chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...
tablet, syrup, or powdered mix in individual packets, made by
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...
and used to make Mexican-style
hot chocolate
Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener like whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate ...
, also known as ''chocolate para mesa'' (English: "table chocolate"). It was originally invented and commercialized in Mexico in 1939, by Fábrica de Chocolates La Azteca. The name is an affectionate
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
word for "grandma" (literally translated as "little grandmother" or "granny"). Since 1973, Mexican actress
Sara García
Sara García Hidalgo (8 September 1895 – 21 November 1980) was a Mexican actress who made her biggest mark during the "Golden Age of Mexican cinema". During the 1940s and 1950s, she often played the part of a no-nonsense but lovable grandm ...
has been the image for the brand before the Swiss company acquired it in the 1990s.
Overview
The chocolate usually comes in round tablets that can be split into 1/8 or 1/4-disc wedges and melted into the milk. The product ingredients (in order of percentage): sugar, chocolate processed with alkali, soy lecithin, vegetable oils (palm,
shea nut
''Vitellaria paradoxa'' (formerly ''Butyrospermum parkii''), commonly known as shea tree, shi tree (), or vitellaria, is a tree of the family Sapotaceae. It is the only species in the genus ''Vitellaria'',illipe nut), artificial cinnamon flavor, PGPR (an emulsifier). Abuelita has been a Mexican staple product for more than 60 years, and can be identified by its unique taste and packaging.
One suggested method for preparing Abuelita is to bring a saucepan of milk (not water) to a boil, add the tablet of chocolate and stir continuously with a whisk or '' molinillo'' (a whisk-like wooden stirring spoon native to Meso America) until melted and bubbly or creamy. The drink is served hot or chilled to mix with alcoholic beverages.
Abuelita is often prepared for special occasions, such as
Day of the Dead
The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...
(a holiday in which people remember their family and friends whose spirits departed to the afterlife) and
Las Posadas
''Las Posadas'' is a ''novenario'' (an extended devotional prayer). It is celebrated chiefly in Latin America, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and by Latin Americans in the United States. It is typically celebrated each year between December 16 and ...
(Christmas season).
See also
*
Champurrado
Champurrado is a chocolate-based ''atole'', a warm and thick Mexican beverage. It is prepared with either '' masa de maíz'' (lime-treated corn dough),'' masa harina'' (a dried version of this dough), or corn flour (simply very finely ground d ...
, Mexican hot chocolate
*
List of chocolate drinks
This is a list of notable chocolate drinks. Chocolate is a processed, typically sweetened food produced from the seed of the tropical ''Theobroma cacao'' tree. Its earliest documented use is by the Olmecs of south central Mexico around 1100 BC. ...