Wednesday 29 October 2008

A CHOCOLATE RECIPE IS A FRIEND.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday 28 October 2008

7 HABITS FOR AN ARTISAN CHOCOLATIER.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday 24 October 2008

OUR EXPECTIONS FROM THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tuesday 21 October 2008

BELGIUM STOPS BEING BORING.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday 18 October 2008

CHOCOLATE SNACK-THE FOURTH MEAL?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday 16 October 2008

LIVE LONGER AND HAPPIER WITH CHOCOLATE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday 15 October 2008

CHOCOLATE AND THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday 13 October 2008

CHOCOLATE PROBLEMS?

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

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

DULL PRALINES

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

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

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

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

SHINY CHOCOLATE.

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

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

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

Friday 10 October 2008

COMING SOON! MORE TO LOVE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday 8 October 2008

INFUSIONS AND CHOCOLATE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday 6 October 2008

SENIOR CITIZEN'S DILEMMA ON CHOLOLATE.

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

THE DECISION MAKERS

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

WEALTH AND POWER

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

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

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

THE RETAIL VIEW

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

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

CATEGORY MANAGEMENT

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

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

DESIGNING CHOCOLATES FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

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

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

THE AUSTRALIANS HAVE DONE IT

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

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

Saturday 4 October 2008

TRIVIAL PURSUITS IN JAKARTA.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday 2 October 2008

ENJOY LIFE! MAKE YOUR OWN CHOCOLATE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE SAFE WAY

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

THE ADVENTUROUS WAY

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

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

CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

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

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

SHAPE IT ANY WAY YOU FANCY.

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

SELL

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

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

Wednesday 1 October 2008

INTERSTELLAR CHOCOLATE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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