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."
Tuesday 30 September 2008
Monday 29 September 2008
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.
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).
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).
Saturday 27 September 2008
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.
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.
Friday 26 September 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday 24 September 2008
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.
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.
Monday 22 September 2008
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.
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.
Saturday 20 September 2008
CHOCOLATE HAS NO PROBLEMS WITH RUSSIA.
Dr. Condaleeza Rice and our old friend Dick Cheney and some of their friends in the European Union may be somewhat irritated by Russia these days and we hope is just a passing phase. But chocolatiers have no problems about exchanging bear-hugs with the Russians and we hope that is one of the routes to peaceful co-existence.
Barry Callebaut announced a new Chocolate Academy in Chekhau. I love this strategy that Callebaut employs. First they provide Chocolate training. They teach people how to respect and love chocolate. Then they sell chocolate.They did the same in India and China. Ferro built a 91million chocolate facility. And Nestle acquired one of the leading chocolate plants in Russia,Ruzskaya Confectionary Factory.
The Russian Market grows an average of 15.3% in value annually and 5.4% in volume. Which is significantly over the world market of 2%-3%. This is a reflection of the increased wealth, of middle class, urban Russians, growing from $160 a month in 2002 to $540 today.And the shift is towards the high quality premium products.
Financial Times reports that Russia will be the third biggest chocolate market in the world, after US and the UK pretty soon.We should be eyeing this market.
Barry Callebaut announced a new Chocolate Academy in Chekhau. I love this strategy that Callebaut employs. First they provide Chocolate training. They teach people how to respect and love chocolate. Then they sell chocolate.They did the same in India and China. Ferro built a 91million chocolate facility. And Nestle acquired one of the leading chocolate plants in Russia,Ruzskaya Confectionary Factory.
The Russian Market grows an average of 15.3% in value annually and 5.4% in volume. Which is significantly over the world market of 2%-3%. This is a reflection of the increased wealth, of middle class, urban Russians, growing from $160 a month in 2002 to $540 today.And the shift is towards the high quality premium products.
Financial Times reports that Russia will be the third biggest chocolate market in the world, after US and the UK pretty soon.We should be eyeing this market.
STRONG CHOCOLATE AND THE FRAGILE ECONOMY.
Employees of Lehman Brothers, it seems, are rushing to use the pre-pay canteen cards in buying hundreds of bars of chocolate.Before the permanently leave the building, as it were. Also roasted coffee and other non-perishables. So reported the Financial times early this week. Obviously this is very wise of Lehman bankers. Chocolate can be a very good anti-depressant.
We in Indonesia felt the shock waves this week. There were lots of stock brokers on Monday who downgraded from the posher restaurants at Pacific Place(opposite the Stock Exchange) to Wendy's and the Food Court.
As someone who sells chocolate I was somewhat comforted to hear that Mintel reports chocolate consumption will continue on track with an annual increase of 4%(US projection) in the next six years. The market research company says that chocolate is recession-proof. People, said a spokesman of the company, might cut back but they wont give up on their daily indulgences, like chocolate.
In Europe sales of dark chocolate hit 106million Euros. This is an astonishing increase of 96% between 2005 and 2007. A five percent growth is expected in 2008.
In Indonesia, fortunately this is the peak season and supermarkets report sales of chocolate confectionery, especially in multi-packs and chocolate coated wafers and biscuits are up 60% over the July sales.
Here we, expect for the upper-income groups, indulgence does not extend to chocolates. People simply switch from more expensive bars to chocolate snacks. This makes sense during rising food prices(60% of the average Indonesian household expenditure goes to food)as a bar of a 200gm chocolate bar can cost as much as two days of family meals for a lower middle income family.
The good thing is the stronger activity during recession from home food industries.
Baking and chocolate snacks produced by home industries find good acceptance in the neighbourhood. Thankfully they do well enough to generate cash-flow. If they ever collapse they cannot expect the sort of concern or assistance as Lehman's or AIG received.Although you and I know, who is the more deserving.
We in Indonesia felt the shock waves this week. There were lots of stock brokers on Monday who downgraded from the posher restaurants at Pacific Place(opposite the Stock Exchange) to Wendy's and the Food Court.
As someone who sells chocolate I was somewhat comforted to hear that Mintel reports chocolate consumption will continue on track with an annual increase of 4%(US projection) in the next six years. The market research company says that chocolate is recession-proof. People, said a spokesman of the company, might cut back but they wont give up on their daily indulgences, like chocolate.
In Europe sales of dark chocolate hit 106million Euros. This is an astonishing increase of 96% between 2005 and 2007. A five percent growth is expected in 2008.
In Indonesia, fortunately this is the peak season and supermarkets report sales of chocolate confectionery, especially in multi-packs and chocolate coated wafers and biscuits are up 60% over the July sales.
Here we, expect for the upper-income groups, indulgence does not extend to chocolates. People simply switch from more expensive bars to chocolate snacks. This makes sense during rising food prices(60% of the average Indonesian household expenditure goes to food)as a bar of a 200gm chocolate bar can cost as much as two days of family meals for a lower middle income family.
The good thing is the stronger activity during recession from home food industries.
Baking and chocolate snacks produced by home industries find good acceptance in the neighbourhood. Thankfully they do well enough to generate cash-flow. If they ever collapse they cannot expect the sort of concern or assistance as Lehman's or AIG received.Although you and I know, who is the more deserving.
Wednesday 17 September 2008
WHAT QUALIFICATIONS DO YOU NEED TO BE A CHOCOLATIER?
Suddenly the banker down the street I live has started to produce some rather pleasant and creative pralines in her kitchen.She has had no experience in chocolate making.She just loved chocolate. It makes me wonder what kind of experience do you really need to become a cholatier, specifically an artisan chocolatier? Can Dick Cheney or Sarah Palin become chocolatiers?
Over in San Francisco,a guy who built vision-tracking systems for NASA space shuttles is now a very respected artisan chocolatier. And don't forget Art Pollard, who studied physics and was a software developer, founded Amano Chocolate up there in the Utah mountains.
The NASA guy is Tim Childs.The quality you need most to be a good chocolatier, he says,"Be obsessed. Be very obsessed."There is hope for me! Tim says he was "seduced by the bean" This quote I love:"On a molecular level, making chocolate is enrapturing".
Tim ignores the usually way of classifying chocolate by the cocoa content or even origin. Imagine, he says, settling down with a good book and a bar of chocolate that says 60% cocoa. What does the number mean? However if you sit down with a good book and a chocolate that says "Nutty" you will immediately anticipate a nutty taste. You have chosen it because you were curious to taste how chocolate on its own can be nutty.
It is obvious, Tim adds, that without context and meaning, complete enjoyment of chocolate is impossible.
Tim sources some of his beans from a Peruvian Cooperative farm discovered accidentally. They were already well experienced in flaor nuances growing coffee. Having decided to grow cocoa alongside, their treated their new crops and beans with love, care and of course obsession. The cocoa not only tastes great but is distinct in genetics and terroir. After much testing and tasting down at the lab Tim coaxed the "Nutty" flavor, stealthily out.
It is my hope that Tim and the new crop of high-tech chocolatiers will travel down this way through the Indonesian archipelago to discover some unique cocoas. I believe that some of our littler plantations are truly destined for artisans.
Tim says that that classifying chocolate bars by cocoa content simply does not equate. Instead he labels his bars as,"Nutty", "Fruity", "Earthy".
, "Floral","Citrus" and "Chocolatey".People buy food and wine by flavor, don't they?
I presume, that is also why the banker down my street, sold out all her pralines.
The bars come in plain brown packs labelled "beta".Curiously it seems to added some intrigue and even appetite appeal. Besides being inviting. Tim, I am happy to say sells his chocolates the way I(and my friend the banker down the road) do, through special, interesting and fun social channels.
This morning's news on the global economy was very bleak. However I take some consolation from Joan Steier, President of Chocolate Marketing LLC, who said," Chocolate is an affordable indulgence. No matter how difficult economic times get, we will always treat ourselves." Eapecially as it never seems to stop being surprising.
Over in San Francisco,a guy who built vision-tracking systems for NASA space shuttles is now a very respected artisan chocolatier. And don't forget Art Pollard, who studied physics and was a software developer, founded Amano Chocolate up there in the Utah mountains.
The NASA guy is Tim Childs.The quality you need most to be a good chocolatier, he says,"Be obsessed. Be very obsessed."There is hope for me! Tim says he was "seduced by the bean" This quote I love:"On a molecular level, making chocolate is enrapturing".
Tim ignores the usually way of classifying chocolate by the cocoa content or even origin. Imagine, he says, settling down with a good book and a bar of chocolate that says 60% cocoa. What does the number mean? However if you sit down with a good book and a chocolate that says "Nutty" you will immediately anticipate a nutty taste. You have chosen it because you were curious to taste how chocolate on its own can be nutty.
It is obvious, Tim adds, that without context and meaning, complete enjoyment of chocolate is impossible.
Tim sources some of his beans from a Peruvian Cooperative farm discovered accidentally. They were already well experienced in flaor nuances growing coffee. Having decided to grow cocoa alongside, their treated their new crops and beans with love, care and of course obsession. The cocoa not only tastes great but is distinct in genetics and terroir. After much testing and tasting down at the lab Tim coaxed the "Nutty" flavor, stealthily out.
It is my hope that Tim and the new crop of high-tech chocolatiers will travel down this way through the Indonesian archipelago to discover some unique cocoas. I believe that some of our littler plantations are truly destined for artisans.
Tim says that that classifying chocolate bars by cocoa content simply does not equate. Instead he labels his bars as,"Nutty", "Fruity", "Earthy".
, "Floral","Citrus" and "Chocolatey".People buy food and wine by flavor, don't they?
I presume, that is also why the banker down my street, sold out all her pralines.
The bars come in plain brown packs labelled "beta".Curiously it seems to added some intrigue and even appetite appeal. Besides being inviting. Tim, I am happy to say sells his chocolates the way I(and my friend the banker down the road) do, through special, interesting and fun social channels.
This morning's news on the global economy was very bleak. However I take some consolation from Joan Steier, President of Chocolate Marketing LLC, who said," Chocolate is an affordable indulgence. No matter how difficult economic times get, we will always treat ourselves." Eapecially as it never seems to stop being surprising.
Tuesday 16 September 2008
THE SECRET OF BACAN
What or who is Bacan. Till last night I had absolutely no idea but would have that it was probably a town inland Columbia. As it turned out Bacan was in my backyard. An American teacher, with a name I never heard before Imogen,wrote me that it was the prettiest island of the Maluku bunch of islands.
The island's main town is backed by a huge mass of flat topped Mount Sibela nearly 2220 meters high.It is almost always shrouded by clouds. A lake it is said, Imogen never found out,to fill a crater with a small island protruding from it.King sized butterflies,flush with 12 colours live around here.I readup the British naturalist Sir Alfred Wallace caugt one with a wing span of half a meter.Thereupon he had a headache for the rest of the day so great was the excitement.
But what Imogen thought would interest me most was the what seemed to be on a small island, a large number of cocoa plantations. It seems that small plantations line the roads. On the roadsides, almost in front of most homes, families dry the cocoa beans on mats. Their is a vinegary smell all around.They are regretfully not fermented.
Chinese traders come along on motorbikes and buy up the beans and they finally end up with buyers in Sulawesi.
The hills of Bacan it are rumored hold small deposits of gold, copper and precious stones of many colors. But the coast there are small pearl industries.Another industry on this busy is tuna freezing to export to Japan.
I gather there is much mystic here to grandly surround adventurous chocolatiers.
The island's main town is backed by a huge mass of flat topped Mount Sibela nearly 2220 meters high.It is almost always shrouded by clouds. A lake it is said, Imogen never found out,to fill a crater with a small island protruding from it.King sized butterflies,flush with 12 colours live around here.I readup the British naturalist Sir Alfred Wallace caugt one with a wing span of half a meter.Thereupon he had a headache for the rest of the day so great was the excitement.
But what Imogen thought would interest me most was the what seemed to be on a small island, a large number of cocoa plantations. It seems that small plantations line the roads. On the roadsides, almost in front of most homes, families dry the cocoa beans on mats. Their is a vinegary smell all around.They are regretfully not fermented.
Chinese traders come along on motorbikes and buy up the beans and they finally end up with buyers in Sulawesi.
The hills of Bacan it are rumored hold small deposits of gold, copper and precious stones of many colors. But the coast there are small pearl industries.Another industry on this busy is tuna freezing to export to Japan.
I gather there is much mystic here to grandly surround adventurous chocolatiers.
Monday 15 September 2008
NOW IS THE BEST TIME TO VISIT INDONESIA.
Most travel savvy people will strongly advice you not to visit this archipelago between now and mid-October.This is very misguided advice.
Between now and 30 September, 20million Indonesians will be on the move. Overseas Indonesians will fly in from almost anywhere in the world, even the unlikeliest of places like Des Moines,Mbabane,Talling and Perivolia.We do get around, you know. All internal Indonesia airlines, railways, buses, taxis, motorcycle taxis will be full booked to carry people working in the coastal areas to the interiors. A staggeringly vast exodus to meet their husbands, wives,siblings, children, parents and others to celebrate Idil Fitri together. Nowhere, absolutely nowhere in the world, would you be able witness anything like this. Would you dare miss this? Would you ever forgive yourself for missing this very emotionally charged exodus atmosphere and the swelling your heart?I don't know about you but it brings tears to my eyes.
It is still Ramadan now when all Muslims in Indonesia fast from sunrise to sunset. They will still be observing the fast when they travel in hot and crowded buses, in trains and say no(gratefully)to the stale airline snack boxes.
About 3million travel home to their villages on motorbikes, often over distances over 300 hot and dusty kilometers on the island of Java. Many carry their families with them. Two million or so go bumper-to-bumper by car. The roads understandably are clogged from start to end. The buses jerk on fitfully. The last time it happened in history, but not in such large numbers, was when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Thanks to modern logistics our people will not wander about lost. There will also be many miracles on the way. Nearly all will arrive safely at their destinations and celebrate Idil Fitri.
Right now all the potential travellers are busy shopping for gifts for the relatives back home and gifts to exchange and distribute to whole villages.Generosity, forgiveness and goodwill are all an essential part of this festive period. Supermarkets report a magnificent increase in multi-pack chocolate wafers, chocolate biscuits and chocolate confectionery. Carrefour estimates that their chocolate and snacks sales will increase by over 60% during this period over the corresponding period and category of an average month in the first half. That's no small change considering their expected turnover of some Rp8.5 trillion in 2008.
Some 36 airlines travel to Indonesia. If you leave now you will make it on time. How you get around to the rest of the country, once you get to Jakarta depends on your ingenuity. Over here, believe me, nothing is really impossible. The best way is of course to hire a motorbike taxi. There will still be some cruising around forlorn in an almost empty Jakarta. They will be delighted to take you anywhere.You can actually tour the countryside and witness the on going exodus safely.
Jakarta, is a city I love at the busiest of times. When roads are packed with APVs, BMWs and on on. Plus weaving millions of motorbikes, a horse cart or two, and some food and other types of hand carts. But after the exodus,the peace that descends is equally as fascinating. Resident expatriates are stupefied by this extraordinary atmosphere. Instead of roller skating on the main street or other things that resident expatriates should do, they sat stunned and stayed home watching the whole thing on Metro TV.
If you visit, Jakarta will be a lovely place to walk about. No motorbikes will brush past you on the pavements, all the pickpockets would have left, leaving only some sad bankers who have to keep the economy moving. There wont be any queues at ATMs, Supermarket counters, you wont have jostle for space with your tray at the magnificent food courts and you can enjoy the cool luxury of your own emptied,generously personalised theatres showing the latest of Hollywood blockbusters.
Many of the other coastal cities will also be partially emptied and it will be a good opportunity to do a lot of peaceful walking around. During the four days or so around Idil Fitri, which actuall falls on the 1st and 2nd of October, airline, rail and bus transportation is quite easy to obtain.
Around the 5th of October the reverse exodus from the interior to the coast begings again.You can watch and welcome the happy and somewhat dusty and exhausted returnees before returning to Finland or wherever you had come from. Do visit us.
Between now and 30 September, 20million Indonesians will be on the move. Overseas Indonesians will fly in from almost anywhere in the world, even the unlikeliest of places like Des Moines,Mbabane,Talling and Perivolia.We do get around, you know. All internal Indonesia airlines, railways, buses, taxis, motorcycle taxis will be full booked to carry people working in the coastal areas to the interiors. A staggeringly vast exodus to meet their husbands, wives,siblings, children, parents and others to celebrate Idil Fitri together. Nowhere, absolutely nowhere in the world, would you be able witness anything like this. Would you dare miss this? Would you ever forgive yourself for missing this very emotionally charged exodus atmosphere and the swelling your heart?I don't know about you but it brings tears to my eyes.
It is still Ramadan now when all Muslims in Indonesia fast from sunrise to sunset. They will still be observing the fast when they travel in hot and crowded buses, in trains and say no(gratefully)to the stale airline snack boxes.
About 3million travel home to their villages on motorbikes, often over distances over 300 hot and dusty kilometers on the island of Java. Many carry their families with them. Two million or so go bumper-to-bumper by car. The roads understandably are clogged from start to end. The buses jerk on fitfully. The last time it happened in history, but not in such large numbers, was when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Thanks to modern logistics our people will not wander about lost. There will also be many miracles on the way. Nearly all will arrive safely at their destinations and celebrate Idil Fitri.
Right now all the potential travellers are busy shopping for gifts for the relatives back home and gifts to exchange and distribute to whole villages.Generosity, forgiveness and goodwill are all an essential part of this festive period. Supermarkets report a magnificent increase in multi-pack chocolate wafers, chocolate biscuits and chocolate confectionery. Carrefour estimates that their chocolate and snacks sales will increase by over 60% during this period over the corresponding period and category of an average month in the first half. That's no small change considering their expected turnover of some Rp8.5 trillion in 2008.
Some 36 airlines travel to Indonesia. If you leave now you will make it on time. How you get around to the rest of the country, once you get to Jakarta depends on your ingenuity. Over here, believe me, nothing is really impossible. The best way is of course to hire a motorbike taxi. There will still be some cruising around forlorn in an almost empty Jakarta. They will be delighted to take you anywhere.You can actually tour the countryside and witness the on going exodus safely.
Jakarta, is a city I love at the busiest of times. When roads are packed with APVs, BMWs and on on. Plus weaving millions of motorbikes, a horse cart or two, and some food and other types of hand carts. But after the exodus,the peace that descends is equally as fascinating. Resident expatriates are stupefied by this extraordinary atmosphere. Instead of roller skating on the main street or other things that resident expatriates should do, they sat stunned and stayed home watching the whole thing on Metro TV.
If you visit, Jakarta will be a lovely place to walk about. No motorbikes will brush past you on the pavements, all the pickpockets would have left, leaving only some sad bankers who have to keep the economy moving. There wont be any queues at ATMs, Supermarket counters, you wont have jostle for space with your tray at the magnificent food courts and you can enjoy the cool luxury of your own emptied,generously personalised theatres showing the latest of Hollywood blockbusters.
Many of the other coastal cities will also be partially emptied and it will be a good opportunity to do a lot of peaceful walking around. During the four days or so around Idil Fitri, which actuall falls on the 1st and 2nd of October, airline, rail and bus transportation is quite easy to obtain.
Around the 5th of October the reverse exodus from the interior to the coast begings again.You can watch and welcome the happy and somewhat dusty and exhausted returnees before returning to Finland or wherever you had come from. Do visit us.
Saturday 13 September 2008
THE OLDEST CHOCOLATE IN THE WORLD.
Traces of oldest chocolate in the world was found in an ancient pottery vessel in southeastern Mexico in a place known as Paso de la Amada. Paso de la Amada , an early village, in the region of Soconusco. It was one of the richest cocoa producing regions in pre-Spanish America.
This discovery pushes the earliest use of cocoa to between 1500 and 1900BC. It mas made by analysing the pottery from the site.This site has already shown evidence of a complex society.
In a report in Mexicon,the insides of 16 vessels found at Paso de la Amada were scraped. Jeffrey Hurst at the Hershey Foods Technical Centre analysed them for cocoa. Theobromine was found in two vessels.
The results provide proof that the Mokaya people of Soconusco were involved in the production and consumption of liquid chocolate.
This discovery pushes the earliest use of cocoa to between 1500 and 1900BC. It mas made by analysing the pottery from the site.This site has already shown evidence of a complex society.
In a report in Mexicon,the insides of 16 vessels found at Paso de la Amada were scraped. Jeffrey Hurst at the Hershey Foods Technical Centre analysed them for cocoa. Theobromine was found in two vessels.
The results provide proof that the Mokaya people of Soconusco were involved in the production and consumption of liquid chocolate.
YOUR CHOCOLATES TO COST MORE?
I cant blame Bloomberg for bleak news. It seems to be the trend these days. But they reported yesterday that our(Indonesia's) cocoa production could fall by as much as 21% in three years. Due to diseases infecting crops. That not a small bunch of beans nor small in consequences considering that Indonesia is the third largest producer of cocoa beans in the world.
Bloomberg quotes Halim Razak, Chairman of the Indonesian Cocoa Association who said yesterday that annual production could fall as much as to 380,000 to 400,000 tons if the diseases are not contained.
The cocoa trees have suffered from the blight of the pod borer larvae the late rains and late flowering and the Vascular Streak Dieback disease.It is very serious because 60 percent of trees in Sulawesi, Indonesia's main cocoa producing region, have been infected.
Halim Razak said yields can fall to 380kg a hectare, from the current 500.
Yesterday's Cocoa for December Delivery fell 2.1 percent to $2,540 a ton on ICE Futures US. The most active contract reached $3,290 a ton the highest in twenty years.
Earlier the International Cocoa Organisation had predicted that Indonesia's cocoa production for 12 months, ending October may only total 480,000 tons. Indonesia produced 530,000 tons in 2007.
Last month Mars Inc, makers of M&M and Snickers, said it was girding up to persuade cocoa farmers in Indonesia to raise production by planting cloned seedlings. The Company confidently stated that cocoa has a definite future in this country. Mars is working in Sulawesi as part of a sustainability programme funded by the Indonesian Cocoa Association, Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Indonesian Government, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the International Finance Corporation.
The Indonesian Government Ministry of Industry handbook( the best I have seen) commits that Sulawesi will be developed as a cocoa producing center.
Crop diseases may cost the Indonesian Farmer as much as $388million in output losses.
Mars Symbioscience coordinator Mohd. Hussin Purong said last month that his team was trying to persuade farmers to prune or cut down diseased trees and teaching them the benefits of composting to improve yields. Compositing has revived some trees and farmers are prepared to learn about clones derived from disease resistant strains.
On the market front Hershey's have already raised prices amidst rising costs.
Bloomberg quotes Halim Razak, Chairman of the Indonesian Cocoa Association who said yesterday that annual production could fall as much as to 380,000 to 400,000 tons if the diseases are not contained.
The cocoa trees have suffered from the blight of the pod borer larvae the late rains and late flowering and the Vascular Streak Dieback disease.It is very serious because 60 percent of trees in Sulawesi, Indonesia's main cocoa producing region, have been infected.
Halim Razak said yields can fall to 380kg a hectare, from the current 500.
Yesterday's Cocoa for December Delivery fell 2.1 percent to $2,540 a ton on ICE Futures US. The most active contract reached $3,290 a ton the highest in twenty years.
Earlier the International Cocoa Organisation had predicted that Indonesia's cocoa production for 12 months, ending October may only total 480,000 tons. Indonesia produced 530,000 tons in 2007.
Last month Mars Inc, makers of M&M and Snickers, said it was girding up to persuade cocoa farmers in Indonesia to raise production by planting cloned seedlings. The Company confidently stated that cocoa has a definite future in this country. Mars is working in Sulawesi as part of a sustainability programme funded by the Indonesian Cocoa Association, Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Indonesian Government, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the International Finance Corporation.
The Indonesian Government Ministry of Industry handbook( the best I have seen) commits that Sulawesi will be developed as a cocoa producing center.
Crop diseases may cost the Indonesian Farmer as much as $388million in output losses.
Mars Symbioscience coordinator Mohd. Hussin Purong said last month that his team was trying to persuade farmers to prune or cut down diseased trees and teaching them the benefits of composting to improve yields. Compositing has revived some trees and farmers are prepared to learn about clones derived from disease resistant strains.
On the market front Hershey's have already raised prices amidst rising costs.
Friday 12 September 2008
COCOA FROM PAPUA, INDONESIA.
From a satellite map it is green, criss-crossed by numerous rivers and streams, with a mountainous backbone with some of peaks tipped with glaciers.It reminds you of Venezuela.
The river Mamberama which winds through the territory is sometimes called the Amazon of Papua.With an area of 421,981 square kilometers it has a density of 6.6 persons per kilometer, 16000 plant species and fauna which include marsupiels like possums, wallabies and tree kangaroos.
It makes news regularly because the gold and copper mining company, Freeport is located in the highlands.
Most of the cocoa plantations are on the eastern side of the territory on soils that are immensely fertile. The climate is ideally suited for quality cocoa shaded by natural jungle. According to one estimate there are some 5,900ha of small holder cocoa plantations. But the same estimate says there is potential for 305,855ha for cocoa.
Coffee, aribica, is the other cash crop that is thanks to people like Starbucks is destined, primarily because of it remoteness, to be much desired. Both the cocoa beans and coffee are flown out to traders or buyers.
Next door in Papua New Guinea, cocoa is witnessing a revival. !00,000 tons are produced by over 6,000 Small holder cocoa families. Much of this cocoa is exported to USA, Singapore, Malaysia and even to Indonesia. Germany and the UK import about 5% of cocoa from Papua New Guinea.
I have not been able to get any reliable evaluation of Papua, Indonesia cocoa beans. But I hear that international, adventurous, chocolatiers have been snooping.More information in future Blogs.
The river Mamberama which winds through the territory is sometimes called the Amazon of Papua.With an area of 421,981 square kilometers it has a density of 6.6 persons per kilometer, 16000 plant species and fauna which include marsupiels like possums, wallabies and tree kangaroos.
It makes news regularly because the gold and copper mining company, Freeport is located in the highlands.
Most of the cocoa plantations are on the eastern side of the territory on soils that are immensely fertile. The climate is ideally suited for quality cocoa shaded by natural jungle. According to one estimate there are some 5,900ha of small holder cocoa plantations. But the same estimate says there is potential for 305,855ha for cocoa.
Coffee, aribica, is the other cash crop that is thanks to people like Starbucks is destined, primarily because of it remoteness, to be much desired. Both the cocoa beans and coffee are flown out to traders or buyers.
Next door in Papua New Guinea, cocoa is witnessing a revival. !00,000 tons are produced by over 6,000 Small holder cocoa families. Much of this cocoa is exported to USA, Singapore, Malaysia and even to Indonesia. Germany and the UK import about 5% of cocoa from Papua New Guinea.
I have not been able to get any reliable evaluation of Papua, Indonesia cocoa beans. But I hear that international, adventurous, chocolatiers have been snooping.More information in future Blogs.
THE BEST CHOCOLATE BOOK IN THE WORLD.
It arrived a day early from its place of origin, Barcelona:"Ramon Morato Chocolate". judged the best Chocolate Book in the World, by the Gourmand Cookbook Awards, in London last year. A wonderful birthday present. Thank you Jose!I feel very guilty considering for your birthday, I only send you a card.
The writer is in charge of the AULA CHOCOVIC School of Chocolate. On the cover, with his rimless glasses, he looks rather like the kind of heart surgeon you might prefer to be tinkering with yours. But reality his career is enhanced with a list of accolades One that rings really great is:Artisan Confectioner, "Master of Spain".
The book is of 600 pages with 230 step-by-step recipes. Ramon Morato though top at his profession is very much academically inclined. He has a tremendous interest in research and technology. Occasionally lectures at the University of Girona.
He works closely with the Research and Development Laboratory of Chocovic. Which incidentally is headed by graduates in Chemistry, Agriculture and Biology and more relevant second degrees.
Chocovic,also has in its archives a collection chocolates recipies dating back to the eighteenth century. Many of these belonged to the noble families of Spain and are recipes that call for preparations of their own particular preferences. Ramon Morato, given his studious background, must have been inspired by them.
I am delighted to own this book. I am sure I am the only one on this archipelago.
The writer is in charge of the AULA CHOCOVIC School of Chocolate. On the cover, with his rimless glasses, he looks rather like the kind of heart surgeon you might prefer to be tinkering with yours. But reality his career is enhanced with a list of accolades One that rings really great is:Artisan Confectioner, "Master of Spain".
The book is of 600 pages with 230 step-by-step recipes. Ramon Morato though top at his profession is very much academically inclined. He has a tremendous interest in research and technology. Occasionally lectures at the University of Girona.
He works closely with the Research and Development Laboratory of Chocovic. Which incidentally is headed by graduates in Chemistry, Agriculture and Biology and more relevant second degrees.
Chocovic,also has in its archives a collection chocolates recipies dating back to the eighteenth century. Many of these belonged to the noble families of Spain and are recipes that call for preparations of their own particular preferences. Ramon Morato, given his studious background, must have been inspired by them.
I am delighted to own this book. I am sure I am the only one on this archipelago.
Tuesday 9 September 2008
SURABAYA CHOCOLATE!
A nice email from a member of the Academy of Chocolate,London alerted me to "Bonnat Srabaya Chocolat au Lait 65%" I was delighted of course because I have special fondness for Surabaya, the second largest city of Indonesia, after Jakarta, the capital.
A review describes is as a"gentle giant" among Bonnat's milk chocolates. It is mild enough for milk chocolate fans and the lack of sweetness will find it favor from those who prefer dark.
The cocoa undoubtedly comes from hand selected beans from the Katiklatak Plantation in East Java. Here cocoa is planted alongside rubber and coffee on hilly slopes refreshed by the humid breezes of the Indian Ocean.
Alex Rast describes it flavour;"starts with an olive taste with apricot an cinnamon, rum raisin, tobacco and a fresh tangy presence.
He goes on;"The first touch on the palate is light with vanilla, pistachio and citrus, then savoury, yeasty tones emerge, balanced sweetness, dark fruits, molasses, tea and fried food! After all this the flavour descends to a green tea."
It certainly, high praise for Surabaya and Java beans.
A review describes is as a"gentle giant" among Bonnat's milk chocolates. It is mild enough for milk chocolate fans and the lack of sweetness will find it favor from those who prefer dark.
The cocoa undoubtedly comes from hand selected beans from the Katiklatak Plantation in East Java. Here cocoa is planted alongside rubber and coffee on hilly slopes refreshed by the humid breezes of the Indian Ocean.
Alex Rast describes it flavour;"starts with an olive taste with apricot an cinnamon, rum raisin, tobacco and a fresh tangy presence.
He goes on;"The first touch on the palate is light with vanilla, pistachio and citrus, then savoury, yeasty tones emerge, balanced sweetness, dark fruits, molasses, tea and fried food! After all this the flavour descends to a green tea."
It certainly, high praise for Surabaya and Java beans.
COCOA FROM FLORES
If you looking for unique cocoa beans from micro plantations, then Flores is the place to go. If you are wondering where on earth is Flores, it 8 degrees below the equator, one and a half flying hours from Denpasar, Bali. There is only one flight a day do plan on staying the night.
Flores enjoyed a brief moment of glory in 2003 when paleoanthropolgists discovered a species that existed on this lush, volcanic island as recently as 11,000 BC. They closely resembled the hobbits.
The island, one of Indonesia's 17,000, is 330 km long at 70km at the widest point. It has an area of 13,540 square km and a mountainous, volcanic backbone. The highest point is 2,370 meters. Mount Kelimutu, near the sleepy capital of Ende, have a lake crater. It is unique because the waters, fed by volcanic gases, keep changing colour from bright red, to green to blue. Very recently it was turquoise.
The population of over 1.5 million is almost all Catholic. A legacy left behind by the Portuguese traders who discovered the spices of Flores back in the 16th century.
Flores devoutly produces more priests per head than any other place on earth.Several are at the Vatican.
Flores is also home of the Giant Rat, the Whales Sharks, and the notorious Komodo Dragon. This creature is grows to about 3 meters long with a face than uncannily resembles Dick Cheney's. A giant lizard, it looks deceptively docile, is a flesh eater and known to attack and chomp off bits of unsuspecting people.
Flores has suddenly come into the coffee limelight with the latest notable origin.
Flores Coffee is described by experts as being, heavy bodied,sweet, chocolaty, floral(of course)with woody notes.It is not yet listed at Starbucks menus in Jakarta.
Cocoa planted by smallholders is gradually being converted to coffee, as it is seen to be a more attention-getting and a better cash crop for now. Flores plantations that lie mainly on the Indian Ocean side of the island in the provinces of Bajawa produce just under 1000 tons of dried cocoa beans.Some fermentation is done on the island.
It is safe to conclude that Flores cocoa beans would have as much an exotica value and fine flavors and aroma to match the coffee. Purists like De Vries may find it worth days of journeying, dodging Giant Rats and Komodo Dragons, to discover some excellent beans. But they better hurry.
Flores enjoyed a brief moment of glory in 2003 when paleoanthropolgists discovered a species that existed on this lush, volcanic island as recently as 11,000 BC. They closely resembled the hobbits.
The island, one of Indonesia's 17,000, is 330 km long at 70km at the widest point. It has an area of 13,540 square km and a mountainous, volcanic backbone. The highest point is 2,370 meters. Mount Kelimutu, near the sleepy capital of Ende, have a lake crater. It is unique because the waters, fed by volcanic gases, keep changing colour from bright red, to green to blue. Very recently it was turquoise.
The population of over 1.5 million is almost all Catholic. A legacy left behind by the Portuguese traders who discovered the spices of Flores back in the 16th century.
Flores devoutly produces more priests per head than any other place on earth.Several are at the Vatican.
Flores is also home of the Giant Rat, the Whales Sharks, and the notorious Komodo Dragon. This creature is grows to about 3 meters long with a face than uncannily resembles Dick Cheney's. A giant lizard, it looks deceptively docile, is a flesh eater and known to attack and chomp off bits of unsuspecting people.
Flores has suddenly come into the coffee limelight with the latest notable origin.
Flores Coffee is described by experts as being, heavy bodied,sweet, chocolaty, floral(of course)with woody notes.It is not yet listed at Starbucks menus in Jakarta.
Cocoa planted by smallholders is gradually being converted to coffee, as it is seen to be a more attention-getting and a better cash crop for now. Flores plantations that lie mainly on the Indian Ocean side of the island in the provinces of Bajawa produce just under 1000 tons of dried cocoa beans.Some fermentation is done on the island.
It is safe to conclude that Flores cocoa beans would have as much an exotica value and fine flavors and aroma to match the coffee. Purists like De Vries may find it worth days of journeying, dodging Giant Rats and Komodo Dragons, to discover some excellent beans. But they better hurry.
Sunday 7 September 2008
HEALTHY CHOCOLATE,NON-CRUMBLE COOKIES AND GORRILAS.
This is going to be a specially good week for chocolates and snacks. On September 8 following a surge of more healthy food trends, Mars will announce a set of nutritional improvements to it core chocolate range in the UK with benefits that will spread globally in due course.
The famous MARS bar along with Twix, Milky Way and Snickers(which is available here in Indonesia) will all become free of preservatives, flavourings and artificial colours.All these product packs will also feature clearer nutritional labelling with guidelines of daily amounts of calorie, salt,sugar and fat intakes.
Milky Way, Maltesers, MARS and twix will contain less than 100 calories each.
ASDA's bakery team has discovered the non-crumble cookie even when you dunk i9t into your coffee. It will retain its shape even after it hits any liquid you happen to be sipping, even hot chocolate.
It took nine months to develop this cookie from a combination of oats and honey.
Cadbury has brought back the "GORILLA" and "TRUCKS" which were absolutely delightful in a 17million English Pounds campaign breaking on 5th September.The ads promote Cadbury's big claim of "Glass and a Half Full Production". You can view these great ads at www.aglassandahalffullpromotions.com.
The famous MARS bar along with Twix, Milky Way and Snickers(which is available here in Indonesia) will all become free of preservatives, flavourings and artificial colours.All these product packs will also feature clearer nutritional labelling with guidelines of daily amounts of calorie, salt,sugar and fat intakes.
Milky Way, Maltesers, MARS and twix will contain less than 100 calories each.
ASDA's bakery team has discovered the non-crumble cookie even when you dunk i9t into your coffee. It will retain its shape even after it hits any liquid you happen to be sipping, even hot chocolate.
It took nine months to develop this cookie from a combination of oats and honey.
Cadbury has brought back the "GORILLA" and "TRUCKS" which were absolutely delightful in a 17million English Pounds campaign breaking on 5th September.The ads promote Cadbury's big claim of "Glass and a Half Full Production". You can view these great ads at www.aglassandahalffullpromotions.com.
THE BIG ARCHEPELAGO FAMILY
I have been jostling to put Indonesia and particularly Java on the professional chocolate map in my Blogs.I am pleased it has evoked some interest. Several readers have mailed me to tell more about Indonesia. "What's the country really like?" What they mean is, tell us something about the romance and spirit of your country that the Internet can't.
The most amazing thing about Indonesia, which even as an Indonesian I can never cease to marvel at,is its spirit of family. It reflects in its geography. Imagine 1700 scattered islands that lie between the Indian and Pacific oceans now calls itself one big Indonesian family. Admittedly in the 63 years of independence, there have been a few(indeed less than you can count on one hand)problems of integration. Indonesia now is the biggest knit family of islands in the world. The area in length stretches as far as from San Francisco to the Bahamas. And almost equally as broad.
The family spirit transcends the 24different ethnic groups and some 700 dialects. My wife's grandmother from Central Java speaks no Indonesian nor English(the second language in most schools). I don't speak her dialect which is Javanese(which is derived from Sanskrit). However family feelings prevail and she thinks that I am a jolly good sort of fellow.
Togetherness and family loyalty seems to be inbred into our psyche. Land at our airport. It is called Sukarno-Hatta International Airport. It is named after the first President and Vice President of Indonesia. One was demagogue. The other a quiet scholarly man. A very unlikely pair as you can find. Yet together, forever in all probability.
If you arrive on a Sunday, you see immediately, motorcycles carrying entire families whizzing around, taking the air or simply going for a spin. On a single motorcycle is not unusual to find father(the driver) mother, one child in front and two between father and mother. Perhaps even grandma behind mother deftly balanced on the licence plate.
The motorcycle is transportation during weekdays and family vehicle during weekends. The more affluent cram entire families into the APVs and take of to the mountains, 3 hours away or to the malls around almost every corner in the bigger cities. The humbler use bicycles for the same purpose. If I attempt to describe their weekend use I fear you may not believe me.
At weekends it is delightful to watch Indonesian families at lunch in restaurants. Tables are hastily joined together by the waiters and the family of a dozen of so take their places. Grandpa and grandma have the places of honour. The children are send to the restaurant play area(almost all family restaurants have a play area)to go completely berserk.
In a family it is also fascinating to see the differences between members. There will one or two devout Muslims with head scarfs,a "punk" rocker with Mohawk haircut dyed brilliantly pink, a serious fellow who could be an investment manager at Goldman Sachs, a stunningly pretty mother, a teenage son carefully modelled after Harry Potter and a teenage daughter examining her split ends with concern.
The "chief organiser" an efficient faced woman determines what goes to whom. She decides who get the last fried prawn, who should eat more greens and who should stay away from the fried potato patties.Her husband,obviously a civil servant, with years of practice to his credit,passes out the dishes. A most diverse group but undoubtedly one happy family.
When they begin to dine some eat elegantly with their fingers and other daintily with cutlery. The table is laden with food.They eat heartily and appreciatively. Obesity is not yet a problem in Indonesia but there is concern about it.
When they finish and pass my family of four at our table, they smile kindly, sympathising at our sparsely laden table and tiny nuclear family.We smile and nod back not without some envy.
We spoil our children no end. We allow then to stay up late. Let them watch Disney channel and Cartoon Network whenever they wish. They shout, they scream their guts out.
When they grow up we send them off to universities in the USA or Australia and sit back with relief and fan ourselves. They come back and look after us. Pile us in their shiny new APVs and take us to the mountains and treat us to lavish meals for the rest of our lives. There is no talk about old aged homes, ever.
In spite of their riotous behaviour at home our children behave almost impeccably in school. Schools are usually very peaceful places and envied by teachers from other countries.Everything goes nice and orderly by the bell.
Indonesia, you must have often heard is 80% Muslim. The rest of the population of some 240 million, are Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and others.However it a secular country. Every Friday the mosques fill and their prayers reverberate throughout the 17,000 islands. A Christian like myself has the comforting feeling of being surrounded by prayers. On Sunday the churches are packed and if you are a little late there is only standing space at the back.
There are undoubtedly differences of opinion but more often than not the one family spirit prevails. We are now in the Holy month of Ramadan, when Muslim fast from sunrise and there is much getting together of the people of different faiths to break the fast at sunset. The church I attend even lays out a break-the-fast buffet in their grounds and invites the neighbourhood.
The economic powerhouse of the country, are the small household industries. They are very much family businesses. Father, mother aunt and cousins pitch together to make everything from jewellery to clothes. Other family type businesses run hair salons,tiny neighbourhood shops,sofa-cleaning,electrical and plumbing services. Some are in the entertainment business, providing clowns,rock bands and surprising good jazz bands and magicians for birthday and wedding parties.Or to entertain the district head when he visits.
By far the mast active family industry is food. Which is not surprising because every known spice and herb grows in this archipelago. There there are as many recipes as there are entrepreneurs.It is estimated that about 60% of the population has some connection to the food industry. If you are visiting, this is instantly visible. Streets abound with restaurants of all sizes and kinds, cafes,push carts and tents.Each one runs busily on the energy of the whole family.
For a fact I know, from a data base, some 16,000 families in Java's main cities work with food involving chocolate.They are contributing in making chocolate the most favoured and fastest growing flavour in Indonesia.
It was this family power that made the country resilient during the Asian Economic Crisis. The people's cash value suffered but their cash flow kept above the troubled waters.To keep this industry powered, cash to the tune of about $40million per year flows in from Indonesians working abroad as nannies,maids, construction workers and others, to their families mainly in the villages and rural areas.
Nationwide everyone calls each other"brother" or "sister".Drive into a gas station and the attendant calls you "Abang"(Older brother)In a restaurnat you hail the waiter with "Mas"( brother).When you come across someone older, who you address gently either as "Pa" or "Bu".You may safely call a girl,"Mbak"(sister).If you are in trouble, help is spontaneous, no questions asked.Indonesians are very generous to each other.Needs are quickly covered with cash or food.
It stands to reason that if you are good to your own family, you are also kind to visitors. Tourists love the islands of Indonesia because they are indeed cared for and treated almost as much as we do for members of our own family. But you must expect some reserve. We are still quite shy and in awe of foreigners who tend to speak louder than we do.
The most amazing thing about Indonesia, which even as an Indonesian I can never cease to marvel at,is its spirit of family. It reflects in its geography. Imagine 1700 scattered islands that lie between the Indian and Pacific oceans now calls itself one big Indonesian family. Admittedly in the 63 years of independence, there have been a few(indeed less than you can count on one hand)problems of integration. Indonesia now is the biggest knit family of islands in the world. The area in length stretches as far as from San Francisco to the Bahamas. And almost equally as broad.
The family spirit transcends the 24different ethnic groups and some 700 dialects. My wife's grandmother from Central Java speaks no Indonesian nor English(the second language in most schools). I don't speak her dialect which is Javanese(which is derived from Sanskrit). However family feelings prevail and she thinks that I am a jolly good sort of fellow.
Togetherness and family loyalty seems to be inbred into our psyche. Land at our airport. It is called Sukarno-Hatta International Airport. It is named after the first President and Vice President of Indonesia. One was demagogue. The other a quiet scholarly man. A very unlikely pair as you can find. Yet together, forever in all probability.
If you arrive on a Sunday, you see immediately, motorcycles carrying entire families whizzing around, taking the air or simply going for a spin. On a single motorcycle is not unusual to find father(the driver) mother, one child in front and two between father and mother. Perhaps even grandma behind mother deftly balanced on the licence plate.
The motorcycle is transportation during weekdays and family vehicle during weekends. The more affluent cram entire families into the APVs and take of to the mountains, 3 hours away or to the malls around almost every corner in the bigger cities. The humbler use bicycles for the same purpose. If I attempt to describe their weekend use I fear you may not believe me.
At weekends it is delightful to watch Indonesian families at lunch in restaurants. Tables are hastily joined together by the waiters and the family of a dozen of so take their places. Grandpa and grandma have the places of honour. The children are send to the restaurant play area(almost all family restaurants have a play area)to go completely berserk.
In a family it is also fascinating to see the differences between members. There will one or two devout Muslims with head scarfs,a "punk" rocker with Mohawk haircut dyed brilliantly pink, a serious fellow who could be an investment manager at Goldman Sachs, a stunningly pretty mother, a teenage son carefully modelled after Harry Potter and a teenage daughter examining her split ends with concern.
The "chief organiser" an efficient faced woman determines what goes to whom. She decides who get the last fried prawn, who should eat more greens and who should stay away from the fried potato patties.Her husband,obviously a civil servant, with years of practice to his credit,passes out the dishes. A most diverse group but undoubtedly one happy family.
When they begin to dine some eat elegantly with their fingers and other daintily with cutlery. The table is laden with food.They eat heartily and appreciatively. Obesity is not yet a problem in Indonesia but there is concern about it.
When they finish and pass my family of four at our table, they smile kindly, sympathising at our sparsely laden table and tiny nuclear family.We smile and nod back not without some envy.
We spoil our children no end. We allow then to stay up late. Let them watch Disney channel and Cartoon Network whenever they wish. They shout, they scream their guts out.
When they grow up we send them off to universities in the USA or Australia and sit back with relief and fan ourselves. They come back and look after us. Pile us in their shiny new APVs and take us to the mountains and treat us to lavish meals for the rest of our lives. There is no talk about old aged homes, ever.
In spite of their riotous behaviour at home our children behave almost impeccably in school. Schools are usually very peaceful places and envied by teachers from other countries.Everything goes nice and orderly by the bell.
Indonesia, you must have often heard is 80% Muslim. The rest of the population of some 240 million, are Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and others.However it a secular country. Every Friday the mosques fill and their prayers reverberate throughout the 17,000 islands. A Christian like myself has the comforting feeling of being surrounded by prayers. On Sunday the churches are packed and if you are a little late there is only standing space at the back.
There are undoubtedly differences of opinion but more often than not the one family spirit prevails. We are now in the Holy month of Ramadan, when Muslim fast from sunrise and there is much getting together of the people of different faiths to break the fast at sunset. The church I attend even lays out a break-the-fast buffet in their grounds and invites the neighbourhood.
The economic powerhouse of the country, are the small household industries. They are very much family businesses. Father, mother aunt and cousins pitch together to make everything from jewellery to clothes. Other family type businesses run hair salons,tiny neighbourhood shops,sofa-cleaning,electrical and plumbing services. Some are in the entertainment business, providing clowns,rock bands and surprising good jazz bands and magicians for birthday and wedding parties.Or to entertain the district head when he visits.
By far the mast active family industry is food. Which is not surprising because every known spice and herb grows in this archipelago. There there are as many recipes as there are entrepreneurs.It is estimated that about 60% of the population has some connection to the food industry. If you are visiting, this is instantly visible. Streets abound with restaurants of all sizes and kinds, cafes,push carts and tents.Each one runs busily on the energy of the whole family.
For a fact I know, from a data base, some 16,000 families in Java's main cities work with food involving chocolate.They are contributing in making chocolate the most favoured and fastest growing flavour in Indonesia.
It was this family power that made the country resilient during the Asian Economic Crisis. The people's cash value suffered but their cash flow kept above the troubled waters.To keep this industry powered, cash to the tune of about $40million per year flows in from Indonesians working abroad as nannies,maids, construction workers and others, to their families mainly in the villages and rural areas.
Nationwide everyone calls each other"brother" or "sister".Drive into a gas station and the attendant calls you "Abang"(Older brother)In a restaurnat you hail the waiter with "Mas"( brother).When you come across someone older, who you address gently either as "Pa" or "Bu".You may safely call a girl,"Mbak"(sister).If you are in trouble, help is spontaneous, no questions asked.Indonesians are very generous to each other.Needs are quickly covered with cash or food.
It stands to reason that if you are good to your own family, you are also kind to visitors. Tourists love the islands of Indonesia because they are indeed cared for and treated almost as much as we do for members of our own family. But you must expect some reserve. We are still quite shy and in awe of foreigners who tend to speak louder than we do.
Friday 5 September 2008
COCOA FROM SUMATRA
You hear very little about Sumatra at cocktail parties. Yet there is enough on this island to replenish thousands of cocktail parties.
Sumatra is the largest and northern most of Indonesia's 17,000 islands. It resembles the head of a crocodile, lying in wait at the edge of the Indian ocean to devour the Malay Peninsula.
Sumatra is 470,000square kilometers and 1,790 Kim long.That makes it the sixth largest island in the world. It is inhabited by 45 million people.It it also home to 201 mammals and 580 bird species. Interesting residents include the Sumatran Tiger,Sumatran Rhinoceros,the Sumatran Elephant and the Sumatran Orang Utan.
It is separated from Java by the mysterious sounding Sunda Straits home once home of Krakatoa which blasted itself out of existence with shock waves that reached as far as the Californian coast.Another valcano rose from this spot. It is called "Anak Krakatoa" or the "Child of Karkatoa"
Its backbone of mountains reaching from far south to far north peak at some 3800 meters above sea level. This peak is an active volcano.
Sumatra was first populated in 500BC by Austronesian speaking people. In a remarkable short space of history it soon became a maritime power and even a reputed centre of learning. In 671, the Chinese Philosopher I-Ching studied Sanskrit here before sailing on to India. It was once know as "Swamadwipe", which translates as "Island of Gold".
On 26th December a 15 meter high Tsunami devastated the north of the island, Acheh.
Sumatra abounds with so many thrilling names that seem todrop out of the pages of Conrad's novels: Jambi, Palembang, Bengkulu, Pekanbaru, Lampung, Martapura, Manna, Peatangsiantar. The island is divided into half by the equator on which sits a town called Sangkalan. Of which little is known. But obviously a lot can be made of, for at least fifty or so cocktail parties.
This island provides Starbucks with a prized coffee. Which Starbucks describes as "full, syrupy body, intense and spicy, herbal with almost no acidity."
Of importance of some readers of my Blog, from Europe and the United States, Sumatra provides the world with a fine, small amount of cocoa(about 60,000 tons) from 64,000 ha of planted area, largely owned by small holders. Most of the cocoa is grown north of the island. Unlike Sulawesi, beans from Sumatra are processed.
If Geography is flavour, Sumatra beans are exotic,languorously spicy, herbal, with a strong sense of being related to Sumatra's famous coffee.Its aroma teases.It would make some very sensual pralines.Well worth an artisan's touch.
Sumatra is the largest and northern most of Indonesia's 17,000 islands. It resembles the head of a crocodile, lying in wait at the edge of the Indian ocean to devour the Malay Peninsula.
Sumatra is 470,000square kilometers and 1,790 Kim long.That makes it the sixth largest island in the world. It is inhabited by 45 million people.It it also home to 201 mammals and 580 bird species. Interesting residents include the Sumatran Tiger,Sumatran Rhinoceros,the Sumatran Elephant and the Sumatran Orang Utan.
It is separated from Java by the mysterious sounding Sunda Straits home once home of Krakatoa which blasted itself out of existence with shock waves that reached as far as the Californian coast.Another valcano rose from this spot. It is called "Anak Krakatoa" or the "Child of Karkatoa"
Its backbone of mountains reaching from far south to far north peak at some 3800 meters above sea level. This peak is an active volcano.
Sumatra was first populated in 500BC by Austronesian speaking people. In a remarkable short space of history it soon became a maritime power and even a reputed centre of learning. In 671, the Chinese Philosopher I-Ching studied Sanskrit here before sailing on to India. It was once know as "Swamadwipe", which translates as "Island of Gold".
On 26th December a 15 meter high Tsunami devastated the north of the island, Acheh.
Sumatra abounds with so many thrilling names that seem todrop out of the pages of Conrad's novels: Jambi, Palembang, Bengkulu, Pekanbaru, Lampung, Martapura, Manna, Peatangsiantar. The island is divided into half by the equator on which sits a town called Sangkalan. Of which little is known. But obviously a lot can be made of, for at least fifty or so cocktail parties.
This island provides Starbucks with a prized coffee. Which Starbucks describes as "full, syrupy body, intense and spicy, herbal with almost no acidity."
Of importance of some readers of my Blog, from Europe and the United States, Sumatra provides the world with a fine, small amount of cocoa(about 60,000 tons) from 64,000 ha of planted area, largely owned by small holders. Most of the cocoa is grown north of the island. Unlike Sulawesi, beans from Sumatra are processed.
If Geography is flavour, Sumatra beans are exotic,languorously spicy, herbal, with a strong sense of being related to Sumatra's famous coffee.Its aroma teases.It would make some very sensual pralines.Well worth an artisan's touch.
Wednesday 3 September 2008
IT'S GOT A NICE FEELING ABOUT IT.
We chocoholics are sensitive people. Especially to things that have a good feeling about it. For this reason we call two happenings this week, Chocolate Diplomacy. A pleasant surprise, a relaxing sigh and a good after taste.
Today French President Nicolas Sarkozy flies to Damascus to shake hands with Syrian President Bashar Assad with the wonderful intention of restoring relations.France currently being head of the European Union, this meeting is certainly significant.
Chocoholics appreciate any peacemaking. Damascus is a unique city. Founded around 6000BC is the longest inhabited city in the world. It has a relatively small population of 1.67million and more than 10 confectionery , chocolate and chewing gum manufacturers. The largest manufacturer is probably Swareen Chocolates. Their chocolate products are found in Europe, Middle East and Asia.
On Friday Condeleeza Rice will shake hands with Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi. What a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately she will miss the Libyan Chocolate, Coffee, Tea Trade Fair to be held later this year. Probably this is a great chance for Hersheys and Mars to participate in the Fair and spread the pleasant after taste still further and strengthen the bonds. By December Rice will be back at the University and George Bush back at the ranch.
Naturally I searched for chocolate manufacturers in Libya. Unfortunately while there are importers, there doesn't seem to be any anyone manufacturing chocolate.
There is a dubious link with chocolate and Libya. Ronald Dahl, the writer of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Dahl crashed into the Libyan desert in I940, when he was a RAF fighter pilot. Fortunately he survived to write our book.
Today French President Nicolas Sarkozy flies to Damascus to shake hands with Syrian President Bashar Assad with the wonderful intention of restoring relations.France currently being head of the European Union, this meeting is certainly significant.
Chocoholics appreciate any peacemaking. Damascus is a unique city. Founded around 6000BC is the longest inhabited city in the world. It has a relatively small population of 1.67million and more than 10 confectionery , chocolate and chewing gum manufacturers. The largest manufacturer is probably Swareen Chocolates. Their chocolate products are found in Europe, Middle East and Asia.
On Friday Condeleeza Rice will shake hands with Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi. What a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately she will miss the Libyan Chocolate, Coffee, Tea Trade Fair to be held later this year. Probably this is a great chance for Hersheys and Mars to participate in the Fair and spread the pleasant after taste still further and strengthen the bonds. By December Rice will be back at the University and George Bush back at the ranch.
Naturally I searched for chocolate manufacturers in Libya. Unfortunately while there are importers, there doesn't seem to be any anyone manufacturing chocolate.
There is a dubious link with chocolate and Libya. Ronald Dahl, the writer of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Dahl crashed into the Libyan desert in I940, when he was a RAF fighter pilot. Fortunately he survived to write our book.
Monday 1 September 2008
BELGIAN CHOCOLATE.
Isn't it quite amazing that we chocoholics here in Indonesian actually know very little about Belgium and Belgian Chocolate. Particularly since we have been told by people whose opinions we respect and by chocolatiers who have come this way that Belgian chocolates are the best in the world.
I have actually never disputed it being a person who likes to give the benefit of the doubt to authoritative people.My curiosity was tickled when I heard of Bernard van der Haegen. This gentlemen, a Belgian, actually has brought Belgian Chocolates to Mongolia! He has brought the art of making Belgian style chocolate, truffles, pralines and tablets to Ulan Bator.What missionary zeal!
Then I when I was browsing through Patricia Schultz's "1000 places you should visit before you die" I discovered that the lady recommends that I visit Mary's. Mary's is of course a chocolatier in Belgium. "It looks like a refined jeweller"' says Schultz.
Mary"s supplies the royal court of Belgium with their chocolates. The chocolates which begins from $35 a kilogram are probably what Frederick Shilling was referring to;" You can deprive the body but the soul needs chocolate."
Belgium to me was till recently a place where Europeans, historically, have used as a battleground. I suspect it still is, for it houses the European Parliament and NATO.I am gratified to learn that it produces over 170,000 tons of handmade chocolate a year from some 2000 establishments. WOW! What a paradise!
I am told that Belgian fritters are also famous.
I have actually never disputed it being a person who likes to give the benefit of the doubt to authoritative people.My curiosity was tickled when I heard of Bernard van der Haegen. This gentlemen, a Belgian, actually has brought Belgian Chocolates to Mongolia! He has brought the art of making Belgian style chocolate, truffles, pralines and tablets to Ulan Bator.What missionary zeal!
Then I when I was browsing through Patricia Schultz's "1000 places you should visit before you die" I discovered that the lady recommends that I visit Mary's. Mary's is of course a chocolatier in Belgium. "It looks like a refined jeweller"' says Schultz.
Mary"s supplies the royal court of Belgium with their chocolates. The chocolates which begins from $35 a kilogram are probably what Frederick Shilling was referring to;" You can deprive the body but the soul needs chocolate."
Belgium to me was till recently a place where Europeans, historically, have used as a battleground. I suspect it still is, for it houses the European Parliament and NATO.I am gratified to learn that it produces over 170,000 tons of handmade chocolate a year from some 2000 establishments. WOW! What a paradise!
I am told that Belgian fritters are also famous.
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