I think in France somewhere. But you must be able to find tons of such things on Ebay, most people do not know what it is used for anyway!

fx

Sat, 19 Mar 2016 04:50:35 GMT

Well this is quite an endorsement! Chocolate straight from the tree, intriguing....

fx

Sat, 5 Mar 2016 20:32:46 GMT

Not sure but on Ebay you can find tons of them

Ami

Sat, 30 Jan 2016 09:10:38 GMT

My mom grew up on a farm in the Philippines where her parents grew cacao trees nearby. When I followed your recipe my mom said it tasted just like the "real" hot chocolate she used to drink as a child. Awesome. Thanks for helping me bring back a good memory for her.

Ood Stalcup

Tue, 5 Jan 2016 03:48:17 GMT

where can I purchase the hot chocolate pot?
I think it is so pretty.

Ood

Sun, 22 Nov 2015 22:04:52 GMT

where can I find the hot chocolate serving pitcher as shown on the website?

BeholdersEye

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 15:46:14 GMT

Nothing wrong with the Nestle mix, you just forgot to add the melted solid chocolate bits to complete the drink....

Oh, the only chocolate pot available here (US) is $200 and it"s from France! How inexpensive were you referring to?

fx

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:15:08 GMT

Thanks, I know Nestl� quite well and they don"t make such bad products, but nothing compares to real hot chocolates made with actual chocolate you would eat as a tablet.

Om� Wale

Thu, 8 Apr 2010 23:15:22 GMT

In my country they feed children some "instant" made by Nestle"s that is actually nasty. Of course it has some form of powder milk in it. Just awful.

I do not know who my mother got the taste from, but I got it from her.... that we use Hershey"s Swiss Dark. But we put milk in it; otherwise we think something is wrong. We have been damaged. Damaged by the Americans that lived in the Panama Canal Area.

I once feasted some friends with my version with egg yolk.... just nicely thick, but not too much. Adorably creamy.

Love your expertise and fabulous comments by visitors & yourself.

Om� Wale

fx

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:24:30 GMT

Thanks Carmen I will try ginger and the other ingredients besides cornstarch, which I have seen used heavily (and I mean heavily!) in Spain and I don"t like it so much. If you cook it for yourself you might be able to get away without the cornstarch. In Spain I always fear that my tongue will end up glued to my palate!

fx

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:06:20 GMT

Gracias Maria Jos�!

Maria Jose Baez

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:03:38 GMT

I LOOOOOOVE U!!!!... Call me when whenever u r in Mexico City!!!!!!!!!

carmen

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:38:38 GMT

Hello Francios Hope you are well. I love your hot chocolate recipe! It is similar to the one I make with the difference that in my country (Dominican Republic) we add corn starch (as a thickening agent)fresh ginger, orange peel and cinnamon. We also use water as you do and the chocolate we use is dark chocolate and cocoa. I would love for you to try our recipe and see if you really like it. I am sure you will not be disappointed!!! :-) Hope you have a very Merry Christmas among your loved ones!!!

Ramon Ferreyros

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:33:55 GMT

Hi Fran�ois-Xavier, I am from Peru, I am a professional Translator and a self made Chef (Home)that loves food and eating. I came across your Blog by chance and I think it is probably the best one ever. How can anyone use flour to thiken hot chocolate? Your recipe seems wonderful, I have some Belgian BELCOLADE dark chocolate, will it work?
Congratulations again.
Ramon

fx

Sat, 6 Jun 2009 20:12:27 GMT

Ah yes there are those who thrown in cornstarch but I think this is best left to restaurants. You"ll have better success with my recipe - the traditional one. Have fun!

barbara kralis

Sat, 6 Jun 2009 17:50:46 GMT

I will try your hot chocolate soon. When we were in Turin, we were astonished by their hot chocolate version, so thick that the spoon could stand up in the cup. When we were back home in Dallas, I emailed the consulate, asking them for a recipe of Turin Hot Chocolate, which they gave. They use flour to thicken it, they let it cook for a while to make it thicker. Interesting, eh?

fx

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:58:58 GMT

Have fun with the chocolate! Make sure to use water only, no milk.

Jose Antonio De Las Madres Carioca

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 04:46:08 GMT

I sho like me some of them chocolates. I"m going right now to the neares 24 hour wal mar to buy me all the ingredients. I want to drink that for breakfast every morning instead of coffee, wich stains my dentures.

fx

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:41:21 GMT

Thanks Philk, indeed there are many ways to twist this to one"s tastes, and chili really works fine with chocolate. They even use this combination in traditional Italian confectionery, and god knows how conservative these are!

fx

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:42:37 GMT

Octopod, I will try the Aztec style, I just received a molinillo from a Mexican reader.

octopod

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 01:11:24 GMT

No milk. That"s the way it should be.

Add a pinch each of cinnamon and pasilla chile powders, and leave it in the pot overnight and then reheat (as Colin says above), to really go Aztec style. Theobroma indeed. The stuff is like a drug.

philk

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:39:34 GMT

this may be the world"s best hot chocolate. it"s simplicity is what makes it so complex. i"ve posted a variation of your recipe on my website, adding a small amount of cayenne pepper to support the chocolate. of coursing adding a splash of whisky or brandy doesn"t hurt either....

keep up the great work!

fx

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 16:17:24 GMT

Louise, you can find those pots on Ebay, look for the keywords frother or moussoir. Several online shops sell them as well. The best looking are Moustiers China ones.

louise

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 07:56:35 GMT

Wonderful hot chocolate, just perfect for these cold, dark evenings!
Please could you tell me where you got your chocolate pot from please, or alternatively who it is made by?
I can"t seem to locate one very easily.
I look forward to hearing from you.

fx

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 12:40:07 GMT

Colin, thanks for visiting! I have loads of recipe by the great Pierre Herm�, some probably better suited to tropical climates. You might like his chestnut tart, right up your caramel pumpkin tart"s alley although very long to make!

Colin

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 01:21:32 GMT

Hi FX, I was directed to your site by a mutual friend; and I just had to read the hot chocolate recipe. I remember making some of Pierre Herme"s hot chocolate a year or so ago, and it was worth the effort.

Unfortunately the weather was so hot and humid back home that I never made it again, but now that I"m back in the UK perhaps I can be tempted to whip up another pot by your post.

Awesome pictures and keep up the interesting posts!

Colin

fx

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 08:01:19 GMT

Manu, all roads lead to FXcuisine! I would be very interested to see your homemade chocolate pot, don"t forget to make a lid with a hole on top for the frother...

manu

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:43:24 GMT

This is crazy I got online to get authentic hot chocolate recipe and I see mail from fx cusines on swiss wine tart, as I browse through the site I see "real hot chocolate" whoa!!! It was strange but thanx :) will try it this weekend n probably try making chocolate pot at my studio as i am potter. :) Thanks a ton again!

manu

fx

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 15:40:52 GMT

Ana, sounds like great chocolate you bought in Venezuela, your hot chocolate must have been terrific!

Ana G Csiky

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 11:11:13 GMT

Though, I do not have the "chocolate pot"... I do have 100% Chuao Cacao powder and cacao paste brought from a trip back home in Venezuela. I followed the same recipe hand whicking the mix gently and it tasted like HEAVEN. Thank you for giving me the urge to make it with your gorgeous pictures :)

PS. I also had a laugh with the Evian note... If Evian is evil, I love the gates of hell...

fx

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 06:47:12 GMT

But Jos�, it is adding milk, not water, that requires an explanation. Traditional hot chocolates is made with water, this makes for a lighter drink and offers a direct, intense experience of whatever chocolate you are using. I hear you are into painting, well, when you look at a painting by Liotard or Fantin Latour with a chocolate pot, you can bet they used water. Milk is terribly difficult to preserve and its use was not so widespread before ice and Pasteurization. I hope this helps and feel free to enlighten me about my carravagesque lighting in my last article.

Jos�

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 06:04:01 GMT

Hi there,

What the heck is that ? :-)
With water ?
What about with milk ?
Now seriously, what"s the reason for adding water and not milk ?
If you have time please answer to my mail.

Take care,

Jos�

fx

Fri, 5 Sep 2008 09:40:13 GMT

Helena, I am not sure about the Tim Tam but as for time, I just made this hot chocolates with variations suggested by readers twice in the last few days and it works out to be a quick and very fulfilling dinner. A high "tea" of sorts I guess!

Helena

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 23:19:47 GMT

FX,

I was thinking of bits of roasted and/or caramelized crushed almonds surrounded by a solid coat of chocolate (surely you have Belgium chocolate covered pralines over there?) floating in a warm mug of hot chocolate.

Or alternatively, this just occured to me, another way to have the hot chocolate would be to sip it through a Tim Tam Australian style. Not sure how easy it"ll be to get hold of Tim Tams in Europe though.

Now if I could find the time to showcase, make meals and plan teas on a regular basis, ahh bliss, I"d be all set. Oh well priorities, priorities, priorities. And the endless juggling of them.

fx

Tue, 2 Sep 2008 14:46:51 GMT

Colin, this is a most intriguing comment, I need to try this secondary fermentation of chocolate, sounds like a the �ber-real thing!

fx

Tue, 2 Sep 2008 14:24:32 GMT

Juliet, this hot chocolate is hardly part of any diet plan but definitely one of the better beverages under this sun!

Juliet

Mon, 1 Sep 2008 23:33:47 GMT

Wow, that is elaborate! But, makes me dream about how totally delicious your hot chocolate must have been when the whole creation process was complete.

Colin

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:17:59 GMT

Dear FX;

I must let you know that there is another step to the preparation on an immaculate drinking chocolate. I learned of this from the sage epicure Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin during some group study of his work.

�"When you wish good chocolate, make it the evening before in a tin pot. The rest of the night gives it a velvet�like flavor that makes it far better. God will not be offended at this little refinement, for in himself is all excellence"� (The Physiology of Taste, Section X).

Believe me, a night to mingle makes a world of difference. Better yet, I find it most enjoyable about 3 days later after some fermentation of the beverage has transmuted the flavor into something otherworldly. (Readers should note that cocoa beans are fermented before they are used to make cocoa powder or chocolate, and this secondary fermentation is nothing to fear. After all, there are no ingredients in the recipe that can spoil or promote harmful bacteria)

Also, try replacing some of the white sugar with a lacing of raw honey. The earthy sweetness is much more complex, and it highlights subtleties in the cocoa as well.

Regards, and enjoy,
Colin Gore

fx

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:27:17 GMT

Luke, I also use bitter chocolate in some of my meat sauces, a little quantity goes a long way and it doesn"t turn it into a mole but really works well with some dishes.

Luke

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:35:48 GMT

I"m not much of a sweet tooth, so I don"t normally keep things like chocolate stocked, save for the darkest chocolate for savory dishes (bitter somehow brings out the umami), but next time I"m out to buy it, I"ll get one with a higher proportion of cocoa butter. I imagine it would make it a bit richer, much in the way whole milk is richer than skimmed milk.

fx

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:16:50 GMT

Luke, I"m glad this worked for you! Maybe you should try to make two cups, one with your hard-core 99% cocoa chocolate and another one with a 70% cocoa content chocolate and tell us the difference? All I know is that the rest should be cocoa butter, a tasteless fat separated from the raw cocoa beans. Perhaps this makes the hot chocolate more silky?

fx

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:14:17 GMT

Hazelstone, thanks for your kind comment. Last time I used an Evian bottle in a recipe some freak pooped on the article, which made me wary of the Church of the Unbottled Water. But I think there is a big difference, I only use mineral water and not spring water. Ours sometimes tastes chlorinated whereas I love Vittel and Evian. Didn"t know about the plastic though. Thanks for visiting!

fx

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:09:37 GMT

Helena, thanks for visiting! Using chocolate truffles (pralines are caramelized crushed almonds I think) might work, if it does it would really be a coup against established French pastrymaking principles! A nice chocolati�re is not really like a cooking utensil that you need to store but never use, you can showcase it and make meals or "teas" for your friends centered on this. As for the diet impact - take it one cup at a time!

Helena

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:06:44 GMT

Hmm ... now I"m wondering how this would taste like if it were made with Belgium pralines and cocoa powder.

All this talk about how chocolate should taste, when it is made properly, reminds me of the mood evoked in Chocolat. It is a movie about a woman and her daughter who opened a chocolate shop in a small French village. Yes, yes don"t mention the French to someone Swiss, I saw that response. ;)

Your website is going to either make me fat or end up with a very cluttered collection of specialized cooking gadgets, likely both. :P

HazelStone

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:52:14 GMT

Not everyone who opposes bottled water was raised without manners. If the spring is located near you, the environmental effect is roughly the same as tap water. However, you are likely exposing yourself to nasties that leach out of the plastic. My concern is out of love.

Brilliant as usual.

Luke

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:34:00 GMT

I could"ve sworn cocoa powder is unfermented, whereas proper chocolate is fermented. I"m probably wrong on that.

In any event, I figured I"d go ahead and make the recipe anyway and make the drink with my 99% cocoa chocolate. It turned out thin and bitter, but rather quite delicious (not unlike a supermodel, I suppose). I did have to cut a corner and use a coffee pot and a whisk, but I"m sure the result is at least comparable to what I"d get with a chocolate pot.

fx

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:10:21 GMT

Callum, isn"t it amazing how people warm up and like you when they see a foreigner who knows the specifics of their food culture? It"s amazing the street cred you get just by asking people about a certain ingredient or a certain tool. In India I had a man from a shop walk with me to the market and bargain the price down (he was definitely not a hawker) then help me carry a huge grindstone. Glad you liked the article!

Callum

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:23:48 GMT

This reminds me of the time in Mexico several years ago looking for a molinillo in one of the markets. The happiness that came across everyones face when asking if they had any was approximately the same as the excitement I had when reading this piece. Unfortunately the molinillo I bought is much too large for anything but the most indulgent hot chocolate party, though it is an interesting item in my kitchen which very few people can divine its purpose. Not traditional I know but I often throw my hot chocolate in a blender (warm the carafe as you would the pot) for froth that is thick and lasts quite a while. Once again you have squandered much of my morning. Thanks.

fx

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:20:44 GMT

Michigan, ah the power of smell and taste over memory. The day they fully explore our brain they"ll find a whole grocery store up there. I don"t know for the croissant, but you can prepare much better hot chocolate and strawberry jelly than they serve in Paris brasseries" right in your home!