Coffee and Chocolate

I am falling behind on my posts.  I still have more to write about from our trip downtown LAST Saturday.

After we finished our dinner at the Gran Hotel, we walked a short distance to the old colonial building which used to serve as the headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition and then later as the School of Medicine of the University of Mexico.  (The building now houses the Museum of Medicine.)

That weekend a festival of coffee and chocolate was being held in the courtyard of former school.

The courtyard was full of vendors who were selling, for the most part, products made from chocolate and coffee.

¡Que los Dioses te acompañen!

May the Gods be with You!

In pre-Hispanic times, chocolate was considered the beverage of the gods.  So this vendor has created bars of chocolate that are molded to represent the ancient gods.  He even had large discs of chocolate sculpted in the form of the Aztec "calendar stone".

The wooden tools known as "molinillos" are used to froth your hot chocolate before drinking.

The fellow was selling powders and pastes for making "mole".  Most "moles" have chocolate as an ingredient.

I purchased a jar of salsa made from eight different kinds of peppers along with carmelized cacao.  It was quite spicy but very tasty.