We all know that tamales in Costa Rica are a huge tradition, especially during Christmas time, usually tamales are made with pork or chicken, and additional ingredients of course, but there’s a new type of tamal, a unique type: chocolate tamales.

These tamales are elaborated by Costa Rica’s Sibu Chocolate company , which early this year actually took the silver medal at the International Chocolate Awards ceremony and was also awarded for their outstanding contributions to the chocolatier guild by the Fine Chocolate Industry Association for the establishing the first cocoa educational program carried out in Costa Rica.

The chocolate “tamales” are basically made with a butter cookie covered in dark chocolate topped with different ingredients, such as cashews and cranberries. The delicious chocolates are then wrapped in a paper that simulates plantain leafs.

“When my associate and I studied the art of making chocolates in Italy and Belgium, we were taught how to make chocolate Santa Clauses and snowmen, and we’ve always tried to be innovative, I couldn’t bring myself to making snowmen in a tropical country and when we were on the plane on the way back here I told my associate ‘tamales, let’s make tamales”, explained Julio Fernández, owner of Sibu, in an interview with +QN show.

Sibu has a small restaurant in San Isidro de Heredia (Phone: 2268-1335) and a chocolate store and coffee shop in Plaza Itzkatzu where you can buy the tamales and all other chocolate products.

Sibu works with organic chocolate and the process is entirely done in Costa Rica. . Sibu also offers at their site daily tours.