It all started with a visit to Old Mission Santa Barbara in late January. CA has 21 beautiful missions dotting the coastline from just north of San Francisco down to San Diego and even if you don't LIKE old buildings, you'll probably find something to enjoy on the the visit. The missions vary in size, but the hill-top ones I've visited in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara have mini-museums with exhibits on building materials and strategies and the inhabitant's day to day lives.
You might think that this has very little to do with a recipe, but I LOVE food. And I'm ALSO equal opportunity. So, as I was reading about how Lincoln signed the order which returned the Missions to the Catholic Church after some corrupt Mexican governor leased the land out to private parties, all I could think about was Mexico. And how it was sunny but chilly outside and Mexicans make REALLY good hot chocolate and MAN. I needed to make some Mexican Hot Chocolate.
So, I sweetly bullied Alyssa into letting me pick this week's recipe theme. Which wasn't very nice of me considering I know that it costs like $14 for a single cherry in Tokyo. And cherries are MUCH more universal than SPECIFIC, REGIONAL CHOCOLATE PRODUCTS. If you haven't read Alyssa's account of a journey to a scary store and lots of wishing to acquire a reasonable substitute, you should probably do that RIGHT NOW. So that you can accurately COMPARE AND CONTRAST.
The hardest part of my journey to pick up Mexican hot chocolate was parking. And that's only because the urban planner who decided on the parking lot layout for my local Safeway/Trader Joe's market area probably just has a very low IQ or a very skewed idea about how cars work. It took me about 13 minutes to get a spot, but then I went inside and LO! Two full aisles of international products! I was starting to think that I had equal access to JAPANESE products at this point (probably not- no cookies and cream Kit Kats in sight)- but nothing made me feel like a spoiled CA foodie than spotting this:
Yes, folks. That IS an entire section of BRITISH FOOD PRODUCTS. Cadbury! Aero Bars! PG Tips! I love and respect all foods, but I think we can all agree that I live in a VERY special place when I can get lemon curd FROM BRITAIN for my tea within 2 miles of my house.
Carla mentioned Mexican hot chocolate over gchat the other day, and I immediately began craving it. There's something so comforting about the combination of rich milk chocolate, warm cinnamon, and fragrant vanilla. We chose it as our first recipe inspiration even though I knew that it would be difficult to find Mexican chocolate in Tokyo. But I could always add those flavors to plain chocolate to improvise, right?
That wasn't necessary, though, since Carla is a Google godess. She found a few Latin food import stores in Tokyo that were coincidentally within walking distance of my apartment. I'm pretty sure that the first store I went to was the front for a drug ring, since the shelves were practically empty and the sole employee looked quite surprised to see customers. The second attempt was much more successful. The store was located in the same building as the Peruvian Embassy in Tokyo, and its specialty is Peruvian and Brazilian food. I found a Peruvian brand of chocolate with cinnamon, clove and vanilla. Score! Now, what to make?
A mousse? Maybe a pudding? Meh, uninspired, and not far enough from Mexican hot chocolate. Caramels? I didn't have the patience at the time, even though they're one of my favorite treats. I wanted something fairly easy but still decadent. Which led me to. . . heavenly bread pudding. The crisp, caramelized top. With a warm, custard center. Topped with cold, creamy ice cream. I asked my guinea pig husband if he would change anything about it for the next time I make it (because there WILL be a next time. And not just because I bought three times more chocolate than I needed). His very serious response was, "The only thing I would change is MORE."
