It was raining in Masatepe.  That wasn’t unusual. After all, I was visiting Nicaragua during the rainy season or more optimistically, “green” season.  I had spent most my time of the two hour ride on the chicken bus wondering what I was going to do when I arrived, and now I had my answer: run for the nearest shelter.  A kindly bookstore owner in Granada had directed me here, to the supposed nerve center of Nicaraguan candy, but I had no idea where to actually find the sweets.

I’d heard rumors from fellow travelers of kindly grandmotherly candymakers, one or two in each small Nicaraguan town making the occasional coco rosada or cajeta.  There were no candy factories or museums in Nicaragua, so I’d imagined attaching myself to one of them to get my candy fix: learning how to make the traditional candies while I practiced my Spanish at the same time.  The only problem was finding someone who would actually let me watch them make candy proved difficult.  Everyone selling dulces on the street swore their mother made them in her home fresh every day, but when I’d pressed for details - times and locations for possible visits - they became increasingly vague or just told me that a visit would NOT be possible.  Even Francesca, whom I spent many lazy Granadan afternoons with chatting and drinking juice, told me that I “wouldn’t want” to see her make candy as it was very boring work. This trip to Masatepe was a long shot, but I hoped the candymakers there would be more open to a clueless, bumbling foreigner watching them.

While waiting for the rain to lesson in Masatepe, I saw my opening - a young women carrying a toddler while keeping a close eye on a display of brightly-colored, handmade sweets.  There were alwways local Nicaraguans (often children) selling juice, imported candy, soda, or baked goods near bus stops, but this was one of the first times I’d found local sweets.  Sure enough, she was able to point me in the direction of the Dulceria Chepita.  I followed her directions and eventually zeroed in on the small house with a nearly hidden sign advertising dulces.  Amazingly, the women selling sweets there were open to my visiting to view the candymaking process, so I arranged a meeting early the next day.

***

The first thing I note in my journal the next day is:  “It is roasting in here.”  There are several campfires burning, smoke rising to the tin ceiling, the walls blackened by soot and spotted with hardened sugar.  Giant metal vats of milk, coconut, and sugar boil over open fires, watched closely by Domingo, a short, thick, shirtless middle-aged man.  He uses giant wooden paddles to stir the thickening cajeta and the sugary sweet pink-colored coconut chunks.  He is dripping in sweat.  A fly lands on his shoulder: the air is thick with them, crawling over candy cooling in a corner and dive-bombing the fires.  I’m avoiding the bees, taking pictures of the vats then stepping back to avoid the hot air and occasional sparks. Surprisingly, with all the boiling sugar, coconut, and milk the dominant smell is that of woodsmoke.

This store is only fifteen years old (although based on family traditions many years older.)  After all, it was difficult to make money selling candy during the war.  Domingo works for about nine hours a week boiling the candy, then his female family members take over, forming balls and bars out of the still cooling sweets and wrapping them in styrofoam and plastic for sale or distribution throughout Nicaragua.

The coco rosada (pink coconut pieces boiled with sugar and then hardened) tastes good fresh - soft, sticky, and sweet.  Of course, all candy here in Nicaragua is sticky and sweet: cajeta and sugared pineapple and coconut especially.  Domingo continues watching all of the pots, then picks a few flies out of some milk for the cajeta.  A dalmatian licks himself in the opposite corner, laundry is hung out to dry near the cooling candy, and two young children play nearby. I understand why I might have had trouble finding a candymaker to visit: I doubt this operation would come close to meeting FDA standards!