Sciscenti was uniquely qualified to plunge headlong into what has become a true obsession. After earning a college degree in environmental studies from Evergreen State College, he worked as a baker and then an herbalist. Although he says there are a handful of other major chocolate scholars in the country who meticulously research what the Maya and Marie-Antoinette preferred, Sciscenti claims he is the only one who actually re-creates those drinks. Among the nearly two dozen elixirs on his menu are the Aztec Warrior (unsweetened chocolate, herbs, flowers, nuts, vanilla, and pasilla de Oaxaca chiles), the 1644 Spanish (evaporated cane juice, almonds, hazelnuts, roses, Ceylon cinnamon, vanilla, and red Chimayó chiles), and the 1692 French (cane sugar, cloves, Ceylon cinnamon, vanilla, and culinary essential oils of ambergris and musk).
Sciscenti is perplexed that other lecturers on the subject—he speaks at conferences ranging from the BookExpo America to Columbia University’s Botanical Medicine Conference—drone on abstractly about such an obviously visceral subject. He always mixes a couple of jugs to take along to his talks. “I can lecture for three hours and still not cover everything,” he says, “but the audience doesn’t get it until they taste it.”
The chocolatier also leads chocolate-obsessed clients on tours of cocoa’s heartlands. Last year he guided a small group through the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, sampling cocoa and the myriad spices that flavor ancient concoctions. This year, in conjunction with the Maya Exploration Center, he plans to co-lead trips through Oaxaca, in October, and Veracruz, in November. Along the way, he will dispense historical tidbits about the elixir: For instance, some scientists theorize that Mesoamericans were experimenting with chocolate as long as 10,000 years ago; and the first sugar-sweetened chocolate drink was probably made by Cortés’s men when they transported sugarcane from Cuba to Aztec Mexico.
In addition to its historical value and visceral taste appeal, chocolate, says Sciscenti, has myriad health benefits: It is micronutrient-rich and acts as an antioxidant, antilipidemic, antihypertensive, and anticarcinogenic. Sciscenti also relates that new research shows dark chocolate even contains significant amounts of “polyphenols and flavonoids, which have been known to stimulate the body’s processing of nitric oxide, a compound critical for healthy blood flow and blood pressure that also inhibits the buildup of cholesterol.”
Back at Kakawa, as his guests finish their cups of chile-chocolate elixir, the one benefit Sciscenti need not elucidate is the extraordinary sense of bliss the substance brings. It’s difficult to say whether the euphoria is chemically induced or if the happiness derives from simply having the inside of one’s mouth coated with chocolate.
As if on cue, a female customer sticks her head into the kitchen and snaps to no one in particular, “Can I just get a couple of chocolates?!”
Sciscenti was uniquely qualified to plunge headlong into what has become a true obsession. After earning a college degree in environmental studies from Evergreen State College, he worked as a baker and then an herbalist. Although he says there are a handful of other major chocolate scholars in the country who meticulously research what the Maya and Marie-Antoinette preferred, Sciscenti claims he is the only one who actually re-creates those drinks. Among the nearly two dozen elixirs on his menu are the Aztec Warrior (unsweetened chocolate, herbs, flowers, nuts, vanilla, and pasilla de Oaxaca chiles), the 1644 Spanish (evaporated cane juice, almonds, hazelnuts, roses, Ceylon cinnamon, vanilla, and red Chimayó chiles), and the 1692 French (cane sugar, cloves, Ceylon cinnamon, vanilla, and culinary essential oils of ambergris and musk).
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