A WELL KEPT CHOCOLATE SECRET

It is no secret that the Belgians are great chocolatiers. The Spaniards could be flamboyant chocolatiers,. The French must be stylish. One mustn't forget the Swiss, for they are very serious at choclatiering(new words do keep cropping up dont they?). One didnt take the Japanese very seriously. Chocolate lovers are slowly discovering Japanese chocolate with some pleasure.

In these capitals of chocolate, a mention of Indonesia as a chocolate country will bring a dismissive look that says "Don't be silly." Java, may be known for it distinctive smokey, spicy cocoa flavours. But as a producer of chocolate or chocolate ingredients Java is never taken seriously.

The truth is that Java, besides producing much sought after Origin cocoa can make chocolate ingredients as well as the Belgians, Germans or the Swiss. In fact they already. Which is not surprising. They have the technology, the sciences, the inventiveness, the experience and the expertise.

What is extraordinary is that they even have the history. Cocoa was first grown in the Indonesian islands in the early 17Th Century after arriving on a Spanish ship all the way from Venezuela. By the I8th century the Dutch were already exporting cocoa from Indonesia to Holland. Cocoa press were already making chocolate to drink by the 19th century. By 1950s chocolate manufacturers in Java were already producing milk chocolates that was making a impact on chocolate lovers. Today you can seen the ultra -modern factory of Ceres, the industry leader, in Bandung in West Java. Here they not only produce Van Houten under licence for Barry Callebaut but their own brands. Silver Queen milk chocolate with cashews is a legend in the region. It has a strong cocoa explosion on the tongue, which is a pleasant surprise.Then the sweet milky after tones in a nice combination of flavours.The cashews fragments are a bonus filler. There is also veryrich and pleasant and lingering aftertaste of having experienced somthing rather pleasurable.

Silver Queen was such a success that naturally it had many imitators. Even Cadbury started their cashew range hoping to capture some market share. Silver Queen still reigns supreme. But it not the only chocolate of consequence in Indonesia and the region. There are other brands that have done well. Bakeries have revelled in creating chocolate snacks as have donut outlets and other fast foods. Harvest a new relatively new bakery have a immense variety of chocolate cakes and snacks which not just taste as good as you would experience in Belgium but even look as good as French and Japanese pastry.

Not far from the capital of Jakarta is Freyabadi, a Ceres joint venture with Japan's mighty food innovators and vegetable oil producers,Fuji Oil This is factory with pristine, well organised production floor. It is easy to believe that this factory can indeed produce world-class chocolate. Staffed by experienced professionals, food technologists and microbiologists they run a superbly organised chocolate ingredients production centre. There are others that are also quite impressive for their capabilities.

The potential for discovery in Java is staggering. Possibly every known spice , flavour and herbs grow in Java. Also a great variety of nuts, and fruits. Its high valconic mountains ranges and equatorial jungles provide a wide variety of climatically facvourable conditions and soils. Java is also home to literally thousands of indegenous snacks most of them surprising in their uniqueness. Many can blend so nicely with chocolate and that' kind of innovation isalready happenning with the small household and medium sized industries all over the island. It is a worthy study for serious, flamboyant and professional chocolatiers.

There have been many innovations in the confectionary, chocolate and pastry industries. But in such a creative profession it is still amazing to find that are still a large number of crusty curmudgeons who must source ftheir ingredients from traditional markets. They are missing out on delivering some wonderful surprises to their audiences. One way is to turn to Java to be inventive with chocolate.