Category Archives: Elixirs

Belize, Elixirs, Farming, Food, Our Products, Plants, Uncategorized

A New Year!

January 4, 2022 Munchkin

A Happy New Year to you all! Let’s make 2022 a good one!! We started off on the right foot this year by planting peanut on the last day of the year and we had a big rain yesterday which will hopefully ensure that the peanuts will sprout. The January rains are usually the last rains before dry season so we are trying to get things into the ground this month. I have a few left-over pictures from last year that I would like to share with you.

For Christmas, we decided to buy a local chicken from the village. These chickens are much prized and go for about $5/lb (compare to shop bought Mennonite (battery reared) chicken that goes for about $3/lb). Apparently the Chinese really like it too and drive around the villages buying up all the chickens to eat. When I received the chicken, it looked like a pheasant with very long bones. It wasn’t fat and plump so I decided it would not make a good roasting chicken. I thought that the best thing to do was to make it into a curry in order to tenderize the meat. So, we had an impromptu Christmas Curry this time! Look at the bones on this chicken…

I was a bit concerned about the texture of the chicken and was anticipating very chewy meat. However, the curry tenderized the meat very well. The meat was flavoursome, tender and had the perfect bite. It was a very nice surprise…I wanted to show you a close up picture of the meat…it looks like game…

See…it is not white like poultry meat. Anyway, it was delicious and we would definitely buy local chicken again. This is completely different from the super soft chicken that you buy in the supermarket. This has taste!! Here in Belize, the Mayans like to use this chicken to make Caldo; this is a soup made with annatto, culantro and other spices. I think the Chinese (in Belize) boil it into a medicinal soup with Chinese herbs.

It has been cold this winter (18C/64F) so we had the pleasure of mulled wine for Christmas. Of course, we made it Belizean style with herbs and spices that we gathered from the farm. This year, we used the following: sorrel (roselle), all-spice, cinnamon, cardamom and orange peel.

We have had some winter harvests as the farm keeps on producing generously. Presently, we have long gourds growing on trellises. This one is a Sicilian gourd which can grow up to 5 to 6 feet. When it is completely mature, it hardens and looks like a very long baseball bat. This gourd is very tasty…I like it steamed or cooked in stir frys.

The next picture shows a Python Bean. It can grow to about 6 feet long but has a curled look to it. The outside skin is striped. It tastes like a very large long bean. It has a nutty taste and I like it best raw in salads in order to preserve the crispiness of the texture. This is definitely another winner and we will be planting more.

I will leave you with a picture of a passion fruit flower. We planted these from seed about a year ago and they are now producing. I am hoping to make Passion Fruit Elixir from this harvest. Our Elixirs are made from from a base of white rum, muscovado sugar or cane sugar and herbs and spices. In this case, it will be made from fresh passion fruit pulp!

Wishing you all a Lovely Day. Make it a good start to 2022!!

Belize, Elixirs, Farming, Plants

What Happens To January?

January 20, 2018 Munchkin 2 Comments

What happened to January? We are more than half way through already!! Despite this, we are still doing our New Year’s greetings…maybe it is just us because we don’t see people that often. Anyway, there is always work to be done and there is never enough time to do it all. I have been catching up with harvesting; what we both hate is leaving stuff on trees and watching them drop to the ground. Today, I harvested the sorrel (roselle). I have to admit that I feel very lazy when I think about these because you have to sit and take off every single sepal. My problem is that I don’t like sitting down and this task forces me to be sedentary.

You have to remove the sepals from the pods:

Seed Pods Separated From the Sorrel Fruit.

These are the sepals all nicely cleaned up:

It is however very satisfying once it is all done. This year, I am making Sorrel Elixir (liqueur); I am making two versions: one has very little sugar and they other is more syrupy. I think that the sugary one will do very well poured over ice-cream and desserts. The colour is really amazing when you see the sorrel infusions. It looks better than this in real life.

But then it gets very dark as it matures:

Once it is mature, it tastes a bit like a sherry.

Here is the sepal picture again just because it is rather beautiful!

Have a lovely day!!

Belize, Elixirs, Food

A Few Useful Items…

April 2, 2016 Munchkin

Another.Munchkin.Ugly.Monster A while back, we received a few interesting and useful gifts from a visiting friend. Since a lot of these things can’t be found in Belize, I’d like to go through them (if you will allow me to indulge). Good quality items are hard to come by in Belize so we were really pleased to receive this stuff.

This is a “MicroPlane” zester. If you make limoncello, you will understand why this one is a God-send. Previously, we used a sharp pocket knife to pain-stakingly zest lemons and limes for our Elixirs. I am not trying to be an advertisement for this little gadget but it I can now remove the zest from a lime (sans pith) in less than 60 seconds!

Great fun in the kitchen…

We have been looking for a cherry pitter for years. I made the mistake of asking somebody from North Carolina to purchase one for me and he replied with:

“Down South, we don’t have no cherries to pit!”

At that point, I made the realisation that Northern America was a very big place and I had to look further north for a cherry pitter! Anyway, this one is for pitting suriname cherry (a sweet red, ridged cherry with a distinct resinous taste) in Belize.

Yes, you can get vegetable peelers in Belize but they are your usual Made In China Piece of Crap (MCPC, for short!). Yes, I am going to rave on about a potato peeler of all things because so far, after peeling about 22lbs (10kg) of Cassava it’s still intact!

The last item is a bottle of Absinthe which we had never tasted before. It boasts a complexity of herbs which we thought would be interesting. However, for our personal tastes, we would have liked it better if it was bitter because we like the taste of wormwood. This particular brand has a very strong anise flavour ;)…Hic!! Thanks For The Gifts!!

Amusing, Belize, Elixirs, Our Products

More Elixir Tastings…

March 23, 2016 Munchkin 1 Comment

Liqueur.Tasting.Together

We have been busy little bees frequenting Cotton Tree Lodge with our Elixir offerings. As usual, the crowd starts off meek and quiet and as we proceed, they start getting rowdier. Here is a picture from last week…there is a leg up in the air…I took it as a good sign!

Last night we had the pleasure of hosting the Taza Chocolate based in MA, USA. They were a very interested and inspired group; this lot took the tasting very seriously and even used napkins to help determine the colour and clarity of the liqueurs.

Even the big bossie Chris Crowell joined us last night:

The favourites always vary from group to group. This time, the Balam Spirit was much appreciated for its unique nutty and spicy aroma.

Another clear favourite was the Passionfruit Elixir noted for its subtle floral and fruity components. A few of the group members were intrigued by its apparent aphrodisiac properties…

Belize, Elixirs, Our Products

More Apothecary Pictures.

March 7, 2016 Munchkin

Munchkin.Kimono.Table I have updated The Apothecary section of our Website and finally (it has been more than a year) put in the following pictures:

This is our Body Salt Scrub range available in lemongrass, lavender, passionflower and ylang-ylang scents. The scents are all made from plant extracts or essential oils.

Here is the Foot Spa Range which is also available in the same scents. These foot soaks are ideal for soothing tired or swollen feet or used as a natural anti-fungus (Athlete’s Foot) remedy. Or you could just use it as a relaxing treat!

Last but not least, here is a picture of our Chocolate Velvet range which is available in original, orange, mint and all-spice flavours:

All labels are designed by Gnome, printed out here in the middle of the bush and pasted by yours truly. These are Authentic 100% Munchkin and Gnome products. Be aware of “Made in China” Cheapo copies!! 😉

Amusing, Belize, Elixirs, Our Products

Elixir Tasting With Dandelion Chocolate.

February 24, 2016 Munchkin

Liqueur.Tasting.Together On Monday evening we had an Elixir Tasting with Dandelion Chocolate, a company from California. Greg D’Alesandre heads the group every year at Cotton Tree Lodge. This year’s tasting was much the same with general fun, laughs and disruption (of course!) from Greg. We attempted a “controlled brawl” under medical supervision (Ha-Ha!). 😉

Here are some pictures (sorry the “flash” on my phone is quite non-existent).

This is Greg intensely scrutinising an Elixir:

The Elixir Tasting was a success. Our gauge was the general noise level and Drunken “I Love You, Guys!!”

The Cacao Fruit Elixir was of great interest to everyone since the group are here specifically on a chocolate tour. Greg kept on murmuring about a Fireball Whisky and Ginger Ale all through the tasting. Apparently he thinks that the Lemongrass Elixir goes very well with ginger ale. And the Fireball…hmmm…not sure if that was just an obscure comment about the cacao liqueur?!

Belize, Elixirs, Our Products, Soap

Apothecary Pictures.

January 26, 2016 Munchkin

Odd.Together.Shot

Hello Everyone. This is a late post for me but I decided I had to keep the Blog going to bring the traffic in!! I have noticed that if I don’t write for about three days, our viewing statistics go down. Anyway, we found a whole load of missing Apothecary pictures stuck in a nameless file in the computer. We have downloaded them and I will be sticking them in the appropriate places in our website very soon. Meanwhile, enjoy our picture gallery!

Chocolate Swirl Soap. Hand-made with Toledo cacao and coconut oil.

Our Chocolate Mint Body Wash is made from coconut oil castile soap (totally detergent free) which lathers up very nicely. A must for any chocolate lover out there!

The Lemongrass Foot Spa is great for tired, achy feet. It also acts as a natural deodorant and anti-fungal so it can be used for Athlete’s Foot.

If you feel like treating yourself, why not go for a 32oz (1 litre) Elixir?

Luxury Cacao Butter Soap is one of our new offerings for 2016. Very indulgent with a creamy lather…lovely!!

If you want to see all this stuff plus lots more, please have a look at The Apothecary.

Belize, Elixirs, Our Products, Plants

Elixirs at Cotton Tree Lodge.

January 14, 2016 Munchkin

Elixirs.Passion.Cacao.Roselle

We had an Elixir Tasting last night at Cotton Tree Lodge with a small group of six. The lodge is having a Chocolate group at the moment so we set the mood for the night by starting with Cacao Fruit as the first tasting. This was interesting because it was a new batch and we were curious as to the response from the group.

In this batch, we actually increased the sugar content in order to balance the astringent qualities of the cacao bean. The result was a mellow, well-rounded flavour with a definite rich chocolate taste. Overall, the group found this elixir complex, interesting and unique.

This time, we talked more about the medicinal properties of the Elixirs. It was very clear that the Cacao Fruit had mood-lifting and stimulating qualities as the night proceeded! This one got every-one into a talkative and lively mood.

By the end of the tasting, it seemed that the clear favourite was the Grapefruit Elixir. This one is actually three years old and the maturation process brought out such interesting flavours! It was a complex combination of pears, apples and honey. Very silky smooth and unctuous and it had a lovely clear golden colour.

It just goes to show that aging a liqueur makes all the difference. Most of the Elixirs that we have available are about 2 years old now and getting better.

Again, it was amusing to see the response towards the Culantro Elixir…you either love it or you hate it!!

Culantro is used interchangeably with cilantro in this country in cooking. This herb lends a herbaceous refeshing taste to our Elixir. Some people absolutely love it because they like everything with the taste of cilantro (culantro). Others wrinkle up their nose in dismay and describe it as being “too soapy” or “too medicinal.” The feedback is always very helpful!

Liqueur.Tasting.Together

For more information on our Elixirs, including taste profiles and medicinal properties, check out our link. For our full list of Elixirs please check out The Apothecary.

Belize, Elixirs, Our Products

Elixirs Page Is Up!

October 23, 2015 Munchkin

Hello Everyone!! The Elixirs Page is up and ready for you to read. There is an introduction to our Elixirs giving general information and there are also detailed profiles on five of our liqueurs. The Ginger Elixir is a brand new one for the season.

Check out the New Pages:

About Our Elixirs.

Elixir Profiles.

Metaphorically speaking, the Elixirs are the bottled essence of our Joie De Vivre!

Belize, Elixirs, Fermentation, Food, Our Products

It’s Cacao Picking Time!

May 7, 2015 Munchkin

April and May are the months for collecting mature cacao pods here in Belize. Today, we harvested a whole lot of pods; they come in all shapes and sizes and colours:

Here is a picture of an opened cacao pod:

The white pulp around the seeds is edible and has a sweet aromatic, acidic taste to it. For the actual chocolate making process, the seeds/beans are fermented with the pulp and dried out in the sun (for up to 7 days). Fermented cacao beans at this stage are shipped by container loads overseas to be processed into chocolate.

We use cacao in many of our products; one of the main ones is Cacao Absolute which we are know selling as a product in The Apothecary. We use this essential oil in our soaps, body oils, massage oils and body sprays; for more information on how we make this check out Making Chocolate Essential Oil.

We are collecting the fresh cacao beans to make Elixirs (or liqueurs). This is a favourite with the chocolate connoisseurs. This is what it looks like initially:

This is on Day 7; look at the spectacular burgundy hues!

The Cacao Fruit elixir requires time to mellow out and develop the complex layers of taste of cacao fruit and bean. The beans will be removed soon and thereafter it is left to sit to allow natural sediment to sink down to the bottom. Every two weeks, the liquid is siphoned into another glass jar so that the sediment can be discarded. There is a lot of work required in creating clarity in this product. We will probably make a batch of about 5 gallons of this which will be ready in about 12 months time. The best things come to those who wait!

Casa Mascia Apothecary