The Eighth Deadly Sin

By Candy Hisert

Is chocolate sinful? For many people chocolate is a guilty pleasure. It can be a symbol of temptation, too. There are plenty of desserts called “Death by Chocolate” and “Chocolate Decadence.”

For the Maya people chocolate was divine. Back in the Seventh Century, the Maya worshipped a very evil looking god, God L, who controlled the sale of cacao and made it a sought-after luxury. The cacao bean is the chief ingredient in chocolate

Here is God L on a chocolate pot. The old goat is surrounded by five young babes, who serve his every command. You can’t see the girl who is mixing his chocolate because God L is about to satisfy a different appetite. Look closely. No wonder we associate chocolate with evil!

For the Maya, Cacao beans were cash. One bean would buy a hungry Maya a tamale, and 100 beans would buy a pig! Cacao beans or replicas of beans like these carved shells were buried with Maya kings so they could buy whatever they needed in the afterlife.

Maya chocolate was like nothing we drink today. The Maya dried the cacao beans, which would then be roasted, ground with chili peppers, sweetened with a little honey, and then mixed with water. This drink would not be heated. It was swirled in a large ceramic pot and served at room temperature. Often the pot’s lid was in the shape of a monkey because monkeys were the greatest threat to the cacao crop. Monkeys loved to eat the beans, and yes, that is a necklace of cacao pods that the monkey wears in the picture.

Today Maya chocolate finds its way into recipes in many Mexican restaurants. Not-so-sinful is the classic mole sauce that combines dark chocolate with chili, cumin, and other spices. In this instance a chef stuffed enchiladas with duck and a mole coloradito, a mole with tomatoes and red chilis. The garnish is a light Mexican cheese.

However, for those who want sinful chocolate, nothing beats Oaxacan chocolate budin. One bite of this lighter than air pudding, and you’ll get down on your knees and thank God L for his legacy.

Candy Hisert lives in Berkeley, California, within walking distance of a chocolate shop.

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