After a recent trip to Cebu, I realized there were three types of tableas in our pantry, so I decided to compare them… First and foremost, let me state that I love artisanally produced ingredients, and will patronize them as much as I can. There is just something so pure about something made by a person/persons, often with great skill, experience and soul… So regardless of my comments on this post, I strongly recommend that readers choose to buy local tableas for their hot chocolate, before they opt for the easy way out which is to buy canned cocoa or other pre-sweetened concoctions in their local groceries. This is about getting back to basics, experiencing cacao near its purest form, and we are lucky to have a rural tradition (albeit slowly disappearing) of having our own hot chocolate from scratch. I was very surprised by the noticeable differences in color, flavor and consistency among the three tableas…

To “normalize” the comparison, I carefully measured out exactly 30 grams (using a sensitive kitchen scale) of each type of tablea and put them in a mug. For the Binondo tablea, that was under 2 whole pieces, and for the Camiguin tablea, a little less than one paper bag individual serving. Next, I added one cup of whole milk, scalding hot, to each cup and used three different batidors/batirols/molinillos to mix and froth up the cup of hot chocolate. I did NOT add any sugar or any other ingredients at this stage so that only the chocolate tablea was the distinguishing factor between samples.

All of these samples of tablea were apparently sugar free, and I assumed made of pure cacao beans, roasted then smushed into a paste and formed into tableas. The first thing I noticed from the different tasting glasses was the color of the milk. If you have told me beforehand that the color alone would be dinstinctive, I don’t think I would have necessarily believed you. The La Resureccion tableas from Binondo yielded a very milk chocolate looking hot chocolate, it is on the left in the photo above and below. The argao tableas yielded the darkest milk, but it also looked murky and grainy. The Camiguin table shards yielded something in between…

Taste wise, I was partial to the smoothness and sophistication of the one on the left. But I can see why others would like the strong grittiness and rawness of the center cup. The cup on the right was somewhere in between, but tasted a bit less chocolately than the other two. Think of the cup on the left as a refined cup, the one in the middle more Batangas barako, and the one on the right a mix of the two. If I had to pick one, my preference would be the one on the left, but having said that, any of the three with good milk/cream or sugar would still make a nice cup of sikwate…

Boy, let me tell you, all that sipping of unsweetened hot chocolate had serious bowel movement implications! Better than dulcolax I would imagine! Hahaha. But at any rate, what was the perfect pairing for an outrageous early morning snack with unsweetened hot chocolate? How about several SUPERB polvorons and pastillas de leche that were sent to our home as a thank you for the jams and jellies we provided for the Roxas-Sanchez wedding? These were from the same batch served at the reception and they were delicious and beautifully wrapped. And as MF writes in the comments section of that previous wedding post, it seems they also used the jams/jellies in the modest evening reception at the Bahay na Puti. :)

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