![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Saturday Word: Molinillo
Dec. 6th, 2014 08:02 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
theidolhands.livejournal.commo•li•nil•lo [moh-lee-NEE-yoh]:
origin: (1700's) Spanish; handmill.
noun
A Mexican wooden whisk, twirled between the palms to add air into liquid. Hand-carved out of one piece of wood, each one is unique.
In the past, it is said that a woman would find a good husband if she could impress his mother with a perfectly frothed cup of hot cocoa -- a molinillo is essential for this. Even still, it's a great deal of work to make something like a cappuccino without machinery, so perhaps her skill at the task symbolized her willingness to work hard and her ability to care.
Nectar of the Gods: previous to this, ancient Aztec's would aerate the vitally important spicy cocoa (sans milk) by pouring it back and forth from great heights. This was done to keep the drink from separating and getting unpleasantly grainy from the more primitive grinding methods of the cocoa bean. Spaniards in Mexico, who grabbed onto this recipe, wanted something more sophisticated for their mixing process, over time they developed this fanciful wooden whisk, but the old world method is still in use!
( recipe for Mexican hot chocolate )
origin: (1700's) Spanish; handmill.
noun
A Mexican wooden whisk, twirled between the palms to add air into liquid. Hand-carved out of one piece of wood, each one is unique.
In the past, it is said that a woman would find a good husband if she could impress his mother with a perfectly frothed cup of hot cocoa -- a molinillo is essential for this. Even still, it's a great deal of work to make something like a cappuccino without machinery, so perhaps her skill at the task symbolized her willingness to work hard and her ability to care.
Nectar of the Gods: previous to this, ancient Aztec's would aerate the vitally important spicy cocoa (sans milk) by pouring it back and forth from great heights. This was done to keep the drink from separating and getting unpleasantly grainy from the more primitive grinding methods of the cocoa bean. Spaniards in Mexico, who grabbed onto this recipe, wanted something more sophisticated for their mixing process, over time they developed this fanciful wooden whisk, but the old world method is still in use!
( recipe for Mexican hot chocolate )
