10 NEW TRENDS IN CHOCOLATE,

Life is tough out there for all of us. Some people consider it frivolous of me to keep on blogging about chocolate. Well for lots of us, both those who produce chocolate and those that eat chocolate, life is still has some joys. Christmas may not see turkey on our tables, but there will be chicken at least and chocolate pudding at the end.With glasses of home-made wine. It is going to be sustainable years for chocolatiers from 2009 on. Chocolate trends that have begun in a small way during the last decade are favourably gathering momentum.

1) Chocolate is being less regarded as a snack. It is now being respected as a food. There is no need to elaborate of the nutritional and health benefits of chocolate, they are already well known. Large companies like Nestle and Mars have very responsibly begun to move with these trends. In time manufacturers will make demands on suppliers to provide types of chocolate that are aimed at the "chocolate-food" market.

2)Artisans are becoming a major force in chocolate. Artisans with "there are more horizons" atitude are leading the trend rather than those who are mired down by traditional and dour thinking. Artisans in the US are taking the lead. The grouping of Art Pollard, Shawn Askinosie, Alex Whitmore(Taza)DeVries, Alan McClure(Patric) will undoubtly grow in numbers and in setting some exciting trends. Surely Tim Childs, Pierre Marcolini, Ramon Morato(Chocovic),Michael Cluize among others will soon join the ranks. I hope they let Clothilde Dusoulier join too for being, if not a pure artisan, the best looking chocolatier in the world.

Here in Indonesia there are a small group of artisans producing some great chocolate too. We have vast potential to grow in numbers and skills using our own resources.

3)The focus of the cocoa BEAN will shift from the Americas and Africa to South East Asia. And I hope to even parts of north Australia.From Vietnam to the Northern Territory of Australia to Vanuatu,lies vast unexplored resources for great cocoa. There are no less than half a million plantations within this area. The soils and climate of this region undoubtly produce some of the best flavours and sensations waiting to be discovered. The adventure of discovery of cocoa is endless. I hope the artisans from the United States, and Europe, with pack their rucksacks and come here. Let me assure you that in this area there are no adverse issues on Fair Trade nor Child Labour. You can go searching with a clear conscience.

4)Premium Chocolate segment is growing. Though now only 10 percent of the total chocolate market and about $12.9billion in value, Nestle estimates that it will soon grow to $14 billion. Growth of premium chocolate in 2007 over 2006 was 18%. Premium chocolate is steadily encroaching on and influencing the mainstream. In effect this means that mainstream will have to seeks news ways to convert chocolate from a snack, often frivolous, to a god healthy food. The Food Services industry will also be demanding not just great taste, but also great goodness and suitable credentials.

5)That Belgian chocolate is the best in the world will be relegated to the book of myths. The widely held belief, particularly among the Swiss, that Swiss chocolate is inimitable will be of no consequence. European chocolate with have to revent itself with a promise of "adventure" in every bite.Verona is sitting too contentedly on its laurels and Lindt has caught the "drift" and making some tentative forays.Spain is the exception and continues to show flair and passion.Having brought chocolate to Europe in the 16th century they have the responsibility to revent chocolate for the rest of Europe.

New Tree says it's Belgian Chocolate. Thought it has broken away from the dour traditions of Belgium Chocolate and have launched a very innovative range that may point the way to the future of marketing and even pricing chocolate.

6)The next artisans will be adventurers. They may be Asian or others. For Asians the good beans, exciting beans, are in their own backyard. The experienced and adventurous Americans, must expand their horizons. Some merely have scratched the surface in Asia-Pacific.But pottering around is not real adventure and often results in inaccuracies or simply with convenient stories.But at least it has been a tentative poke into the unknown.

7) Innovation, some of which was seen at the recent HIE show in Paris, is the next big word in chocolate after Adventure. Natra, of Spain has made some early entry inby adding Omega-3 and fibre. Conveniently Natra owns 50% stake in the Natraceutical Group. There is a promise of more to come, not just in health aspects but also in tastes and flavour surprises, or all three.

8)Should cocoa continue to be classified as Criollo, Forestero and Trinitano? Or should we start classifying cocoa,rationally, according to origin? Is Criollo still to be consdered as the superior bean? The debate will begin and my guess is that we go will go the wine way.

9)Mainstream chocolate will become smaller, chunkier,milk rich or cocoa rich, healthy of course, nutritious and need-occassion targeted(as opposed to youth-occassion targeted).Natra-Natraceutical type alliances may help. Appeal not just to the mouth but also to the intellect.

10)It will all begin at the farm.With happy,coco-wise, chocolate-wise,farmers. Farmers admit to being somewhat intimidated by the "big guys".So this is precisely i where farmers,artisans, the small bakers, horeca,home industries,smaller processors and manufacturers and others can all work towards interesting, involved and personalised relationships.

11)There is one more. Start a trend. Get your children interested in becoming professional chocolatiers rather than lawyers and bankers.There could be money in it as well as the immense possibility of them growing up to be good people too.

CHOCOLATE 2008

This year was really a year of outstanding Chocolate events. New artisans joined the community. New innovations appeared on the shelves. New beans were discovered.New plantations, in new territories, began their first yields. New findings on how good chocolate is for you were tentatively revealed. Athletes at the Olympic Games, Beijing, were fuelled by chocolate. Chocolate Boutiques opened in the thousands. Experts claimed that chocolate would remain immune to the global crisis.These Blogs have been recording the progress since June 2008.

It seemed as if a lot of territory had been covered since the beginning of the year. But more arrived. Vosages launched NAGA which incredibly combined, believe it or not, Indian Curry, coconut and mik chocolate. It wasn't the only bar Vosages launched. There was also among others Mo Bacon Bar, Enchanted Mushroom,Habana.They were I was told, received with great enthusasism by chocolate aficionados.A 120 gm bar sold for around $8.00.Pity the CEO of Ford, GM and Chrysler wont not be able to afford it.



Here in Indonesia, we experimented, successfully, with chocolate banana and cassava crisps, chocolate tempe wafers, chocolate tofu, with ingredients added on like salt, cardamon,green hot chilli,pepper,palm sugar,fragrant cloves and so on. We also tried chocolate with asparagus and mushroom. And during a school function served anchovie paste on disks of white chocolate(served ice cold). Our strategy has been two fold: first,chocolate is not for flavouring, it is the main ingredient. Second, use or fond the best ingredients available locally.

Dommique Persoone, who owns one of the three chocolate shops, to be awarded Michelin Stars,calls himself a shock-o-latier. I will leave it at just that.

In Tawau, a little town on the island of Borneo(Malaysia) has experimented chocolate powder with Chinese cooking: chocolate noodles, chocolate fried prawns, vegetable stir fry with chocolate and so on.I have been invited to sample more and readers of this Blog can read about my adventures in Tawau after the New Year.

Actually none of this should come as a surprise. Chocolate composed of the five "precious tastes", Sweet, Bitter, Astringent, Umami and Sweet would logically be able to combine universally. The Chinese, a thousand years or more developed the Five Spices powder. The magical powder that would render the blandest of dishes into a treat for the palate.The Punjabis, in India, have their own version. On the other side of the world, 3000 years ago, the The Olmecs discovered chocolate.

Another movement recognised in 2008,was change in the classifying of the chocolate "target market." It has been a tradition is assume that the main consumers of chocolate were teenagers or "youth". Many advertising agencies cling to this belief because it is easy to pander to.Times are changing. Chocolate eaters cannot be classified by demographics or psychographics. They are merely chocolate lovers enthralled by the adventure, taste and experience of chocolate.

Those loosely termed as "youth" has moved away from "chocolate". They are different from the simpler youth of say, 15 years ago. You don't find the youth of today stalking up and down the confectionery aisles of hypermarkets. In fact you hardly find "youth" in hypermarkets or supermarkets. These are not the places they hang out.

The chocolate consumer may ten years old or a hundred and ten.They take great pleasure in the discovery and enjoyment of chocolate and occasionally sharing it. They are not enticed by swirling, streams of chocolate on television. Nor do they connect with gambolling about the countryside or occupy themselves in pretty and inane pursuits that advertising agencies think are "youth fun." Chocolate has become an intellectual adventure through the medium of taste.Many are mysterious journeys to be indulged in.

WHAT ON EARTH IS FRUIT TASTE STONE CHOCOLATE?

It exists and is produced, I am told by a reliable source in Guangdong, China, in Hainan Island. It was not clearly described to me, so I cant really enlighten myself and the reader any further. The same company I am told also produces another confection, chocolate coated sunflower seeds. And the chocolate comes from plantations in Hainan. Which again was a surprise, because I had no idea that there were cocoa plantations in China.

Hainan is off Guangdong, is southern China. The Hainan province is really over 200 islands in the South China Sea. The largest, some 34,000 sq kilometers(about the size of Belgium) is the one that produces a whole range of tropical crops:rubber, coconut, coffee, pepper, cashews, pineapple, bananas, vanilla, longans, lichees, jack fruit, caramblas, lemon grass, lots and lots of rice and of course cocoa. About 20 to 30 tons a year, I am told.

The soil is volcanic, well watered by four long rivers and rainfall is around 1500 to 2000mm a year.The center of the island is mountainous. The highest Mount Wuzhi rises nearly 2000 meters. Temperatures and humidity in Hainan is a little low for truly luscious chocolate, I suspect. But no doubt the soil will make it interesting. I am trying to find out more.But it is good to know there are still surprises waiting to be discovered.

Incidentally I am told that the world famous Hainan Chicken Rice is unknown in the island.I am devasted!

THE NEW COCOA BEAN! FROM AUSTRALIA?

The great thing about chocolate is the adventure you can taste. As it melts in your mouth the mysteries of Madagascar, Java, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Venezuela fill the recesses of your mind. What pictures you see, what sensations you experience and what thrills stimulate you. It is not the taste of chocolate that makes us addicted to it, it is the journey it takes on. During the personal chocolate experience we get high with a touch of the Indiana Jones or Laura Croft fever.

It will be exciting indeed one day if we can venture through a chocolate vision into the monsoon jungles of Cape York, Australia or hack our way through the northern edges of Australia"s Northern Territory.Australia is a perfect place for a new cocoa bean to emerge from. In fact not far from Port Douglas, near Mossman, are the first ever cocoa plantations of Australia. These plantations are on the edge of the Daintree Rainforests.

Daintree Rainforests should not be spoken in the same breath as other rainforests. Daintree is the oldest in the world. It celebrated its 135 millionth birthday recently. It was forged out of volcanic explosions, fires, cyclones, climatic changes and everything Nature could think of.

Daintree is about 1200 square miles. Size of 5 Singapores. Cape York is just a little smaller than Sulawesi(the largest cocoa region in Indonesia with about 400,000 small farms). At one time historians say, there was probably a land-bridge between Sulawesi and Australia.Which probably explains why Sulawesi and Maluku(lots of good beans here too) share some the flora and fauna with Australia. The Wallace Line runs through Maluku.

This is a perfect place for a new breed of bean to emerge from.The country has from Cape York in the north-eastern edge. westwards along the tip of the continent's northern coast the hot and humid conditions that cocoa trees thrive on.Tropical cyclones and monsoons bring rain to this region. The soil is ancient and mystical--ask any of the Aboriginal people that live there. The area bristles with excitement.

Daintree is home of the viscous Cassowaries and the tree kangaroo. There are also many patiently waiting crocodiles. It was close here that Captain Cook"s Endeavour struck a coral reef. So he called the place Cape Tribulation.

Cape York, is on the same latitude as Madagascar where some intriguing beans come from. It is also within the belt of the primary cocoa growing regions of the world.

Cape York is a World Heritage site. So is the great Barrier Reef across the road, as it were. Coco plantations can help create forests and propagate them. It can grow with harmony with the fruits already being cultivated in the area. It will not encroach into ecological balance of that environment.

Down south are the incredible resources that Australia has that perhaps no other cocoa rich country possess. First its severely applied laws make it very unlikely that flora or fauna diseases can sneak into the country. Second the country has extremely innovative scientific and intellectual resources to support the science of cocoa breeding. Thirdly it has the food technologists and world class culinary stars that can surely take chocolate to great new heights, especially when they are inspired by their own beans. Already Australian chocolate artisans like Cocoa Farm are inventing some delightfully new cocoa experiences.

Fourth, Australia will have no problems with issues like Fair Trade or Child Labour.You can buy beans here without feeling any guilt. Lastly, and I think it is important, Kevin Rudd is Prime Minister. The man undoubtedly has courage, vision, the intellect and is innovative.A man with a face, where a chocolate smear will not be out of place. It is bound to trickle down, or up, to chocolate and cocoa. I am sure he will be around through many, many yields of cocoa pods.

Perhaps what Australia lacks currently is the expertise to process the bean to chocolate ingredients. We have that long experience and expertise, which are indeed excellent, in Indonesia.What are neighbours for?

Frankly there's only one thing about Australia that bothers me. In spite of their atrocious accent they are actually a very civilised people. The problem is that they may civilise the cocoa bean. One must not forget the beans comes the depths of jungles. The bean part of the Olmec, Aztec and Mayan civilisations. The bean was Cortes' passion(when it was money). The bean it is said was at the root of Casanovas and Don Juan's wicked philandering, the bean was nearly the victim of the Inquisition.

It is a history of blood, sweat and tears. It's roots are savage, sensuous, dark and brooding. It needs to be sought after and conquered.

The Australians may civilise the bean. Have landscaped plantations, with little plagues with neat descriptions, a quaint little factory at the end and a cafe where you can sample and buy chocolates made from the cocoa grown on plantation, enjoy buttered scones and great wine even. It would be wrong! It would rob the mystic and of the bean mysterious depths and subsequently the flavour and the luscious romance of the chocolate.

One way out would be to totally handover the cocoa project in Cape Youk to the Kuku Yalariji Aboriginal tribal. They have lived in the these rainforests for over 10,000 years. They lived with what the forests provided. I am sure they would be delighted to give the forests a return gift of chocolate without disturbing the spirits that dwell therein.

If cocoa beans take their characteristics from the soil, climate and environment what would Cape York(Or Daintree beans) taste like? It makes the hair at the back of my neck to bristle. For it must be awesome.

THE MYTH OF BELGIAN CHOCOLATES.

In some of our slick and expensive shopping malls Belgian chocolate boutiques are popping up.At this time of economic woes. At this time when imports are beginning to be very expensive as our currency seems rather smitten.At one outlet, at a very new mall, strangely called Creole, 50gm can set you back $5."Why?" you gasp, and the Sales person replies , "Because it is Belgian Chocolate." Now that really got my bristles up.

Of course I ate the three pralines I bought and it tasted just pretty expensive.Just that. New Tree is the only Belgium chocolate( now located in the US) I would cross the road for. The rest are boring. They are riding a reputation that was perhaps at it height in the 1960s. Since then there magnificent chocolatiers from the United States, Italy, one in the French Alps, Spain and one or two boastful ones from Venezuela. Surprising Australia's Cocoa Tree is coming up fast with some great chocolate. And here in Indonesia I know at least three housewives that make superb chocolate. I make some pretty good stuff too and at least they are good value for money.

The fact that Belgian chocolates are the best, is a myth. They are OK. But too expensive like all things in Belgium, including taxi fares, three star hotels(One shudders to think what the five starred charge), lunch, dinner, European Union and NATO headquarters.

Chocolates are all made through a particular process. It needs a careful selection of beans. It needs loving care and passion thoughout the process. Indeed it does not help one bit if you happen to be a Belgian. It helps if you are Spanish which means you invented the Tango and can probably dance the Fandango. That's the kind of vitality you need to make great chocolate. Have you ever seen a Belgian with vitality?Or one that can dance? Or for that matter a Belgian chocolate with a dash of verve? Remember this is the country where the Manneken-Pis is the national treasure.

Here in Indonesia we have the greatest collect on of cocoa beans in the world. There are at least 400,000 small holding cocoa plantations. Spread over 17,000 islands that revel in conditions that cocoa beans thrive on. The finest coffee also comes from these islands. And all the world's known spices. Plus our history in cocoa goes back at least 300 years. Here are also some of the best cocoa processors and manufacturers in the world.

But the Belgian Chocolate myth is so strong that we still have among us incredibly naive people who suscrible to belief in this myth. Break away today and take that Delicious adventurous journey to the real world of chocolate.

TIME TO TAKE A RIGHT ABOUT TURN WITH CHOCOLATE?

(from which chocolate is derived from)Since 3000 years, chocolate has come an incredible long way. Imagine an Olmec, holding a cocoa pod, scratching his head and saying to his wife, "Can we eat this?" As it turns out his wife, like most wives, was right when she answered, "Honey what you have there, in 3000 years, is destined to be better than sex." It was likely that the wife was subsequently sacrificed to a ferocious Deity. The grieving husband got drunk from the alcohol made from the white mucus that covered the beans inside the pod and was buried with the remains of the drink.

The Aztecs learned to crack the bean, extract the nibs, crush them to paste and make a bitter drink which they believed kept them in excellent vigor.In time the learned to mix it with maize gruel and honey. Montezuma, the great Emperor of the Aztecs, drank it dyed red.And beaten to a froth. In fact, whatever the experts may say, the word "choicolat" means "beaten drink."

Later they experimented with extracts of vanilla, chili and annatto.

The Dominican Friars introduced it to Spain.The ancestors of El Bulli and Chocovic then took over and Chocolate began the first step towards an incredibly wonderful future.

But the chocolate of today bears little resemblance to its origins. It is being sissified so that we, who don't quite measure up in spunk to the Aztecs, Mayans an Olmecs can find it palatable. And pleasureable. Are we missing out in the real pleasure of chocolate?

French pastries are concoctions with chocolate. They do not offer the unique pleasure that chocolate is meant to offer. They use chocolate for sensational gimmickry.The mass manufactured chocolates,rich with alpine milks and cane sugar, laden with nuts, are say what you may are not the stuff that braced up the Aztecs. In some of the mass produced chocolate, you can still taste a trace of palm oil. These manufacturers, would have promptly beheaded by Montezuma. Justly so.

The chocolate revolution led by the Artisans, Amano, De Vries, Tim Childs, Bonnat, Cocoa Farm of Australia(though this one is a bit too civilised) to name a few, that restored some of the mystic and adventure of chocolate. They have brought back the passion and romance and their chocolate can justly be gifts of love on Valentine's Day. Then there are others who have come up with a "new idea" chocolate revolution.

The chocolate experience I took immense pleasure from was a moist,rich velvety, utterly sinful "cake" from "awfully chocolate".It's really not a cake, but a gloriously round of superb chocolate.There a bit of fudginess in it somewhere. This one you dream about.It is not a return to the origins but it has reinvented the chocolate experience.

The company "awfully chocolate" is, I am told was founded by Singapore lawyers. Which explains the exactitude of the definition of chocolate, in 2008, or what it legally should be. The "awfully chocolate" shop in Jakarta, is almost sterile.It's bare. There is no display nor evidence of chocolate at all. You walk up to the counter and ask for the chocolate. There is one ONE kind. Customers keep coming back!I must say, lawyers are far smarter than we usually credit them for.

It is the right time to go back a 1000 years or so and look at recipes that seemed to have worked well with chocolate,and ingredients like honey, vanilla, cinnamon. annatto and chili. And giving it a good beating in-between.Bring back the boldness and the savage romance!

BEING ENTERPRISING WITH CHOCOLATE.

Our neighbourhood consisting of 274 homes and approximately 1196 persons answered a questionnaire recently on their chocolate habits, Mind you this is a mere middle-class neighboured in Tangerang, Indonesia. A place most of my blog readers have never heard of.

These are our findings: 60% of all homes buy at least 100gm of chocolate(bars or wafers) a month.They spend approximately a $1 for this purchase.20% 200-400gm(Spending up to $3 a month). The rest, 20% purchase up to 800gm ($8) a month.We found that total expenditure of chocolate from this neighbourhood per month was a staggering $657 a month, devouring 65kg a month.To put it in perspective, $657 is at today exchange rates is the monthly income of the upper-income group. It amounts to about 19 doctors visits and nearly a year of fees for a slightly above average private school.

Our little community's annual per capita consumption is 650gms.Interestingly close to the national per capita of chocolate consumption. Obviously lot of room for expansion!

On the other hand the 28 home-industries in this area purchase between 30kg to 120kg per month for making chocolate, chocolate confectionery, cakes, browning, donut and other dipping. But take into consideration that this is a particularly industrious area. Our average monthly turnover on chocolate is $8000. Highest monthly sales have hit $14,000.

Our chocolate are sold to to retail outlets like convenience stores, bakeries,bazaars, theatres, corporate sales, schools and one-to-one customers and packs to events like birthday parties. Our products include chocolate snacks, drinking chocolate,tarts, chocolate crispies, fruit covered chocolate and chocolate wafers and biscuits.

We don't produce bars, round or square pralines or anything you can get in the local supermarkets or mini-marts. Our chocolate snacks are little irregular rocks, some bursting with whole nuts, raisins, candied fruits bits and caramel,twisted shapes, triangles, crumbs and whatever irregular shape we can make. We flavour with cardamon, chili, cinnamon and other spices, wherever inspiration takes us.The group tries to come up with a surprise each production run.

Our community works with pots and pans and usual household equipment.Loose cooperative movement has evolved into an efficient "production line", home kitchens, linked together.

Chocolate from this community kitchens cost approximately $1 to $5 per hundred grams.
Occasional specialities are sold for close to $7 per hundred grams. Under trial are "health Chocolate" with beet or carrot sugar.

The community group now plans to hold a Chocolate, Food Fare at the local school hall with special invitations to retailers, corporations, mini marts and supermarkets with a view to contract sales.

We would rate ourselves are being moderately successful. The community itself has a very buoyant entrepreneurial stirrings. Other business from households include, baking, catering,packed-lunches, hair salons, school-bus(my wife), health foods, vegetable and fruit juices made to requested recipes as well as little known and well know healthy recipes,two boutiques,purified water, cooking gas agency, tuition in English and Mathematics, phone-cards and a photo-copy centre. The security guards in the area also run a very efficient real-estate business.

Perhaps there is a good chance we will ride out the global financial crisis without much help from the IMF.

JEMBRANA CHOCOLATE?

Art Pollard of AMANO Chocolate announced the launch of Jembrana Chocolate recently. Naturally it got us very excited. Jembrana is in Bali, Indonesia. The district is at the very tip of Bali and at the narrowest point only 60 meters from the tip of Java island.

AMANO announced that their 70% chocolate was made from cocoa beans from Jembrana, It has a fine rich flavour, with fruit notes and with nutty overtones.It has left us puzzled. Jembrana is indeed very fertile. Soil is volcanic. Cloves are grown but the main crop is coconut, Plantations of coconut blend into the jungles and rises over 1000 meters into the highlands.

In the lowlands are rice fields.Rice harvests are celebrated enthusiastically with buffalo races.


Overland travellers from Java Cities take a ferry from the southern tip of Jave and travel through this district to Denpasar, capital of Bali. The problem is we could find no cocoa plantations.Balinese in the area were doubtful of cocoa plantations in that area. If they did exist, they would have merely produced unfermented beans.

In all likelihood the beans secured by AMANO probably came from across the straits from the Java, where indeed there are large cocoa plantations which process high quality beans. These beans are Java and as chocolatiers know, regarded very highly, in the chocolate world.

There is geographical evidence that these areas were connected. The soils tend to be similar. Crops of cloves, rice, rubber and quality coffee besides cocoa is grown on the Java side.Java cocoa besides being fruity has a leathery hints Bonnat of France has produced bars made of Java.

HAS YOUR CHOCOLATE GOT PERSONALITY?

The trouble is that people, yes even top chefs, make chocolate because they like making chocolate. Well that's great. But it is better if they make chocolate with a personality suited for the occasion.

A night time, watching TV, snack is best with a chocolate thin, dark and sexy. It stays on your tongue, melting gently, soothingly, preparing you for good dreams. A chocolate to read with is a totally different person. It also depends on the book you are reading. If the book promises no great excitement, you might as well get from your chocolate--a chunky, nutty, milk chocolate that kind of gets you hooked.
If you are reading King or Clancy, I recommend something exciting to keep in pace with the excitement each page unravels.

You might try Chocolate Chilli Excites. It easy and quick to make and you can soon settle down with your book.What you need:

150gm salted butter
200 gm dark chocolate
150 gm sugar
5 eggs
A tablespoon of flour
Pinch of salt
Half a teaspoon of chilli flakes. Some may suggest ground chilli. But I feel that chilli flakes give you just the right thrill to go with King's latest best-seller.

1)First melt the butter and chocolate together carefully in a saucepan.
2)Pour into a mixing bowl and blend in the sugar.
3)Add the eggs one-by-one stirring it in well. It is mysterious but it turns out better when you add the eggs one-by-one than all in one go.
4)Add the flour and mix it in.
5)Add the chilli flakes
6)Throw the salt in. Don't mix.

Now put it little bake bins and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. They should be firm on the outside and soft inside. Cool, place in plastic container, refrigerate.So I lied, it far nicer if you wait till the next day.

Enjoy your exciting book with the equally exciting Chocolate, Chilli Excites.

10 REASONS WHY CHOCOLATE SHOULD BE DECLARED A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE.

A group of us Chocolatiers noted with alarm that there was some discussion among some French culinary practitioners, in Paris, to declare French cuisine a part of UNESCO World Heritage.Of course that is quite absurd.The only thing quite international about French food is probably French Fries. But that was invented by the Belgians. Indonesian cuisine is much older, more sophisticated, more complex and more varied.But we put that aside for a while.

However we felt that if any food should be declared as part of the UNESCO World Heritage it should be chocolate or cocoa.Here are our reasons. UNESCO please take note.

1)Chocolate has been a thrilling, multi-dimensional, monument to man's ingenuity for 3000 years.

2)Chocolate is "exceptional in its universal application.It now belongs to all the peoples of the world." Not to Switzerland nor to Belgium.

3) Chocolate begins with the humblest and most needed segment of mankind--the smallholder farmer. Fifty million of them located along the equator, around the world.

4)Chocolate is the world's biggest "monument" in the world, stretching from Mexico to
the South Pacific islands.

5) Cocoa and Chocolate continuously challenges and excites the creativity of a community of millions of artisans, hobbyists, home industries, manufacturers and scientists and technologists.

6) Chocolate is the world most loved and respected flavour.

7)A potential exists for Chocolate as an universal food solution: nutritious, satisfying and uplifting.

8)Today it has acquired and has been absorbed into the cultural characteristics of the hundreds countries in which is enjoyed.

9)Chocolate and Cocoa have enhanced more foods round the world than any other flavour or food.

10)There is always a chocolate for every person. From a mini bar or wafer costing 5 cents to $250 per praline.

There is obviously no other food that deserves to be declared a world treasure and part of UNESCO World Heritage.

A CHOCOLATE RECIPE IS A FRIEND.

Most people tend to treat recipes formally. "Hello Recipe. Nice to meet you. Lets get together," they seem to say nervously as if meeting a slightly senior manager at the office. Chocolate Recipes are friends. Or friends of friends.You say, "Hi. Great to see you! Wow you are cool!" Now together you unravel stories, exchange confidences,tell a funny story or two and agree to have some great moments of real fun.

Before you start ask the Recipe who is actually going to eat the finished goodie. Discuss the person who both of you know intimately. Discuss the flavours and textures and types of food that person likes most to eat. Decide you are both going to give that person a great treat.

The Recipe will whisper to you, "Hey dude, chocolate is both a flavour and a food. How about us trying to combine both this time!" You say, "Is that possible?" The Recipe replies, "Sure, no sweat! Lets try the chocolatiest brownie ever made in history of this country." So you get started. The Recipe reads out a list of ingredients.

"OK we need:50gm of salted butter. Salt give things a bit of ping! 90gm of real smooth brown palm sugar.
"Palm sugar?" you say."Yeah, I'm bored stiff with refined sugar. Besides it will taste a bit creamy without getting creamy." says Recipe.
".. 75gm of dark chocolate. One egg! Pinch of salt,40grams of cassava flour.."

"You must be kidding" you tell Recipe. "Nope, Cassava flour gives has a bit of quirky taste. You said the people we are going to feed are expecting a bit of a surprise?" So right, you shut up.

"...25gm of cocoa. 90 gm of halved, slightly over -roasted cashews. You got that? Slightly over-roasted. 100 grams of dark chocolate squares. OK that it. Any contributions from you?"

So you take over:
1) Melt butter over a low heat, add sugar, dissolve, remove from heat.
2)Add dark chocolate. It will melt with residual heat. Stir signing an aria.
3)Blend cocoa and flour nicely dancing briskly.
4)Whisk in egg, singing a soft and gentle song.
5) Add in the butter mix and a pinch of salt all in any animated way.
6)Add the chocolate squares and mix to combine.

Recipe says,"Don't worry if it is a chunky kind of mix. I did tell you that this brownie is going to treat chocolate as a flavour and food!"You say "gotcha!"

7) Add the cashew nuts and stir it in.
8)Scoop into a brownie tin and bake in a 170C oven for 20 minutes.
9)After cooling remove from tin and cut into chunky rectangles.

IT looks good. It feels good. It tastes incredibly good.

Do a little jig with the Recipe and take a bow to a grand invisible audience.

7 HABITS FOR AN ARTISAN CHOCOLATIER.

Artisan Chocolatiers are a special breed of people. They differ from manufacturers in that they don't depend on machines. They rely on imagination. They don't aim for profit. They aim at surprising customers.Their "habits" differ from those of the big time manufacturers. Below are 7 Habits an artisan must develop.

1)The best artisans I know all habitually think as if they were plotting a MIND MAP.The core of the map is "customer". From here they thoroughly analyse the characteristics of the customer. Demographically, psychographically. They they get very personal. Culture,food and beverage preferences, tastes, textures, shopping habits,physical characteristics,attitudes, education,travel,employment, family, home type... and anything else relevant or irrelevant. From this one page map they get a good look at their customer's profile by location.These profiles will lead you to higher levels of creativity.

2)With customer information you can start to build a "laboratory" and always be on thelook out for to build a collection of possible ingredients: sweeteners,sugars(palm,beet,cane),spices,salts, milks(dairy milk, coconut, soy,yogurt, creams),varieties of fruit, jellies, dough types, nutrition ingredients(Flax seeds,blueberry extracts,vitamin,natural flavorings..)nuts,favourite, local snacks, natural colourings, olive oil, liqueurs, wines,and other spirits. If your imagination gets stuck use a Mind Map.

3)Be on the constant lookout of new recipes not just of chocolate, also confectionery and snacks. There are often great surprising relationships that can be nurtured.You can go beyond these categories and consider local savouries snacks and hors d'oeurves.

4)Live a creative life. Read, listen to music,movies, drama,blog interactively, look, hear, taste, smell, touch, use your instincts, go on imagination sprees.

5)Cultivate the habit of being a inquisitive tourist in your own neighbourhood. You
will be amazed at what you will find, see, hear, taste, touch and enjoy.You will find a wealth of creative resources that you never noticed before.Give priority in using ingredients from your neighbourhood.

6)Make it a habit to always search for different kinds of cooking chocolate. Blend different brands and discover potentials. Combine with ingredients and discover a variety of flavours and textures. Increase or decrease the percentage of cocoa blends.Try beans from various sources. Try beans closer to home. By ignoring what's under your nose, you might be missing out on some great discoveries.

7) Try anything for the heck of it. We dipped asparagus spears into white chocolate. Believe me it was a great new experience. We tried it with dark, it wasn't as good. With a dash of salt it improved.Try new things habitually.Examine all the possibilities. Then cross the boundaries and go for the impossible.

A professional Artisan Chocolatier is recognised by his furious energetic and unquenchable curiosity.If that's not you go into muffins.

OUR EXPECTIONS FROM THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Everyone knows someone living in the United States of America. My neighbour has a sister in New York. The guy down the street has a brother in San Francisco. In Central Java I know a carpenter who has a cousin somewhere in America. An illegal( Don't come after me FBI I am not talking!). I too have literally hundreds of friends and a sprinkling of distant relatives all over the United States.

Perhaps that is why whenever I am in the United States, I feel on very familiar grounds. Everyone around looks like someone I know. Asians, Europeans, Africans. Everybody seems to be here.

It seems to me that the best and the worst of the world are well represented in America.The Nobel scientists right down to the tireless dish-washers.The country is the only real union or association of nations in existence. Everyone on earth seems to have a representative in the United States of America.

We the chocolatiers of the world, probably have several thousand or a million or two
representatives rooting for us in the US. There are 50,000 people engaged in the cocoa industry. Add this to those engaged in the chocolate industry, the artisans, the household chocolatiers, and the number perhaps doubles.We are citizens of chocolate. Together we form a population with a bond of common interest that makes us the 11Th largest "country" in the world. Bigger than some of the US's best allies.
Everyone can but agree that we are a very nice bunch of guys.If there were a rating for the top ten "nice people", we probably would hit the top of the list.

We live along a swatch of 10 degrees north and south of the equator. Although the Australians,recently began some cocoa plantations, they don't really belong to our"country". They are too cool and chances are we may feel a bit intimidated by them.

We don't have too many lobbyists like the guys in tobacco. These guys need the most devious of lobbyists. But the time has come when we too need to be heard on the world arena in a political sense. The international Cocoa Organisation does a great job to keep us healthy. So when BBC asked what other countries expect from the new President, I thought I should squeak(not a spelling mistake) up a bit.

The new President of the United States should note that we produced nearly 3.7million tonnes of beans this year. Which at today's cocoa prices amount to $7.5billion. When this is made to chocolate the estimated value is $74billion. Every US citizen consumes 4.8kg a year. We contribute quite significantly to the health and happiness of the United States. We have no doubt that chocolate will be a favourite dessert and snack in the White House.

Under these circumstances we expected the President is ensure that our swatch across the world "country" enjoys peace, stability and the ability to generate prosperity.Countries within this swatch are relatively harmless countries with no threat to the United States. Indeed from this swatch has emerged many of the citizens of the United States. From Mexico,Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Madagascar, Malaysia,Vietnam, Indonesia and New Guinea.

We are heartened that the new President is going to talk to anyone, anywhere without preconditions. That in itself harbors well for peace. Preconditions to talks, any child knows, is already a set of obstacles that the talks will have to overcome before proceeding to crucial issues.We realise it maybe a trifle difficult to chat with Chavez, but that is why our cousins, brothers, sisters now living in the States are going to vote for the wiser person to be President.

We in Indonesia are good friends of the United States. It makes it awkward for us if one or two of us with the chocolate swatch of countries have strained relationships with the US. I mean does become a bit embarrassing at say, at pre-dinner cocktails, if they should catch us sharing Irish jokes with Condezeela Rice.It would lead to sinister whispers in the gents lavatory. We need a harmony in our swatch.

Past Presidents have traditionally looked to Europe for friendship.But they have not quite so spontaneously reciprocated(except for Tony Blair all on his own). Let them grumble, grouch,bicker and worry as they have been doing for centuries. The more they worry the more chocolate they eat and the more beans they buy from us.Instead of trying to please the Europeans(Europeans can never be pleased)be friends equally with the whole world.

Raul is keen to talk(but wisely he has stayed away from Bush and Cheney), Ahmadinejad is keen sell the new President, carpets.Even God has often found the Israelites a problem. How many times has He had to admonish them?They never did listen, did they? The new President will have to take up where He has left off. We expect the new President to bring peace wherever he can. And try his best to undo the mess left behind.Perhaps he should send Bush and Cheney around to apologise and mop up. If they fail its, Guantanomo!

We hope that the new President's priority will be to establish peace and peace of mind to be as far reaching as possible.The new President may well ask,"Why me?" Because you have the widest possible reach and the biggest audience in the world. You always get prime time on electronic media and "best position" in print.

We cocoa people are, 90% of us, small holders. We own cocoa farms from one hectare to perhaps three. For years we have industriously being supplying the raw materials to the world for chocolate.In Indonesia there are 400,000 of us smallholders. Probably more in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. We have never needed to be bailed out though we have had our own problems. We have not yet been crushed by any economic crisis. We have never wasted our profits at luxury spas. We have never gambled on commodity prices. We have kept the world happy for the being the source of delights from 40cents to $250 per piece.

The new President must turn his attention to smallholders. He has been accused,yesterday, of being a socialist. For promising equi-distribution of wealth.What we small business need is an equi-distribution of opportunities. The wealth, we will then, make for ourselves. We hope he will have the courage to set an example in his own country that others can build models from. Models for all smallholders, small, medium and home industries.After all as I said earlier, the US is a model of the whole world.Remember nearly everyone has a friend or cousin or a sister living in the United States!

We wish the new President-to-be, a successful and happy eight years.

BELGIUM STOPS BEING BORING.

I have always found Belgium boring. After my first visit there I had to stop over at Sri Lanka to revive myself. There was so much chocolate, I began to wonder if the Belgians could come up with nothing else. They can, the came up with the Manneken Pis. Good heavens!In Brussels the EU debated for decade to arrive at the definition of chocolate.NATO is headquartered there. They make you pay for phone calls you didn't make. The list grows. But suddenly there are fantastic chocolate ideas from Belgium.Visitors to the now running SIAL Food Exhibition in Paris were unanimous in praise of the creations from New Tree.

Under the brand name "Alpha" New Tree combines pleasure, surprise, elegance, health and innovation.In the midst of many offerings of dark, organic, fair trade, sustainable farming chocolates New tree was truly way above the competition.

"Alpha" combines omega-3 by adding flax seeds.Three flavours were offered chili, dark and thyme. With crisped rice.The judges praised the chocolate for a healthy promise associated with a pleasure promise through the originality of the flavours.

A New Tree artisan said that the challenge was to create a "good balance between taste, flavor and texture."

New Tree range is quite eclectic. Their elegant range is named, REJOICE, PLEASURE, REVIVE, FORGIVENESS, VIGOR, COMFORT, SEXY and BLUSH. Each was simply and elegantly wrapped.A few months ago Ophera Winfrey endorsed New Tree chocolate in her magazine
O.If she ever becomes President, wow New Tree will really go places. Their problem will be to keep on repeating their success.

These innovations by New Tree is certainly inspiring for us artisans far away here in Indonesia. In fact we did consider adding powdered flax seeds into our chocolate to boast about omega-3. Many of our face-to-face customers are well aware of the benefits of omega-3. In Europe, tracking studies show that in 2007, 723 omega-3 products were launched. In 2005 there were 291.

New Tree is a newcomer into the chocolate arena. The company was founded by Benoit de Bruyn a biochemist in 2001.The company is now actually located in the United States.

CHOCOLATE SNACK-THE FOURTH MEAL?

A manager of a top hypermarket believes that there is potential that a snack, chocolate for instance, can be considered as the fourth meal. Alternatively it can be a meal replacement.

He quotes the following trends which are evidently showing through at checkout.
Snacking at home is seeing a increment. Morning snacking is showing a strong growth.Especially with local snacks. Some snack foods are replacing or adding on to breakfasts. Some snacks, like chocolate, is combined with meals as dessert. Or a snack to relax with.

He tells me that the highest incidence of snacking is among children from 6 to 12.But there is strong growth among young working women from 18 to 29 and this is most evident in the morning. The 30 to 40 people don't snack a lot. But the above 50s, it seems are gathering force as snackers. The latter are also include chocolate among their snack list. Chocolate is growing in strength amongst them.

Youth(13-19) are still the biggest purchasers of chocolate. But, explains the manager, they seem to be drifting away from supermarkets to mini marts and convenience stores, which are closer to their homes,schools and their hang-out areas.

Youth are too impatient to shop at hypermarkets. They prefer smaller and more elegant environments or just super convenience. He suggests that category management and planograms may need to be reconsidered to capitalise on these trends. This is already evident, of recent, in some supermarkets.

If a snack, like chocolate, is going to replace meal, or become the fourth meal, the health aspects of chocolate really need to be emphasised. Last week I received a letter from the head teacher of my son's school urging me to ensure that his snack box contained "healthy foods, like rice, vegetables, fruit. Chocolates, sweets... are discouraged." If she wasn't a great teacher I would have promptly yanked my son out of that school. I mean we surely don't want to bring up our children on wild, dangerous, erroneous perceptions, do we? My point is that the chocolate health message simply isn't being propagated. This could be of disadvantage in time.

I sent the teacher as much literature as I could gather on the nutritional and health values of chocolate. I also took to filling my homemade chocolate with fruit bits to include in my son's snack box. So far there has been a kind of a truce.

LIVE LONGER AND HAPPIER WITH CHOCOLATE.

A few days ago the Editor of EATINGWELL Michelle Edelbaum shared with her readers her selection(of course well supported by nutritionists and research) of the top 7 anti-aging foods. Guess what was on top of the list? Chocolate of course.

As proof Michelle cites the Kuna people. Never heard of them? Well let me tell you. They live on a string of islands called the San Blas Archepelago, off the coast of Panama.There are 400 islands, most of them no bigger than football fields.Nearly all of them are covered with coconut palms and fringed with sparkling white beaches.

On these islands live the Kuna people. The are 40,000 Kuna people left and most of them live in Panama. The rest live on the islands making their own laws and managing their own economy.They live on coconuts, fishing and a trickle of tourists.They have not been affected by the Global economic crisis.

In the larger islands cocoa trees grow wild. The Kuna pluck the pods split them open, suck the tangy tasting white creamy fluid that covers the beans. The beans are extracted and dried in the lovely sunshine. After a few day the nibs are extracted and grandmothers crush them with pistle and motor, mix it with sugar cane juice and pass it around for all to drink.

This is the secret of their long, healthy, and happy life. So say researcher, NK Hollenberg with a team of MARS nutritionists. Kuna drink this concotion, which is really pure chocolate, twice a day. The Kuna are free from hypertension, high blood pressure, diabetes,kidney diseases and dimentia. It is suspected that this drink of real chocolate, rich in flavanols helps preserve the healthy function of the blood vessels and keeps them youthful.Do you think Robert Mugabe is on this? And get some sympathiser to fly two cups a day to Zimbawe.Who can tell?

The rest of the super anti-aging foods are Blueberries. Actually Cadbury has have come up with Bluewberry chocolate.The other foods are Fish, Nuts,Red Wine, Olive Oil(olive oil has beenused as a filler in chocolate pralines in Italy by artisan chocolatiers),and Yogurt(obviously chocolate yogurt will make you live twice as long. But dont take my word for it and start make long term investments. I am not a nutritionist).

I find this list comforting. Everything I like.Usually good-for-you-stuff has to be taken in holding your nose and someone prising open yor mouth.Hwever all said and done I expect to live a long healthy life, having dutifully and pleasurably,enjoyed a chocolate a day.

CHOCOLATE AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS.

Early this morning I delivered my weekly supply of cooking chocolate to home industries near Bogor.Six months ago I started with 2kg. Now I deliver 5 to 6kg a week. The families, three neighbouring houses, in small complex were busy. They will need the chocolate I deliver today for dawn tomorrow.

Everyone was buzzing around. Making chocolate filled buns, chocolate dipped donuts,chocolate tarts, pralines, peanut brittle squares and other fast snacks.By seven the snacks will be packed into plastic containers are quickly whisked off on motorcycles to be distributed to the mom and pop shops within a radius of ten kilometers.

Yes, they said business was good. People were buying.Customers were happily paying a 20 cents a bun to about 30 cents a donut.nd enjoying them.

It is a three-family combined effort. Each family's turnover is about $50 a day.Which gives them a turnover of Rp10,000,000 a month of which 40% to 60% is profit. This small industry and 11 others I work with, seem not to have heard of the Global financial crisis. When I told them they would'nt believe me.Five of them didnt have bank accounts. They needed to have cash around to keep paying for their supplies.

They laugh and play as usual. Immune from the worries that are weighing down, the"investors" who were making their money work instead with chic consultants at Citi, Standard Chartered and others.The money, it seems, simply ran away.Where to? Dick Cheney? Murdoch? McDonald's? Who can tell?

It seems that the "poor" are afloat. The secret seems,energy and hard work.They will stay afloat. Every morning they are pushing out carts of hot soups, fried rice, noodles, chocolate filled buns. Others are turning out children's toys, recycling tires,making bricks, wrought iron gates,selling chickens and goats, knocking out furniture, making door mats, mattresses, meat balls, hamburgers, hot dogs....the list is literally endless.If it is infectious and sweeps the country, wouldn't we have a healthy and jolly economy.

With the profits they continue to pay the school fees, daily needs and take the kids out to the zoo occasionally.A blessed enough life, it would seem, for anybody.
And since they buy nearly 80% of their ingredients from backyard and neighborhood sources, life seems to go on with a calm, contentment for at least all around for a radius of five kilometers.And they keep chocolatiers like me up enough for an occasional respite at Starbucks.What a pity not enough though for a plunge at the Spas like those lucky AIG bastards.

CHOCOLATE PROBLEMS?

I am not a Chef. I just a silly old guy who tries to make good chocolate at home. It is good, I enjoy it and my neighbours are actually paying for them. So I cant answer all your questions. However I will give it a try.

GENERALLY SPEAKING.
If you chocolate making environment is too humid, the chocolate will develop a sugar bloom.Humidity can also cause dullness.
If the temperature is not stable,this can happen if you have a smallish kitchen without air conditioning, then you may get white streaks. Which is fat bloom.
If you get it in contact with water, all manner of problems can interfere with your chocolate making.

DULL PRALINES

This happens when the praline centers you choose, nuts, raisins, apricots, nibs are too cool(especially if you have just pulled it out of the frig) or cooler that the chocolate you are going to mold. Centers must be as warm as your chocolate.Cooler centers form a condensation on the outside.

Chocolate can be dull if you molds are not clean.Use clean polycarbonate molds.Not cheap plastics.

Your chocolate can also get a dull look if over-tempered or under-tempered.
Chocolate can also get dull if you warm it too quickly after you take it out of the frig. In this case wrap it in towels and allow it to warm gradually.

Chocolate cooled in much too cold temperatures can turn out dull and even crack.

SHINY CHOCOLATE.

It is a result of proper tempering This comes from experience especially if you are doing it by sloshing your chocolate up and down, with a neat wood length, on a cool marble surface.If it is not tempered well it can get pockmarked, streaky and have sugar dust on the surface.

BUBBLES IN YOUR CHOCOLATE.
This is caused by too much viscosity. Probably due to too much emulsifier. You can add more cocoa butter or lecithin. Too much agitation during tempering can also cause bubbles.

If you have more questions be as specific as you can. I will try to give you reliable answers.

COMING SOON! MORE TO LOVE.

The bright spot in an otherwise day of bleak news is that scientists have discovered 10 genetic types of the cocoa plant. Until now we had only three to love, the Criollo, Forastero and Trinitario. The last is a hybrid of the first two.

A genetic analysis by scientists from the US Department of Agriculture's National Germaplasm Repository working with lead scientists of cocoa genetics at Mars, showed the origins of the 10 genetic types very clearly.

This discovery strongly suggests that the species can actually be traced to regions near Ecuador and Colombia. Until now we all believed that cocoa originated in Central America, mainly around Mexico.

Scientist Juan Carlos Motamayor said(reported by LiveScience) that there was potential that the new types could be commercialised. We could experience more taste pleasures. Additionally, a cocoa tree more resistant to the diseases that are plaguing the current three know types.

Elsewhere genetic researchers today claimed the Senator Barack Obama was distant cousin of Dick Cheney(This is true and I am not making it up. Ask Lynne Cheney).
Senator I am now hesitant to give you my vote for fear that some Cheney genes may be cruising through your veins and could cause catastrophic political irritations worldwide if provoked.Lucky for you Senator, I am not an American citizen and cant vote.But I do hope that you will find a way to overcome or suppress this malignancy and get elected.I must confess, that to help you out a bit, I sort of toyed around with the idea of spreading a rumor among readers of my blogs that John McCain was twenty times removed cousin of King Jong-II. My wife said that it wasn't cricket.

Then there is this guy in London who said that the mother of all bad days was on 20 October 1929 and fervently hoped that on 20 October 2008, the son would not strike so devastatingly.

INFUSIONS AND CHOCOLATE

Today, everyone at work, was talking about infusions. Money infusions by Government into banks.I am pretty stupid about the monetary systems that hold the world together. But I keep puzzling about, if the banks and stocks lost money, who gained the money? Silvio Berlusconi, Starbucks,Campbell's Soup(their stocks have stayed up and that's why I am suspicious)?Or is there bottomless pit into which money mysteriously vanishes.Well lets talk about chocolatey infusions.

I have always admired the Australians, with the single exception of the previous Prime Minister John Howard, for their ingenuity.I wonder if it is because they are so far far away from contaminating influences.A consortium of biotechnology scientists and food wizards have come together to found Horizon Science. They set up a subsidiary called Cocoa Australia. Which is very brazen of them considering Australia's experience in cocoa farming is non-existant. So is their know-how in fermenting and processing. It was brazen of them some decades ago to enter the wine world. Now they are on top of it.

Cocoa Australia runs a plantation up at Mossman. A very pretty place with a enormous tropical forest national park, tropical fruit farms, coffee and sugar plantations. Ideal sort of place for cocoa to thrive in.The 20 hectare plantation has about 1200 trees which have begun to bear pods. Reports are that these beans are better than those of West Africa. Beans from here will go to Farm by Nature, a chocolate factory located at Scoresby near Melbourne.Incidentially, if you are interested, Scoresby was named after British Artic Explorer, of all things. Scoresby, if you are still interested, is the brussel sprouts capital of Victoria.

The Scoresby factory has already come up with excellent wine-infused bars ,sexily packaged and sold under the Cocoa Farm label, aimed at the prestige end of the market. They were exported to Germany and Britain. Some bars reached us here in Indonesia. And quickly vanished from the shelves.

Though wine-infused chocolates have already been tried in the United States, the Cocoa Farm is particularly good because as the Chief Executive of Farm by Nature, Janice Falzon says Cocoa Farm uses a patented process that is unique, "a world first that was difficult to perfect."

Two years ago J. Emanuel Chocolatier came up with a line of truffles flavored with Cabernet, Chardonnay, Shiraz and varieties. Appropriately called the Bacchus range.

Mary's Chocolate, Tokyo have champagne and kahlua-laced ganaches which are made more appealing with silver glitter sprinkles.

Cielo, which translates to "heaven" in Italian, are infused with local ingredients like olive oil, salt and decanted balsamic vinegar.

Meanwhile a Japanese Company, Fruit Functional Food Composite(FFFC) is Infusing white chocolate into strawberries and currents. FFFC is also trying infusing food with vitamins and nutrients. Sounds a bit like a bail-out, don't you think?

SENIOR CITIZEN'S DILEMMA ON CHOLOLATE.

Marketing people are those young, fabulous people that are ensconced in those lovely towers in Sudirman or Kuningan. From these heights they formulate their strategies to capture as much of the market as possible for their bosses, Nearly all of the products target the equally young and vibrant 25 to 45 age group. Or possibly even on occasions include those under who can watch television commercials and understand them.

THE DECISION MAKERS

They are right of course. In Indonesia these are where the numbers are. Thirty -seven percent of the population is under 15, Forty-six percent are under 45.A recent study in Munich noted that many of the decisions made around the world and particularly in Asia are made by Senior Citizens. It is the Senior Citizens that more often make the decisions on what we use, eat and drink.They play key roles in new product development. They decide on everything from concept to packaging to distribution channels.They make good decisions and awfully bad ones.But they are so respected that we give give them a whacking big bonus especially for bad ones.Probably to soothe their feelings.

WEALTH AND POWER

In the same study in Munich, it was noted that in 2030 consumption by Senior citizens in Europe will be almost 60%. While those under 50 will consume about 42%.
Today in Indonesia we have almost 40million Senior Citizens. Including me. Nearly two million live in Jakarta.If you look around casually, you will see 240,000 at least who are wealthy as well as powerful.Some are close to the top in Forbes list.

Yet marketing people, researchers and particularly advertising people(who loathe us because we screw up their ads)largely tend to ignore the economic driving power of Senior Citizens.Now come on, be reasonable, if your were a young marketing-advertising buck in Milan would you ignore Silvio Berlusconi? I am counting on him to single-handed bail out Europe,before breakfast sometime this week.

The numbers are too small for the marketing department and except for a few on top, too poor.Remember in 23 year the Indonesian economy will grow by 199% and so will the numbers of Senior Citizens. So you better start planning.

THE RETAIL VIEW

The up-market Supermarkets are beginning to see the potential of the over-fifty shopper.These are some of the conclusions of a supermarket group in Jakarta:

1)The Upper Income Senior Citizens visit supermarkets less often. When they do they visit the upmarket ones that have more imported products.
2)The buy the stuff they like, not the price.
3)They dont care much for slick packaging or slogans. The go for the quiet and sleek.ONe that make good sense. Marketing is going to be baffled by this!
4)The contribute significantly to higher margins.
5)Contrary to popular belief they love chocolate.

CATEGORY MANAGEMENT

Sogo's Food Hall seems to have caught on rather smartly to this niche. The category management and the planogram seems to have been developed for the senior citizens. It works so well that the chocolates targeted to the Senior Citizens are frequently out-of-stock.

The convenience stores like Starmart, Indomart and others havent caught on yet. The customers here are largely the teens and Senior Citizens. Simply because these stores are nearer home and often within walking distance.

DESIGNING CHOCOLATES FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

In Europe the big manufacturers are already redesigning chocolates foe Senior Citizens.Over there consumption volume and value of chocolate among senior citizens is responding significantly to initiatives by the manufacturers. The smaller manufacturers and artisans have known it all along and have prospered over the years.

It is not enough to address the "concerns" of Senior Citizens.Taste , flavour, texture and mouth appeal are just as important among the different age segments of Senior Citizens as it segmentised for the 5 to 45 years.There are few studies on this.What I ask are you going to feed McCain with perchance he is elected?

THE AUSTRALIANS HAVE DONE IT

As usual the Australians seem to have come with just the right formula of chocolate that will only appeal to their palate but alsoto their health values. Cocoa Farm, Australia have come up with wine infused chocolate. At the moment they have three great bars, Shiraz, Merlot and Pinor Nior. Cocoa Farm has also a rich dark chocolate with only 0.3% natural sugar and a sperb milk chocolate "Roasted Hazlenut and Coffee".The last is my favourite. I have only had it once. The memory remains.

There are many more ideas for developing Senior Citizen chocolate, but I deal with them in future blogs.I am a bit distracted. I on pins and needles waiting for Berlusconi to write out a personal cheque and hand it over to Sarkozy. Then we can all go back and concentrate on chocolate.

TRIVIAL PURSUITS IN JAKARTA.

Jakarta is my favourite city. I love it. I feel sorry for Jakarta because it gets nudged aside for Bali. Which is most certainly a mistake. I love Jakarta so much that I only go to the city for trivial reasons.And every time I visit, Jakarta surprises me with something new.Usually another spectacular mall. Or even a Disney-On-Ice Show.

Last weekend, just prior to the Idil Fitri holidays, I decided to stroll down the main street of Jakarta. I would begin at the a giant statue of a near naked man carrying a flaming Bomb Alaska, and walk down Jalan Sudirman to the famous Welcome Circle and down Jalan Tamrin to the Presidential Palace. That's about 4 kilometers.

Everything in Jakarta is big. Its history is big. Though Jakartans celebrate 1577 as it birth year, the city actually existed in 397AD. Its building are big. Many are designed by prominent architects and have won awards and things. Mid-way down is the awfully pompous Samporena Strategic(who knows what it means).There are many,many more big, tall and splendid glass and steel structures. Still more surreptitiously rising. True on this main throughfare there are no massive structures like the cathedral in Cologne which can take in 40,000 people. But Jakarta, looks like, it has several buildings that can house 40,000. No problem.Sometimes you can see them all when they stream out during an earthquake.

Jakarta main street has with a snide smile given space to the world's ghastliest building, the Da VinciTower(its true). The owners had tried to provide a Italian kitsch (You know they thought that it was splendidly classical stuff and all, the ignorant bunch) setting in the middle of Jakarta for poor old Da Vinci.Horrific ornate furniture is sold in there. In the upper floors are monstrously distasteful, awful and expensive apartments. But it is okay. It is Jakarta's way of saing, "Look I have a sense of humor."Other cities may have building you can hate but not a Da Vinci Tower which you look and laugh over for half an hour.

Even names are big and impressive. The Ministry of Education which fronts Jalan Sudirman is actually called, Depertemen Pendidikan Nasional. Isn't that impressive!I love it and spend a lot of time there.

Then midway down, is the Welcome Circle with an extremely large, cool and welcoming fountain. From the center rises an obelisk with a happy couple, happily waving flowers to welcome residents and guests alike.

The Circle is the official site for very democratic demonstrations from angry ones to the friendliest, where pretty girls hand out stems of roses or condoms to motorists and the watchful police men and women. The are four, five star hotels around this Circle.and the angry demonstrators, for some inexplicable reason, seem to hurl their fury upwards towards the Grand Hyatt. Serves the Grand Hyatt right. They make such unimaginative chocolate.The other hotels go placidly unscathed.

Pacific Place, stands sedately behind the Jakarta Stock Exchange. It feels like it its lending its massiveness in support to the latter. But once you go in you realise that it is really a massive shopping mall, with elegant and fashionable stores, Starbucks, Food Courts, Cinema theatres.Close to Wendy's Hamburger is the entrance to the Ritz Carlton Ballroom.

I bought a bag of chocolates, at Paci,the famous chocolate boutique, and went to a store to have it wrapped. Two delightful ladies,asked me a series of questions to all of which I replied "Yes" because I hadn't the faintest idea what they were talking about.

"You many textured recycled of course?"
"Yes".
"With a foil backing for form?"
"Yes."
"Watermarked and embossed?"
"Yes"
"A second colour in poignant pink?"
"Yes"
"A wired ribbon flourish in gold and magenta lights?"
"Yes".
The assistants were writing it all down in the invoice, as it was explained to me that the cash register was "down". I eventually staggered out holding an embarrassingly large gift wrapped parcel, looking rather like the Da Vinci Tower I mentioned earlier. But the real pain, hurt like a stab in the guts, was the $100 I had to pay to the exuberant group of ladies.I understood why the cashed register was "down". It must have fizzed out in shock.

To soften this devasting blow to my fortunes, I went to the supermarket in the basement to look for my favourite chocolate wafer, "Take-it". This is a wonderful 19gm wafer or biscuit wrapped in delicious milk chocolate.Kit-Kat pales in comparison. If you ever have the opportunity, buy a ton.I have a special bond with "Take-it". I had in fact named it. Designed the pack. Built the merchandising unit, which called out, "Hey you, take it!" to passers-by. It had to be removed because it scared the hell of of little children. Anyway I couldn't find "Take-it".

The manager apologised and murmured something about category management and profit per meter and somehow "Take-it" didnt fit with the store's plans to make a fortune. I said"But your are talking about something I help bring into being. I designed the packs, I named it. That's virtually baptising it! The public deserve it!" He remained unmoved and suggested I try Kenny Rogers Fried Chicken. For me it was "Take-it" or nothing.

Somehow, perhaps,the way it snaked backwards,at the Circle,the last time I strolled down Jakarta I missed it. Sometimes, you know the obvious thing right in front of your nose can be invisible. But now it blazed forth in glory, the Grand Indonesia. An extravagant, giant shopping, hotel, apartment, theatre, food courts galore and heaven knows what else, complex. It was so big that I suggested to the building manager to have "ojeks"(motorcycle taxis) to take people around inside the building and prevent them from getting feeble with exhaustion or getting lost forever, both of which seemed inevitable if he ngnored my advice.

When I went in, there wasn't anybody around.Sales girls at Seibu Department Store called out "Good morning Sir." There were cheery greetings from security personnel,waiters at cafes,the toilet cleaners and so. This was not because they wanted my custom but simply because they were lonely and wanted to talk to someone.But the manager who rejected my "ojek" idea told me that once the office buildings and banks were filled there will be no shortage of friends. More than 40,000 were expected to patronise the stores, restaurants, cafes and food courts.If you are around during an earthquake, you can wach them stream out.

The toilets, like in most buildings in Jakarta, were spacious and magnificent. They only lacked gold fittings and a dash of the Da Vinci up the road.I wanted to linger on, spend more time playing at the taps and high tech hand driers but my wife called on my mobile phone and I didn't want to say I was loitering in the loo.

There was a chocolate shop by which I naturally lingered, sampled a praline. My home made pralines were better. At the supermarket, there were alas, no "Take-it".The manager, would you believe it, had never heard of "Take-it".The man should be taken to task if it is not possible to fire him.

I walked on, tripped in front of the Japanese Embassy and fell. Three people, two men and a woman, set me back on my feet, dusted me down and send me merrily on my way.The woman ran after me to return my ballpoint. Only in Jakarta can a thing like this happen.When I slipped in Copenhagen a lady in a wheel chair crashed into me and grimly prodded me out of the way with her stick. I had to stagger into a cafe and soothe myself with a coffee and a sticky pastry but went back into severe shock on seeing the bill.Don't ever eat or drink in Copenhagen if you want to remain solvent!

I walked past the United Nations building and marvelled at it shabbiness,approved the solidity of the Bank of Indonesia, admired the Museum and lurked around the Palace hoping to get a glimpse of the President.But it was not to be so I caught a bus home.

Skip Bali, readers and come to Jakarta.It is the most intriguing city in the world and you will love it here.

ENJOY LIFE! MAKE YOUR OWN CHOCOLATE.

With all the prices going up I lived with some apprehension that one fine day I would wake up and find that I could no longer afford chocolate.Like it happened with cheese,oxtail stew,seven grain bread,crumpets,movies,restaurnats that use white table cloths, doctors,school and so on. They made petrol expensive and then stopped making cheap bicycles.

If it happens with chocolate it will have catastrophic results on my life. I have always depended on chocolate to keep my heart healthy, my brain liking up to expectations, my disposition amicable and felt little need for Prozac. Sex was going fine too.

But recently prices of chocolate in the supermarkets have been surreptitiously creeping up. That was when I decided to make and live on my own chocolate. Frankly it was to be a major milestone in my life.What a lot of luscious vistas opened up!I lie awake at nights wondering what I will do next.

Making your chocolate is not difficult, once you decide to do it. Your neighbours may laugh,"Why go through all the trouble. You can buy a chocolate wafer for 90 cents down at Starmart." Frankly, like all neighbours anywhere, they don't know what they are talking about.

The are three ways to go about making your own chocolate.

BIT OF A QUIRKY WAY
I went out and bought a carton of bitter-sweet curvature. I knocked down a one kg block to get about 300gm. I was ready to go.I filled a pot with water and brought it to boil. Added agar agar and melted in out. Then added the chocolate. Once the chocolate is melted and blended with the agar-agar solution, I let it cool.Chill over night.Next day break it and enjoy. I wont tell you how wonderful and exciting the experience can be. Find out for yourself.

THE SAFE WAY

Melt your 300gm of chocolate in your microwave. When its warm temper it by swishing it up and down with a wooden spatula a top a cool surface.Pour it into a flat plastic lined tray. Then do your creative things. Put in nuts and bits of fruit. Chill it overnight. Next morning crack up an enjoy the pieces.

THE ADVENTUROUS WAY

If you have a bit of Bond in you then, you can cut down the cooling chocolate into pieces and drop it into liquid nitrogen. When the pieces are solid, which is almost immediately, you pull it out and let it thaw in a bowl.When you taste it, you realise that you have a chocolate that melts easily in the mouth. It will have a full, intense, rich taste.Enjoy it leisurely over three or four days.

There are full recipes you may want to experiment with. Subscribe to the Java Chocolate Newsletter.

CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

Now you have the basics the creative opportunities are enormous. You can try blending types of chocolate, blending ingredients, trying savoury chocolate, spicy chocolate, coat fried banana chips, tempe or tofu slices, experiment with salt,milk powder,vanilla, flavours you enjoy, balsamic vinegar,sprinkle in your bits of your traditional Indonesian snacks. Learn what works and what doesn't.Or just enjoy and luxuriate over the intense, rich taste of chocolate.Recipes are found in our newsletter.

I haven't mentioned sugar. Bittersweet chocolate I feel contains all the sugar you need in chocolate.

SHAPE IT ANY WAY YOU FANCY.

I dislike cubes, squares and rounds. I think they are unnatural shapes to put into your mouth. Make your chocolate in any shape and avoid the traditional. Go where no man has ever gone before.Make it an art form. Please, no bunnies, gnomes and Santa Claus.

SELL

You might try to make it into a home industry. Sell your odd pieces of great chocolate in simple, plain,recyclable, paper bags.Hundred grams can go for $2.

YOUR OVERHEADS.
Three hundred grams of bittersweet curvature cost me about $2.After I made it my way,just the way I liked.I enjoyed it over three days.

INTERSTELLAR CHOCOLATE.

It seems that the Spltze Infrared telescope gave astronomers a sharper view of the Universe. And what they saw was that nitrogen containing aromatic hydrocarbons are in huge supply throughout the universe.

Subsequently there has been a about turn in the thinking that all life on earth was homegrown. It has become apparent that comets and meteorites bring biologically important chemicals to earth.

These chemicals come to life on any hospitable environment. Earth of course is extremely hospitable. That is until Wall Street made in increasing inhabitable. But never mind lets get back to the main issue.

One of the chemicals that stowed away from deep universe on a comet or meteorite was the main ingredient in chocolate. Hence it tastes, and has an aroma that is, out of this world.

Actually this theory of chemicals(or seeds) coming to earth was started by a Greek Philosopher, Anaxagoras. Pictures show him to be a stocky, dour man,with untidy beard. He said,"There is something of everything in everything," and went on to expand into the theory of "panaspermia". This theory says that all things originated from seeds pervading from the cosmos.NASA scientists agree.

You must give the man his due. He did it without the Spitze Infrared Telescope.He did it 2,500 years ago.He did it without tax payers money. He did it with a doctrine he is credited to have found, the Doctrine of "Nous"(translates, mind).

I feel particularly fond of this man because he was born in Claizomenae. A city, in present day Turkey, Thirty kilometers from Izimir, where resides someone that reads my chocolate blogs.

FILL UP YOU TANK WITH CHOCOLATE. AND GO TO TIMBUKTU.

There are probably many people today, around the world, that wish they were in Timbuktu.It is good place to be. There are no insurance companies, no investment banks, no mortgage and loan companies. No Paulson. Here when people want a home they make it out of mud.

However I was startled to find out that earlier this year a gentleman called Andy Pag drove from south of England, across Europe, across the Sahara and to Timbuktu.With a co-driver John Grimshaw, they drove a Ford Iveco Cargo lorry powered with chocolate fuel. I am not making this up.

Their intention was to highlight bio-fuel benefits. They also wanted to point out that Timbuktu was on the "edge of climate change", It used to be a river town. Now the river Niger is 20km away. The sand dunes are taking over.

Imagine this was once called "The City of Gold". At it peak around the 14th Century, the University of Timbuktu had over 25,000 students pouring over 700,000 ancient manuscripts on science, mathematics, astronomy, law, philosophy and Islamic Studies.

What happenned? I guess some wise guys speculated on mud houses mortages and cornered the mud market. As you know mud is mud. It crashed.There was no bailout. It has been downhill ever since.Sand dunes are taking over.

To get his fuel Pag approached Ecotec that produces fuel from waste. They decided to create the fuel Pag wanted with wasted or rejected chocolate. Imagine fuel being processed from hazel nut dragees, almond whirls and mis-shapen milk bars!

Eventually Pag got 1,500 litre of chocolate fuel from 3000 kg of chocolate, about 1,200 family sized chocolate bars.

Pag said that they got 15km per litre of chocolate fuel. That about eight family sized chocolate bars. When they got slightly low on food in they unfortunately couldn't eat or drink the chocolate.The fuel bears no resemblance to chocolate. It becomes a golden liquid and looks like normal diesel.The exhaust does not smell of chocolate.

Pag's next ambition is to fly to China on a powered para glider with fuel made out of banana skins. Or something like that. We in Indonesia will be looking up hopefully to see him fly past, if he gets a little blown out of the way.

"Slowly across the desert sand
Trekked the dusty caravan.
Men on camels, two by two,
Destination-Timbuktu."

CHINA'S ASTRONAUTS EAT SPACE CHOCOLATE.

"We have been working to civillianize space food," said Chen Bin, nutritionist in charge of astronaut food with the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, as reported by the People's Daily.

The chocolates and cakes, eaten by the astronauts in space are also produced for civilian use, Chen said.Space food, is safe, convenient and intensely nutritious. Chen said that space food will be popular with mountaineers and explorers to especially the polar regions.

Space food is made under immense quality control conditions. For instance, air quality at the space nutrition kitchens, will be the same as in pharmacy factories.

NASA very early on it its space flights used RACHEL'S BROWNIES on the Space Ship Endeavour.These chocolate treats were commonly found on the shelves of convenience stores.

More recently NASA has developed Freeze Dried chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips and Freeze Dried Double Chocolate Saucer Space Snack. There is nothing civilian about these snacks. They are indeed very spacey.

Freeze Dried foods are great, it seems, for eating in weightless conditions. First developed for the Apollo Missions, the foods are frozen to -40 degrees Centigrade, vacuum dried and placed into special pouches. Freeze drying removes 98% of the water content and NASA says the dehydration makes it nearly as light as air and dry to the touch, cannot melt and does not require refrigeration. It can be stored for three years.

You know somehow I would opt for the China Astronauts' civillinized chocolate and cakes.Or Rachel's Cookies.

MOCTEZUMA'S WIFE'S CHOCOLATE RECIPE.

Kidzania is a city built for kids, occupying two floors of a top notch shoppingcomplex in the middle of Jakarta.The original exists in Mexico City.
On the ground floor are the city-type outlets, hair salons,departmental stores, supermarkets,theatres, institutes, driving schools, hospitals and so on. On the top floor is the industrial complex. Here kids are shown how ice cream, biscuits and indeed chocolates are manufactured.

A few weekends ago our community group took the kids through the "Silver Queen Chocolate Factory". They goggled at the massive processes of roasting, winnowing, grinding, conching, refining, tempering and moulding in huge gleaming machines(though the ones in Kidszania were kindly, kidsize). Then one wise guy piped, "Did Moctezuma have all these machines to make his chocolate?". The day before we has taken them through a briefing which included brief history of chocolate.

Last weekend we gathered at the slickest and largest kitchen in the neighbourhood to make chocolate as Moctezuma would have made it. Or at least by some of his many many wives assisted dutifully by his 8 daughters and 11 sons.

We brought a kilo of fermented beans from a plantation near Bandung. They were nice and dry and good-looking as far as beans go. We laid them out in single layers on baking trays and roasted them in a 300 degree preheated house oven for 30 minutes.

By this time a nice aroma,filled the kitchen. We then let the beans cool. Then one by one a group of six started to crack the beans and collect the nibs. The rest of the group watched a soap on television.

It is tough work separating about the nibs from the husk. Now we know why Moctezuma had many wives and 19 children. He probably yelled to them, "Come guys faster! You know that grouchy Spaniard Cortes is going to pop in any moment now!I want to cool him down with some chocolate." Moctezuma incidentally had warehouses of cocoa beans. Some he used for making chocolate and the rest for currency to buy stocks and shares.Or whatever they had those days.

After we collected the nibs, we ground a batch(8 spoons of nibs) with two spoons of sugar, in a coffee grinder. The other batch, simply ground the same in a motor and pestle. We ground and ground and ground. The coffee grinder gets over-heated so we had to stop from time to time.

What we had now,was varietal chocolate, that is to say" Moctezuma chocolate". To some purists, primitive. But I wouldn't tell old Moctezuma that. He was skilled at severing heads at the slightest provocation.

It was gritty but most of the group agreed that it "startling". We never tasted chocolate this mysterious, rich and flavoursome before. Moctezuma's wives probably beat it up while warming with honey and cinnamon, making it froth. There is a picture found on the walls of the ruins that showed a statuesque brunette, presumably one of Moctezuma's wives, pouring a cup of prepared from above her head to a vessel on the ground. Rather like the Malaysian Indians make "Teh Tareh". This obviously gave the drink a good head of foam.

We used a batch to flavour brownies. It was unique and great to taste. The recipe, along with other Moctezuma type recipes(or recipes his wives should have tried) will be featured in the Java Chocolate Newsletter.

HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE.

Eventually one day Herman Cortes dropped in to visit. Moctezuma welcomed him with a cup of cocoa."It's ******* bitter!" said Cortes and threw up. Not really, I made that up. In fact he liked it so much that he took sacks of beans home. He also invited one of Moctezuma" daughters to Spain(absolutely true) where most probably, she taught ChocoVic to split beans and extract nibs(pure conjecture).

DRAGEES OR PRALINES?

Our enterprising group here have been doing a nice trade making candied cashews and dipping them in both dark and milk chocolate. We put them in brown paper bags, marked them CASHEW DRAGEES and sell them at the Ramadan Bazaar. They have been doing well enough for us to make fresh batches every other day.

Our pensive friend from Carrefour turned up, bought a few bags,bit into several and appreciatively said "Ah Pralines!" The lady in charge who does not like her brand interfered with said, "Dragees". The pensive man from Carrefour said, "Yes Pralines."
"No Dragees" said our lady.

It appears that both were right. The French call them either dragees or pralines. The Carrefour person then told us the story. Pralines were named after Marshal du Plessis-Praslin(1598-1675). A long life in those days and remarkable because the Marshal spent most of his adult life fighting wars. But he was smart enough not to fight them in France. Most of his bickering was done in Italy.

Pralines (pronounced pra-leen in French, pray-leen in English)was actualled invented by his cook, Clement Lassagne. Pralines then were simply candied almonds. Chocolate was yet to be discovered in France. He later founded Maison de las Praline in Montargis, a town almost the the center of France. It still exists today.I mean both the town and the Maison de las Praline.

Montargis is actually rather famous. Joan de Arc passed through the town on her way to Gien. But being rather early, she didn't have the opportunity to pop into the Maison de las Praline.

But Deng Xiaopeng and Zhou Enlai, who lived in this town were probably regular customers. Which explains their amicable demeanor which subsequently made China and the world pretty pally.

Coming back to pralines, in Germany and Belgium they are any filled chocolate. The Italians wanting to be different called them giandja. In Louisiana, Texas they screwed it all up. Pralines there are flat, round cream candies dotted with crunchy pecans.

INTERESTING CHOCOLATE DISCOVERY.

We are not a group or community that is noted for crossing new frontiers in cuisine . Indeed we are not known for anything at all until this evening when a seasoned chef from one of the five star establishment in Singapore, declared that we may be on to something "interesting" in artisan chocolatery.A gentleman from Carrefour looked pensive after a taste

In a session of experimental cooking, a few of us cake makers, bakers and a couple of chocolatiers combined Chocolate with Cardamon and came up it a surprising sensational Chocolate-Cardamon Custard Tart. We haven't thought of a slick name yet. We will when we are ready to rock the world.

We decided to try Cardamon. It is grown here in Java and it called "kapulaga". It belongs to the Amomum variety.It is a ginger-like plant and like cocoa grow in tropical rain forests. It grows up to 5 meters and therefore can actually be grown alongside cocoa Like cocoa it grows in shade. It will boost farmers'income because cardamon is one of the most expensive of spices.

Like the cocoa bean, it's the seeds inside the pod that are used.The husk is thrown away.Java cardamon is brownish and has a distinct astringent aroma without being bitter. It has a coolness similar to mint.

It has a flavour that that good breadth but not enough depth to impinge on the flavour of chocolate.

Besides being used in cooking it is also used in Scandinavia in baking cakes and pastries. The Dutch use it in windmill biscuits.The Russians use it in liqueurs. In China and India they have used it for thousands of years to treat all kinds of digestive and bowel ailments.And it is one of the world's oldest spices.We thought it will combine magnificently with chocolate.It did.

We decide to make a tart because we felt that it bring up the combination best and most noticeably. First we combined the ingredients of the dough:We sifted flour,cocoa and sea salt. We creamed the butter,sugar together to a fluffy paste, added egg and mixed it in well. We mixed all the ingredients until the dough formed. We shaped it into a ball, cut it in two halves, and stored it in the refrigerator overnight.That was yesterday.

This evening we took one half, made it into a kind of a shallow tart shell circle with a 2cm ridge, covered it and let it chill.

In the meantime the oven was being preheated. The chocolate, we used 7 ounces bittersweet was placed in a bowl. Into it we added a heated mixture of cream,a table spoon of fine ground cardamon, milk and sugar stirring in a third at a time, until it blended smoothly. A whisked egg was blended into a part of the chocolate mixture and then to all of it.Get rid of bubbles by tapping the bowl.

Now pour the mixture into the tart shell right to the top. Baked for 20 minutes, turned around and baked again for another 20 minutes until the custard is firm around the edges and sort of wobbly in the centre.Lionel, our friendly chef from Singapore guided the whole operation through. We need his deftness. We were so clumsy.The complete recipe together with another cardamon-chocolate exotica is available in next fortnight's Java Cocoa Newsletter.

The other half of the dough got the same treatment. Except this time we mixed the cardamon with the dough not with the custard. For added effect we made a thin sheet of caramel blended with a pinch of cardamon cracked it into bits and sprinkled over the chocolate custard.

Our guests, mainly family, and of course the pensive friend from Carrefour, declared it a significant discovery and generally rated with a nine.

IS IT SAFE TO GO LOOKING FOR COCOA BEANS IN INDONESIA?

I had five queries from nervous chocolatiers. This one kind of sums up the thoughts conveyed:"I hear so much about safety issues about Indonesia. In fact till recently our government had issued a travel warning about visiting Indonesia. Is it really safe to go searching around for beans in places like those you mentioned, Papua, Ternate,Bacan, Java.."

Recently I had an exuberant and enthusiastic visitor,a young chef, a Scot, Glen McIntyre(or something close. He had a surname pronounced different from the way it was spelled)who worked for the Four Seasons. On his arrival,in Jakarta, all he wanted to do was to see, and possibly experience, as much Indonesian food as possible.

There is Italian, French, German, Indian, Chinese, Argentine(I am not making this up),Arabian, Dutch, Malaysian, Indian, Singaporean and even Russian food on Jakarta's main street. And miles of chocolate too.But no Indonesian food worth mentioning.

So Glen and I plunged into the back lanes and alleys of Jakarta where food from nearly all of the inhabited 17,000 islands of this archipelago,was being busily prepared, cooked and consumed enthusiastically. In our forays into the deep, sometimes dark, alleyways and byways we did everything the Personal Security Advisor beseeched us not to do.

We made our ourselves conspicuous, we carried a lot of cash(none of the establishment we were interested in accepted credit cards)and arrogantly waved it under noses, we bumped into people who looked sinister, we flirted with giggling women, we went into really dark places, into place conscientiously developed for pick-pockets,we walked, we picked fights by bargaining outrageously,we asked rude questions. We emerged unscathed after a week.

I took Glen to the mountains of Central Java, where my wife has the immensely good fortune to come from. We walked into houses, most were unlocked, dined with occupants, carried a lot of cash and flashed it shamelessly around, took dangerous mini-vans for transport,abused the drivers, went out in the pitch dark, sang rude rugby songs and argued with a policeman. We emerged unscathed after four days. Glen had collected books of notes on Indonesian food.Persumably he is putting it into good use in Scotland or elsewhere.

The fact is Indonesia is safe.Don't listen to your Governments. Honestly what do they know? Look at the mess we faced this September alone. Don't listen, for heaven's sake to Dick Cheney. The best authority to ask is INTERPOL or a missionary.

If you asked INTERPOL they would tell you,that per 10,000 capita, in Homicide, Indonesia is 4 times safer than Australia, 14 times safer than the UK and 6 times safer than the US. Taking Rape incidents, Indonesia is 18 times safer than Australia, 12 times safer that the UK and 32 times safer than the US. Assault, Indonesia is 170 times safer than Australia, 30 times safer than the UK and 89 times safer than the US. We are far behind these countries in embezzlements, but catching up I am proud to say.

Another good source to check out safety in remote parts, where cocoa is grown, is with missionaries. I asked a very petite nun called Sister Godlive(I am not making this up) who lived in the Muluku for years. She has actually been to Becan and Ternate. I asked her if there were many murders in these parts. She said, "I haven't heard really." Are there any gun related violence?"Oh no" she replied, "Gun ownership is against the law." Are there any thefts?"Oh yes. It is sad but people are often stealing chickens."

It is absolutely safe to visit Indonesia. In fact it might be a good place to really get some peace and quiet.

ARE YOU ADVENTEROUS ENOUGH TO BE AN CHOCOLATE ARTISAN?

To be an chocolate artisan is to be an adventurer. Or you simply wont make it. You must head for Ternate. Which is not on the Old Silk Route, as I once thought.You must land at airports such as Ba Ullah, which is not in Mongolia.You must take a boat Kalumata to Cobo and hike to Rum. For these are the last frontiers of cocoa and they just happen to be in my backyard,in the archipelago of Indonesia. In short you must do what the great chocolate artisan adventurers like Tim Childs and D'Vries did in their backyards(here I am including Peru as being in the backyard, for instance, Tim's San Francisco factory).

It is very desirable, if you want to go into the chocolate business and make a name for yourself, to be an artisan chocolatier.The mass markets are already amply covered very competently by the big boys. If they had time I would advise they develop a small artisan chocolate division. But they wont of course, because they have to focus and also they think I am stupid. Artisan chocolate will fill the substantial niche markets that have a desire to savour different superb chocolates.

Many comparisons are made between chocolate and wine. But in reality for wine, all you need is a nice plot of land. You plant grapes, harvest and jump on them and you make your own wine. To be an chocolatier you pack your rucksack and go. You may never return if you step on a Komodo Dragon.

There are three steps in being a Artisan Chocolatier.Let me capitalise these words, to give the profession more dignity.

STEP ONE

1)Discover a promising farmer, plantation, cooperative, in some out-of-the-way place that has the interesting soil and conditions to produce, or in fact is already producing, good cocoa. It takes much looking around as professional artisans will tell you.

2)Then start to work directly with the farmer either by yourself or if you have the capital, through an agronomist.

3)Use your know-how to give direction to the farmer on growing through to harvesting the cocoa.

4)Provide guidance and tools for better fermentation boxes, drying floors or solar drying.

5)Then pay more for the cocoa to reward the farmer. More than market prices or more than Fair Trade prices.

STEP TWO

1)Don't attempt to follow Valrohono. Or any of the others. They will bury you. Do your own thing. Coax your own flavour, texture stealthily out of the beans. Make it a very personal thing.

2)This makes the artisan chocolate market as creative as the wine market. So welcome and encourage other artisans. The more the merrier. The bigger the love for gourmet chocolate.

3)The choice of equipment is going to be critical. A modern turbo-tamperer will put you out the business straight-off. Read, go to the library, talk to Chocovic. Don't be afraid to take chocolate making back a hundred years. Do not be afraid to do it by hand. In fact separating the nibs from shells is best done by hand. There will be no risk of getting husk bits into your chocolate.

4)Tell the story of your unique chocolate to your customers.

STEP THREE

1)Be open. Go to art galleries, the cinema, the orchestra, read profusely,enjoy wine and cheese,pray, expand your mind. A person with a narrow focus can never be an artisan. He is just a clot.

2)Embrace new ingredients, techniques, information, ideas and be obsessed.Share.

3)Be aware that much resources for being a chocolate artisan are there for you to excitingly discover, in Indonesia. Besides patience, industry, innovation is inbuilt in our genetic code.

4)Indonesia also has far reaching, extremely wide and embracing cooking values, resources tradition. Which is an important element in the evolution of an cooking craft.Collaborate with people of other traditions to make progress.