Endangered Species Chocolate with Maca Powder (Note: if you buy this bar it will be bigger. I just ate three squares.)
When I went to the store yesterday, I looked carefully through the chocolate section to find the most interesting bar. The winner at my local store was Endangered Species Dark Chocolate with Goji Berry, Pecans & Maca. Clearly, this bar won because of the maca; I had no idea what maca might taste like and I wanted to know. I vaguely remembered hearing about maca before, back when I was a student at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. But that was five years ago.
Maca is actually a root from Peru, one that was consumed as far back as the Inca Empire when soldiers ate maca to increase their strength. Maca root is also thought to improve libido and increase overall energy (apparently, the Incas were forbidden from using maca after they were done fighting because it increased their libido too much). Discovery Health says Peruvians use maca in many foods, from cookies and cakes to porridge and blender drinks, and that it tastes like graham flour. Churin, Peru even has an annual Maca Festival to celebrate the root.
The first and second pages of a Google search on the history of maca and chocolate shows several natural food sites that have recipes for maca combined with cacao liquor, cocoa powder, or cacao nibs, and maca seems to be most often used in making shakes. That’s probably because it’s often sold as maca powder in the U.S. (you can also buy it in capsule form).
So what does the maca powder add to the Endangered Species chocolate bar? I get a very, very faint whiff of graham flavor, a taste I couldn’t have identified without reading the Discovery Health article. But there’s definitely an earthy flavor there, even though it’s subtle.
By buying the maca bar, you will also be supporting the Spider Monkey, endangered because it inhabits the rain forests in Central and South America.
There are also a lot of great recipes for raw organic maca, some with chocolate on this website:
http://www.raworganicmaca.info/recipes/
For an amazing article on Raw Chocolate, I recommend visiting this website. Really cool.
http://healingvibes.com/news/raw-food-recipe-truly-raw-chocolate-bar/
A woman after my own heart to eat some of the chocolate before getting it photographed.
I find endangered species chocolates have higher acidity than some bars.
@Pearl: You dig into the chocolate right away too, huh? I don’t have the willpower to wait! Honestly, I eat chocolate chips far more than chocolate bars, so the Endangered Species bars may be acidic and I didn’t realize it. Sounds like a good excuse to buy a couple of bars of chocolate and do a taste test though!
I like the endangered bars, but lately I’ve been making my own chocolate – raw. It’s super easy once you know how. There’s a few good recipes out there. Just google it.
@Devon: I’m impressed with anyone who can make their own chocolate, and raw chocolate would be a fun experiment. Are there any recipes you recommend?
Yes you are right! Maca is more famously known for being a powerful aphrodisiac, libido enhancer, and fertility supplement. So it;s a good thing to be one of your ingredient supply.
Taking Maca powder (check the link for more information regarding maca http://www.hidalgofoods.com/organic-maca-powder-p-7.html) over a year ago. This product really AMAZED me. I heard a lot of good benefits that Maca can do especially in our skin. My skin was clear and glowing.
Another great thing that I didn’t expect that my energy boost up. I just felt so clear-headed and stable and motivated. I get a lot done when I’m taking maca. It has a very strong taste like vanilla malt but it really taste better when I mix it into my chocolate smoothie every morning.