Today I am getting together with a few of my blogging friends, and we are sharing multicultural toys and activities for kids. This was a perfect opportunity to introduce the molinillo to my boys that my sister-in-law got me for Christmas. I had been saving it for a time like this! Before receiving the molinillo I had never heard of it. It’s like a wooden whisk that is used to froth hot chocolate or other warm drinks. The tool originated in Mexico and Central America. You can read more about its history here.
To see what my friends Maria and Kay have chosen to introduce, hop on over to their blogs too!
Maria Magdalena — Living Ideas –The Suling Bambu
A Crafty Arab –An Arabic Wooden Sorting Game
It’s so pretty I almost hated to use it.
Here is the card that came with it to explain the history and craftsmanship of the tool.
My lovely sister-in-law also bought us a disc of Abuelita chocolate too. This was such a simple activity, but so fun!
First we heated the milk.
Next we added the chocolate.
I brought the pan to the table and we took turns trying to froth the milk, with the help of a few videos.
At first we held the molinillo to the bottom, and that splashed the milk everywhere.
After watching this video we realized you need to hold the molinillo towards the top of the liquid. This allows more air to get mixed into the milk from all the open air holes on the bottom of the molinillo.
The froth actually gave the hot chocolate a creamier taste. We tried a cup without frothing, and a cup with.
I highly recommend buying one of these to add to your multi-cultural kitchen utensil collection. I am going to try frothing just milk for my coffee next time.
I will warn you though, it is very tiring! Somewhat like mixing cake batter by hand. It’s not something you would do every day, but makes for a very fun multicultural activity with kids.
