The Christmas season is a time for Santa Claus and pine wreaths and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. There are performances of the ballet, or at least the suite, all around. It's fine music, of course, but the plot isn't exactly a page turner. Girl gets nutcracker, girl defeats mouse king, girl gets prince, girl and prince watch dancing and more dancing.
Several of the dances are based on sweets, which one might get at Christmas time, and the countries from which they are sourced. Like coffee, which is associated with Arabia, and so has dancers dressed like residents of a harem. And chocolate, which as everyone knows is associated with...Spain?
Well, yes, not so much anymore, but after Cortez brought chocolate beans back from Mexico (er, New Spain) chocolate was a big Spanish product. Churros served with hot chocolate are a traditional dessert in parts of the country. Hot chocolate has been part of Spanish culture since the mid-1500s. Although it evidently lost favor after the Spanish Civil War (i.e. early 20th century) , and coffee supplanted it.
(Can't go here without also mentioning Chantico, a short-lived chocolate drink available at Starbucks in 2005. Good, thick, rich....like espresso but made only with chocolate, maybe a bit much if you weren't an Aztec king.)
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