“Chocolate sin queso es como amor sin beso, chocolate without cheese is like love without a kiss.”

It was fascinating researching this as part of our world studies unit on Colombia and delicious to try. This drink is an essential part of Colombian culture and often served for breakfast with arepa. It is an incredibly rich drink and worth noting that the cheese they use is Colombian queso campesino or queso doble crema; note these fresh cheeses are very different to something like our Kiwi block of yellow Colby featured in our quintessential mince and cheese pie.

Colombian Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

• Stick(s) of dark chocolate
• Full cream milk
• White cheese

Those are essentially the ingredients; you can flavour with cinnamon and cloves if desired. Amounts will vary depending on how much you are making; I used about 1 sante bar, 1 cup full cream milk, and about 1/4c mozzarella. While delicious, I’m aware that it’s not quite the same cultural experience as I’m using my local ingredients.

Directions

1. Warm the milk almost to a boil; watch closely and whisk.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until fully melted.
3. Drop some mozzarella cheese into your cup and pour hot chocolate over the top.
4. Let the cheese melt a little and enjoy!

Tip: In Colombia, they use a chocolatera and a molinillo for warming the milk and frothing the chocolate. Lacking these, I used a small pot and a whisk.