CHOCOLATE - EH, CHOCOLATE - MEXICANO, CHOCOLATE-FILIPINO

I've been bringing Mexican chocolate (for drinks) to the Philippines, and my friends have thoroughly enjoyed this drink. Filipinos are chocolate drinkers. When I was small, my mother used to buy chocolate tableya (tablets)and make chocolate drinks for us. For years, she used to send me tableya to the U.S., sometimes with great trouble. I told her not to bother when I discovered Mexican chocolate in California supermarkets: Ibarra, Abuelita, in the Mexican section usually, in bright yellow packaging.

The way I cook my chocolate, I simply add canned evaporated milk - 1 can per 1 round Ibarra tablet - and that's good for 3 cups, more or less. My friends here detect a cinammon flavor and some of them are totally addicted. Today my cousin (who had a taste last night) asked about the chocolate I had served.

The best recipe is to use 1/2 Mexican chocolate and 1/2 local Philippine chocolate (from Batangas or whereever). Philippine chocolate is pure, with a lot of uummphh, and when you mix this with the milder Mexican chocolate, you get something very tasty, something with "more personality."

Here in the Philippines, you can find chocolate tableya in supermarkets, in the baking section, I believe. The problem is you won't find Mexican chocolate here in the Philippines, so you have to get a friend in the U.S. to send you some.

This half-Filipino, half-Mexican chocolate drink is best served with local Filipino delicacies as puto, bibingka, suman, etc. Truly, it's a feast for a king, or queen.