NOT JUST ANOTHER WHITE CHOCOLATE: The Power of Jaguar Cacao

I never really liked white chocolate growing up: have always been a dark fan. The first time I got to taste “tejate” in Oaxaca is what changed my mind. This delicious beverage is creamy, sweet and exotically floral. I have yet to see it anywhere other than Oaxaca City (Ciudad de Juarez)

WHAT IS JAGUAR CACAO?

The Zapotec descendants of Ciudad De Juarez and throughout Oaxaca, Mexico have been preparing the frothy white beverage, Tejate for millenia. Tejate is a proprietary blend of toasted mamey pits, rosita de cacao (a flower unrelated to cacao), toasted masa, sugar, water and most importantly “pataxtle.”

Pataxte: Theobroma Bicolor

Pataxte, sometimes known as “balam” or “jaguar cacao,” is a member of the Theobroma genus (which also includes our well known friend, Theobroma cacao.) Theobroma bicolor is a comes from a white-ish green fruit that somehow resembles a jaguars fur (hence “jaguar cacao.”) The raw seeds taste creamy and slightly leguminous (think soy nuts or unroasted peanuts). When roasted and mixed with cocoa butter, toasted coconut powder and a bit of sugar, jaguar cacao makes a very convincing (and better) plant based white chocolate.

Earlier this year we were able to get a supply of jaguar cacao from Chinantla, Mexico through Chocosol Traders (based in Canada) and released this first plant-based “dark” blonde chocolate. By “dark” we are referring to the fact that we are using 15% jaguar cacao. So with a really loose interpretation of the US definition of dark chocolate then (15% cacao liquor or more), our White Jaguar chocolate bar is technically a “dark chocolate,” even though it is blonde in color. Kinda cool right?

SO WHAT IS “BLONDE” CHOCOLATE AND IS IT CHOCOLATE?

Usually blonde chocolate is made with caramelized milk powder, cocoa butter, sugar and usually some kind of emulsifier to keep everything together. Othertimes, blonde chocolate is made from caramelizing finished white chocolate (which also caramelizes the fats of the cocoa butter and the sugar). Blonde chocolate generally tastes a lot more delicious than your typical white chocolate but is still fundamentally the same, relatively nutrition-less food product that we've all grown to either love or hate.

As a chocolate maker, its very easy to eat TOO much dark chocolate (it is indeed a stimulant). This is why plant based white (or Dark Blonde) chocolate has turned out to be a good alternative for me when I’m not really needing all that stimulation. I don’t do much dairy and it’s nearly impossible to find a good dairy free white chocolate.

So have you tried Blonde chocolate? Have you tried chocolate with Jaguar Cacao? If you’re not typically a fan of white chocolate, these options might be good for you!

Sources:

https://chocosoltraders.com/pages/mexico

https://thenewgastronome.com/cacaos-unlucky-cousin/

https://www.maya-archaeology.org/Mayan_anthropology_ethnography_archaeology_art_history_iconography_epigraphy_ethnobotany/pataxte_pataste_pataschte_Belize_Mexico_Guatemala_Honduras_sacred_flowers_fruits_religion_cacao_chocolate_Theobroma_bicolor_balamte_jaguar_tree.php