Chipotle Hot Chocolate Kick and a Protest Playlist

Drink, listen, and then get out there and join the movement!

The Story

My childhood and young adulthood were shaped by a continuous river of liberation and anti-war movements, of genocides and occupations, and of protest music.

The poor people’s movement, the Black civil rights movement, the Black power movement, the anti-Vietnam war movement, the anti-apartheid movement, the farm workers’ movement, anti-Thatcherism, Nicaragua, Chile, Cambodia, Palestine, Lebanon, Rwanda, Congo, the Gulf and Bosnian Wars. I’m sure there are more.

Some of my most indelible memories are of driving down from Philadelphia to Washington, DC to go to protest marches with my mom and her friends. She would dress unusually conservatively with a little strand of pearls around her neck just to show the powers that not all the protesters were “kids.”

Music always accompanied other forms of protest. I went to a progressive kid’s summer camp where we belted out songs by Woody Guthrie and Joan Baez and attended live Pete Seeger concerts. I had memorized probably a hundred protest songs of various genres by the time I hit my 20s. We were dancing to Free Nelson Mandela and Whine and Grine/Stand Down Margret. And all the punk was coming around. More protest.

Now we are in a different time, a heartbreaking time, a heart-opening time. A death of illusions is underway along with the brutal genociding of Palestinian civilians before the eyes and ears of the entire world.

And more and more people in the world are sick of the impunity with which a few countries and a handful of privileged actors wreak havoc on our lives and our planet.

This recipe and this music are for you. We need energy to keep going, we need energy to bring about change, and we need music to accompany and inspire us. And if energy sometimes comes in the form of hot chocolate, I’m good with that!

The Energy: Gerald’s Chipotle Hot Chocolate Kick

Gerald was a friend of mine. He devoted his life to doing good for others. He was born in Cuba and then moved with his family to Puerto Rico. We both loved to cook, and we shared recipes, especially recipes involving plantains. Gerald died last year, and I know he would want me to pass this on. I’ve preserved the recipe in Gerald’s own words.

Ingredients

My hot chocolate drink recipe (aka Mayan Hot Chocolate, aka other names only known by close friends) [My note: we can only guess what those names may have been!]

• 1 dried chipotle chili per 12oz of liquid (water and milk combined)

• 1 stick of cinnamon

• Best quality cocoa powder you can get (Mexican if you can find it)

• Dark agave nectar (I know, I know. Use Demerara sugar if you prefer)

• Sweet corn kernels, pan roasted (optional)

• Milk (any kind)

• Heavy cream for whipping¹

Instructions

1. Open chipotles, remove all seeds.

2. Boil water, then add chipotles and the cinnamon stick.

3. Remove from the stove, and steep for 5-10 minutes, depending on how spicy you want it.

4. While that’s happening, make some unsweetened whipped cream.

5. Strain out the chilis and stuff.

6. Add the cocoa or Mexican chocolate to the spiced water, as dark as you can make it. Whisk well.

7. Add agave or sugar, tasting as you go, so it is balanced with the chili and the cocoa.

8. Warm up the milk-like stuff at this point and add to the pot.

9. Add a few roasted sweet corn kernels, not a lot.

10. In the bottom of each serving cup, add some whipped cream.

11. Pour the hot cocoa on top of the whipped cream.

12. Enjoy!

The Music

This playlist is a collaborative project of our spiritual community, Jaya Kula. Listen and then get out there and join the movement!

Want more? Please join me and the Jaya Kula community for satsang & kirtan every Sunday at 3:00pm Pacific. Come in person to 1215 SE 8th Ave, Portland, OR, or join Jaya Kula’s newsletter on Substack to get the Zoom link for satsang. You can also listen to my podcast—Satsang with Shambhavi—wherever podcasts are found.

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1. I have to admit that after promising you Gerald’s actual words, I edited a bit here. Gerald’s final ingredient (deleted by me) was Tequila. I quoth: “Tequila (optional but not really). Add Tequila dammit.”