During the cold days in January as we missed going outside, children and educators engaged in conversations about what things they enjoyed doing when it was cold. Theo mentioned that he liked drinking hot chocolate and Colin F and Colin B agreed to that. Nidya shared that she also liked hot chocolate not only to drink it during cold days, but especially when it is raining. She also explained that the way she makes and eats her chocolate was a little different from what they were probably used to. After a brief explanation, the children seemed intrigued about the Colombian way to make hot chocolate.
Later on, as Nidya and Mary were looking into this year’s calendar to see what special days we could celebrate in the room, they noticed that January 31st was the International Hot Chocolate Day. This gave them the idea of celebrating this day by having a taste testing between Canadian and Colombian hot chocolate. They wondered if children would be able to notice the difference between the two drinks and if they would prefer one of them, or would it be the same as if it was just chocolate.
On Friday January 31st after rest time, children and educators set up the tables and chairs in a different way to all have snack together. Since Colombian Chocolate has to be cooked until the chocolate bars melt and the milk boils, Nidya did this part by herself in the kitchen and brought it in the room with the ingredients to make the Canadian one.
As soon as Theo saw the cart with all the items on it, he asked as loud as he could, “where are the marshmallows?" This took Nidya by surprise as that item was never brought up during the previous conversations. So, sadly there were no marshmallows for this taste testing.
After a short explanation from Nidya about what we were going to do and the steps to follow, we started by taking turns filling the kettle, to boil some water. Zander, Nina and Hannah were in charge of this part; when the kettle was ready Charlotte had the honour of turning the kettle on. Then children used their math and fine motor skills to count, measure, and mix the sugar and the cocoa in a bowl. Maddie shared that she liked the smell of the cocoa as she poured some in the bowl. Rose and Charlotte tested some of the cocoa powder that fell on the table, but based on the faces they made; it seems they didn’t like it.
We set the powder mix aside waiting for the water to boil, and then began to prep the other items for the Colombian style. Using a butter knife, we cut the cheese in small pieces and also cut the bread. Eliya pointed out that the cheese was hard to cut while the bread was soft. “Why do we need cheese?” Rowan asked. Nidya explained that in her home country they put cheese inside the cup then they pour hot chocolate in to melt it and to later eat it with a spoon.
By now, the water for the Canadian Chocolate was ready so we proceeded to mix it with the cocoa and sugar and added milk to cool it down. Children tried this one first. Some comments of approval were made and Theo gave it a thumb up.
Next was the Colombian one; to finalize this one, we need to use two old fashioned kitchen gadgets: a, “chocolatera,” (aluminum pitcher) and a, “molinillo,” (a wooden whisk frother). We put the round end of the frother in the bottom of the pitcher and rolled the handle quickly between our hands as if trying to start a fire. The chocolate would froth up the sides of the pitcher, but the tall round shape that tapered near the top keeps the chocolate from splattering over. This step is to make sure the chocolate is mixed perfectly and to create foam before it is served.
Beside the cup with the drink, Nidya gave each child a teaspoon, a piece of bread, and some cheese cubes. She explained that the bread could be dipped in the drink to eat it, or it could be broken into pieces to put in the hot chocolate and be eaten with the spoon; the same goes for the pieces of cheese, they could add it to the drink or eat it like that. At the count of three, children took a sip. Most children shared how much they liked this one; Nina said she loved it as she took another sip, Colin F finished his in no time and asked for more, Brodie shared that she liked the cheese in it and Theo gave it two thumbs up. Finley, Antonio and Rose shared that they didn’t like either of them, but they liked the bread and the cheese.
So which one won the taste testing? It seems children liked both, but when they were asking for seconds, they would point to the Colombian chocolatera (pitcher). Nidya thinks that they liked it more, or it could be that this was the only one that came with bread and cheese. Did they favour that one because of the yummy chocolate taste or the extras?
