We all associate cacao with chocolate bars, desserts, and sweet drinks. But across different cultures, cacao has long been used in different ways.
1. Chocolate con Queso (Colombia)
In parts of Colombia, hot chocolate is commonly served with a side of fresh white, salty cheese. The drink is usually made with traditional chocolate tablets, containing cacao, sugar, and sometimes spices. These tablets are dissolved in milk or water. What people do is they add pieces of the cheese into the hot drink, so it softens, and then it’s eaten with a spoon.
Seems strange, but the salty/sweet combination tends to work well. This is generally consumed at breakfast or as an afternoon snack.
2. Mole Poblano (Mexico)
Mole poblano is probably the most recognized traditional use of cacao in savory cooking.
It’s a brown sauce that generally includes:
- Dried chili peppers
- Spices
- Nuts or seeds
- Bread or tortillas
- A small amount of cacao
Cacao is not present in all mole recipes, and when it is used, it’s added in small quantities. It does not make the sauce taste like chocolate at all. It simply adds earthiness, bitterness and depth, helping integrate the other ingredients.
Mole is typically served over meats such as chicken or turkey, with a side of rice. This use reflects pre-Columbian traditions, when cacao was not associated with sweetness.
3. El Submarino (Argentina)
In Argentina, there’s a traditional way of making hot chocolate called El Submarino (“the submarine”).
Instead of using cacao powder, they place a chocolate bar in a cup of hot milk. The chocolate gradually melts, and the drinker is in charge of stirring and controlling the intensity of their drink. It’s named a submarine due to the chocolate bar sinking into the milk! (Argentinians have a great sense of humor).
This drink is commonly made at home and found in coffee shops. It’s more popular during the colder months.
4. Horchata de Morro (El Salvador)
Horchata de morro is a Salvadoran drink that contains cacao as one of the main ingredients.
It typically has:
- Morro seeds (from the jícaro tree)
- Sesame seeds
- Rice
- Cacao
- Spices (such as cinnamon)
This mixture is ground into a powder and then combined with milk or with water. Although cacao is not the dominant flavor, it does contribute with bitterness and a strong aroma, which balance the nutty and starchy elements.
5. Tejate (Oaxaca, Mexico)
Tejate is a traditional, old drink from Oaxaca.
It is made from:
- Cacao
- Maize (corn)
- Mamey seed
- Flor de cacao (also known as rosita de cacao; it’s an aromatic flower)
The ingredients are ground into a paste and then mixed with water to produce a thick, foamy beverage. It’s usually served cold and with a thick layer of foam on top.
6. Champurrado (Mexico)
As you can see, Mexico has always been big on cacao. Champurrado is another traditional Mexican beverage made from:
- Masa (corn dough)
- Cacao or chocolate
- Water or milk
- Spices (such as cinnamon)
It’s basically your standard hot chocolate, but with an extra thickness to it due to the corn dough. It gives it a porridge-type consistency. People generally drink it with a side of tamales. It’s commonly served for breakfast, or during gatherings or celebrations.
7. Licorice and Cacao (Nordic Countries)
In countries such as Iceland and parts of Scandinavia, chocolate is often paired with salted licorice. This combination is even seen in commercial products; that’s how popular this flavor is in these regions.
The pairing highlights very strong, contrasting flavors: the bitterness from the cacao and the salty licorice.
This is a much more modern development compared to the Mesoamerican traditions mentioned above, but it’s still a pretty well-established and unique flavor profile.
What These Traditions Show
Across all these examples, cacao is not used in isolation. In some cases, it’s only added as a background ingredient. But, it provides us with a more complex view of cacao, not just as a dessert but as an ingredient that has been applied for hundreds of years and has become part of various culinary traditions.
By combining it with grains like maize and rice, seeds like morro, salty cheese, milk, chili and spices, it shows us how versatile cacao can be. Cacao is so much more than chocolate!
We love seeing how cacao adapts to each culture, becoming part of how people eat, gather, prepare food, and live their daily lives in their own environments, no matter how different they are from each other. Cacao unites us all.