tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56246932298054963082024-03-13T07:10:32.345+07:00Java ChocolateJShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179328977881764409noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-62689434608305539762012-11-16T09:46:00.000+07:002012-11-16T09:46:52.434+07:00CHOCOLATE FROM FLORESIf you are interested in really miniscule cocoa plantations, then the Bajawa district of FLORES is the place you should investigate. Where on earth is Flores? Well it is eight degrees below the equator and a one and a half hour flight from Denpasar,Bali.
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Flores has a brief moment of fame in 2003 when the remains that closely resembled Hobbits was discovered by paleneoanthropolgists. They lived in these idyllic island up to as recenlty as 11,000 BC.
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Flores is one of the 17,000 islands of Indonesia. It is 330km long and about 70km wide at the widest point. Flores has an area of 13,540 square meters. The highest point is 2,370 meters. Close to the capital Ende is Kelimutu a volcano with a lake crater. Fed by volcanic gases the waters of the lake change colours from bright red to green to blue.
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The population is almost entirely Catholic and produce more priests per head than any other country in the world. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-44023726450723110272012-04-28T10:35:00.000+07:002012-04-28T10:35:35.072+07:00A CHOCOLATE SCHOOL IN JAKARTA,INDONESIA?<br />
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Yeah, yeah I know. It is the last place in the world chocolate enthusiasts expect to launch into a chocolate career by going to a school. The chances are that if you have dreams of becoming a great chocolatier, you would be considering going to school in Belgium or France. Indonesia? You must be mad, they will tell you to even allow such a thought to cross your mind.<br />
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The fact is Jakarta is a great place to go to a chocolate school. And its not because I live here. Jakarta has a long history of cocoa. I fact we had plantations here in the 1700s and were exporting cocoa to Europe in the late 18th century. Great plantations exist three to four hours from here. And it well worth a trip to just to go and look at them. They actually exist on the slopes of central mountain range and the drive up there in the morning is delightful. And the breakfast places along the way serve healthy bowls of great Java porridge. But lets get back to talking about chocolate careers and good chocolate schools.<br />
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The Chocolate School is located in Central Jakarta. Just 15 minutes from the main street down town.Here there are a variety of courses offered; A 3-Day Basic Course, Professional and Gourmet Praline Courses and even courses that tell you how to start and market chocolate. The big surprise is the faculty is headed by an experienced and professional Belgian Chocolatier. Those who has discovered the school are delighted to have discovered a "secret" where they get, as even the snootiest French visitors admit, a superior chocolate education at incredible fair tuition prices. The School has drawn students not only from all over Indonesia but also from the Philippines and from the parsimonious Singaporeans on the look out for the best bargains.All chocolate used in the courses are premium couvertures.<br />
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The school is owned by FreyAbadi, a chocolate ingredients manufacturer; a joint venture between Petra Foods, Singapore and Fuji Oil of Japan. Which are excellent credentials; Petra Foods is the fourth largest manufacturer of chocolate ingredients in the world and Fuji Oil the world's number one producer of edible vegetable fats. For more information on the School you may email me for sensible guidance; mervynpereira00@gmail.com<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-63973239942576400302009-01-16T08:15:00.011+07:002009-01-18T14:02:01.285+07:00WOULD YOU URGE YOUR CHILD TO BE A CHOCOLATIER OR A DOCTOR?Being a very practical person, wise to the ways of world, I would responsibly advice my children to be doctors. Because, from evidence evaluated today, it does not matter much whether you are a good doctor or a hopeless one. You will still make a lot of money and have a comfortable living.Unfortunately the same cannot be said of your patients. But if you are a mediocre chocolatier, you are surely headed down the rocky road of life.<br /><br />The good thing is everybody has an inborn talent waiting to blossom out to be great chefs or chocolatiers.Everyone loves to eat. Of course the majority get distracted and go into absurdities like nuclear physics. However if you are like my son, who keeps wondering and experimenting on how to make a chocolate cookie better, or his noodles more exciting or what happens if you add balsamic vinegar to rice, then it is very likely that he may see greatness in the culinary arts.And at far less cost me me than a degree in medicine or law.<br /><br />Lately I have been covertly(because my wife sees him one day as a powerfully rich unscrupulous lawyer)encouraging him to pursue his curiosity in the culinary arts. I told him about Ferran Adria who began his culinary life as a dishwasher. Then a army cook. Then joined El Bulli and 18 months(I keep stressing 18 months, because my son is terribly impatient)later became head chef of El Bulli.<br /><br />I told his about Heston Blumenthol and how this great man who after high school spend a week with Raymond Blanc and a few months with Marco Pierre White then lept into fame. I told my son that Blumenthal's mentor, Marco Pierre White started as a dishwasher at a the Hotel Saint George(which nobody has heard of) and then went on to establishments like the Box Tree, Le Gauroche and La Tante Clair. My son was very impressed as I rolled out these names in my best French.<br /><br />The point I was trying to make is that what he needed was passion not a fearfully expensive education which undoubtedly I would have to slog for till my dying days to pay. <br /><br />To be fair and balanced, as a parent must be, I told him also of Ramon Morato, probably the most famous choclatier of all. He did go to formal confectionery and chocolate schools like the National High School of Pastry, Confectionary, Ice Cream and Chocolate at Yssingeaux. I emphasised of course that Morato had won a scholarship to go there.<br /><br />To bring him back from France I quoted Ferran Adria who said, "Ideal customers dont come to El Bulli to eat, they come for the experience." And that the secret of great cooking was the contrasts in flavour, temperature and texture." The study of which, I pointed out, was ever present in the street foods of Jakarta, Indonesia. Hundreds of such excellent establishments exist minutes away from our home.<br /><br />I told my son about Heston Blumenthol's philosophy on food which was to discover and exploit the diner's perception of his expectations of types of food and surprise him or her out of their minds. That too can be studied intensively in Indonesia. After all, I reminded him that Indonesia was home to all ingredients and spices and herbs know to man. As well as all the textures and flavours and indeed temperatures. You are, I told my son, in the finest cooking environment in the world. It was these 17000 island archipelago that the world was supplied with spices for a thousand years or more. Here his vision could be as broad as he makes it. Never as blinkered as French cuisine which is over-rated, over-priced and mostly arrogance.Chic yes, but predictable.<br /><br />Coming back to my son becoming a chocolatier I told him of the passion of Charles Barry who in 1842 travelled to Africa to look for beans. Of course he should have come to Indonesia but it no good moan about it now. Besides Africa was closer. But my son can find great cocoa beans throughout our islands. Cocoa plantations existed on Sulewesi, Java, Sumetra, Papua, Maluku,West Timor, Bali, Kalimantan, Nias and Flores. His backyard was rich with exciting beans.Bernard Callebaut actually treated his father's brewery turned chocolate factory as his playroom. And eventually learned all the secrets of making chocolate. A bit of apprenticeship with chocolaterie Menunier and off to Calgary, Canada where, much against all advice from snooty Europeans, he started his own thriving chocolate factories.<br /><br />In Indonesia my son would find in most communities at least one home industry engaged in baking or chocolate or both.And because these homes dream of sending off their children to universities the motivation to successfully compete and innovate, throbs relentlessly. The country, without exaggeration is an backyard university campus in the craft of chocolate.The best best thing about it was the chocolate created was unique to the country and relevant to consumer needs. This country being the third largest consumer market in Asia, its an opportunity and challenge not to be sneezed.<br /><br />Summing up, I told my son, he may not make as much money as a lousy doctor or an unscrupulous lawyer, nor afford a divorce(which he thinks is mandatory on a route to fame), but he may well be able to afford the Honda he seamed to take a fancy for. Unless of course he can reach the heights of Ramon Morato or Ferran Adria. Here, to be fair, I told him that El Bulli actually operates at a loss. They make their money on their books.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-84962188130128264552009-01-15T16:09:00.005+07:002009-01-15T16:27:44.796+07:00CHOCOLATE FOR SLIMMING?It had to come from Japan. A friend gave me a pack of CHOCO LADY. At first I thought it was a cosmetic of some sort. It turned out to be slimming pellets. Made of chocolate they had baked biscuit centers. The pellets, I was informed were enriched with polysaccharide(mushroom citosan) that the manufacturers claim will prevent the absorption of fat. If you are enticed, it is recommended that you eat five pellets before a greasy meal. My pack contained a seven-day supply. However if you are particularly addicted to greasy meals a thirty-day convenient pack is also available.In spit of its name, it is claimed to be suitable for men as well.<br />The product is manufactured by Oacac, Japan.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-68678639165259760442009-01-03T08:41:00.005+07:002009-01-03T09:29:49.634+07:00YEAR OF COMPOUND CHOCOLATE?In some elite circles Compound Chocolate is rarely, if ever, mentioned.Among practical groups, it is chocolate. It is what they work with. During the holiday season we saw lots and lots of compound chocolate being used for confectionery, baking, snacks, beverages and innovations.<br /><br />The reasons for using compounds are several. First it is easy and quick to prepare for use. It is great for meeting large volume orders. Second it is cheaper that couverture which means the price to the consumer can be kept, "reasonable." Thirdly we found that the average festive consumers enjoyed them their chocolate, joyously.<br /><br />Though we found that compound lacked the shine of courverture we were able to give every product we made a rich and "chocolate intense" appearance. To vary tastes, we got different quality brands and mixed them in various proportions and developed some very interesting variances. We used it for toppings, fillings, rum balls, liqueur chocolates,and as thick spreads, which gave a crunchy bite, between chocolate cake layers. We tried wine infusions and though we had some experts advising, they didn't quite work out. <br /><br />Under the category of innovations we found that compound chocolate readily accepted spices like cardamon, chili, cumin, peppers and salts. With grains of undissolved sugar and shavings of caramel they were very intriguing, delicious and delivered a great mouth experience.<br /><br />It also turned out good with slightly over-roasted nuts, especially cashews, which we placed whole for better bite sensations. Walnuts were hard to get and expensive but sugared or salted or both they proved popular and were sell-outs. Marshmallows, very thinly coated worked well. The artists among us made snowflakes, stars and snowballs that glittered.<br /><br />Under the present economic condition, home industries will work more with compounds. New comers will also find compound chocolate a good and profitable beginning.<br /><br />And I wonder if you noticed that chocolate boutiques and hotel outlets have raised their chocolate and chocolate dessert prices or reduced the portions appreciably?<br /><br />Chinese New Year is around the corner. For us it will be more innovations with friendly compounds.It is the Year of the Ox. Recommendations are to be patient, pragmatic, sensible, methodical and generous.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-74489644839528432452008-12-15T07:16:00.013+07:002009-01-12T16:15:11.964+07:0010 NEW TRENDS IN CHOCOLATE,Life is tough out there for all of us. Some people consider it frivolous of me to keep on blogging about chocolate. Well for lots of us, both those who produce chocolate and those that eat chocolate, life is still has some joys. Christmas may not see turkey on our tables, but there will be chicken at least and chocolate pudding at the end.With glasses of home-made wine. It is going to be sustainable years for chocolatiers from 2009 on. Chocolate trends that have begun in a small way during the last decade are favourably gathering momentum. <br /><br />1) Chocolate is being less regarded as a snack. It is now being respected as a food. There is no need to elaborate of the nutritional and health benefits of chocolate, they are already well known. Large companies like Nestle and Mars have very responsibly begun to move with these trends. In time manufacturers will make demands on suppliers to provide types of chocolate that are aimed at the "chocolate-food" market.<br /><br />2)Artisans are becoming a major force in chocolate. Artisans with "there are more horizons" atitude are leading the trend rather than those who are mired down by traditional and dour thinking. Artisans in the US are taking the lead. The grouping of Art Pollard, Shawn Askinosie, Alex Whitmore(Taza)DeVries, Alan McClure(Patric) will undoubtly grow in numbers and in setting some exciting trends. Surely Tim Childs, Pierre Marcolini, Ramon Morato(Chocovic),Michael Cluize among others will soon join the ranks. I hope they let Clothilde Dusoulier join too for being, if not a pure artisan, the best looking chocolatier in the world.<br /><br />Here in Indonesia there are a small group of artisans producing some great chocolate too. We have vast potential to grow in numbers and skills using our own resources.<br /><br />3)The focus of the cocoa BEAN will shift from the Americas and Africa to South East Asia. And I hope to even parts of north Australia.From Vietnam to the Northern Territory of Australia to Vanuatu,lies vast unexplored resources for great cocoa. There are no less than half a million plantations within this area. The soils and climate of this region undoubtly produce some of the best flavours and sensations waiting to be discovered. The adventure of discovery of cocoa is endless. I hope the artisans from the United States, and Europe, with pack their rucksacks and come here. Let me assure you that in this area there are no adverse issues on Fair Trade nor Child Labour. You can go searching with a clear conscience.<br /><br />4)Premium Chocolate segment is growing. Though now only 10 percent of the total chocolate market and about $12.9billion in value, Nestle estimates that it will soon grow to $14 billion. Growth of premium chocolate in 2007 over 2006 was 18%. Premium chocolate is steadily encroaching on and influencing the mainstream. In effect this means that mainstream will have to seeks news ways to convert chocolate from a snack, often frivolous, to a god healthy food. The Food Services industry will also be demanding not just great taste, but also great goodness and suitable credentials.<br /><br />5)That Belgian chocolate is the best in the world will be relegated to the book of myths. The widely held belief, particularly among the Swiss, that Swiss chocolate is inimitable will be of no consequence. European chocolate with have to revent itself with a promise of "adventure" in every bite.Verona is sitting too contentedly on its laurels and Lindt has caught the "drift" and making some tentative forays.Spain is the exception and continues to show flair and passion.Having brought chocolate to Europe in the 16th century they have the responsibility to revent chocolate for the rest of Europe.<br /><br />New Tree says it's Belgian Chocolate. Thought it has broken away from the dour traditions of Belgium Chocolate and have launched a very innovative range that may point the way to the future of marketing and even pricing chocolate.<br /><br />6)The next artisans will be adventurers. They may be Asian or others. For Asians the good beans, exciting beans, are in their own backyard. The experienced and adventurous Americans, must expand their horizons. Some merely have scratched the surface in Asia-Pacific.But pottering around is not real adventure and often results in inaccuracies or simply with convenient stories.But at least it has been a tentative poke into the unknown.<br /><br />7) Innovation, some of which was seen at the recent HIE show in Paris, is the next big word in chocolate after Adventure. Natra, of Spain has made some early entry inby adding Omega-3 and fibre. Conveniently Natra owns 50% stake in the Natraceutical Group. There is a promise of more to come, not just in health aspects but also in tastes and flavour surprises, or all three.<br /><br />8)Should cocoa continue to be classified as Criollo, Forestero and Trinitano? Or should we start classifying cocoa,rationally, according to origin? Is Criollo still to be consdered as the superior bean? The debate will begin and my guess is that we go will go the wine way.<br /><br />9)Mainstream chocolate will become smaller, chunkier,milk rich or cocoa rich, healthy of course, nutritious and need-occassion targeted(as opposed to youth-occassion targeted).Natra-Natraceutical type alliances may help. Appeal not just to the mouth but also to the intellect.<br /><br />10)It will all begin at the farm.With happy,coco-wise, chocolate-wise,farmers. Farmers admit to being somewhat intimidated by the "big guys".So this is precisely i where farmers,artisans, the small bakers, horeca,home industries,smaller processors and manufacturers and others can all work towards interesting, involved and personalised relationships.<br /><br />11)There is one more. Start a trend. Get your children interested in becoming professional chocolatiers rather than lawyers and bankers.There could be money in it as well as the immense possibility of them growing up to be good people too.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-87304942493947896892008-12-03T10:14:00.009+07:002008-12-03T13:58:38.272+07:00CHOCOLATE 2008This year was really a year of outstanding Chocolate events. New artisans joined the community. New innovations appeared on the shelves. New beans were discovered.New plantations, in new territories, began their first yields. New findings on how good chocolate is for you were tentatively revealed. Athletes at the Olympic Games, Beijing, were fuelled by chocolate. Chocolate Boutiques opened in the thousands. Experts claimed that chocolate would remain immune to the global crisis.These Blogs have been recording the progress since June 2008.<br /><br />It seemed as if a lot of territory had been covered since the beginning of the year. But more arrived. Vosages launched NAGA which incredibly combined, believe it or not, Indian Curry, coconut and mik chocolate. It wasn't the only bar Vosages launched. There was also among others Mo Bacon Bar, Enchanted Mushroom,Habana.They were I was told, received with great enthusasism by chocolate aficionados.A 120 gm bar sold for around $8.00.Pity the CEO of Ford, GM and Chrysler wont not be able to afford it.<br /><br /><br /><br />Here in Indonesia, we experimented, successfully, with chocolate banana and cassava crisps, chocolate tempe wafers, chocolate tofu, with ingredients added on like salt, cardamon,green hot chilli,pepper,palm sugar,fragrant cloves and so on. We also tried chocolate with asparagus and mushroom. And during a school function served anchovie paste on disks of white chocolate(served ice cold). Our strategy has been two fold: first,chocolate is not for flavouring, it is the main ingredient. Second, use or fond the best ingredients available locally.<br /><br />Dommique Persoone, who owns one of the three chocolate shops, to be awarded Michelin Stars,calls himself a shock-o-latier. I will leave it at just that.<br /><br />In Tawau, a little town on the island of Borneo(Malaysia) has experimented chocolate powder with Chinese cooking: chocolate noodles, chocolate fried prawns, vegetable stir fry with chocolate and so on.I have been invited to sample more and readers of this Blog can read about my adventures in Tawau after the New Year.<br /><br />Actually none of this should come as a surprise. Chocolate composed of the five "precious tastes", Sweet, Bitter, Astringent, Umami and Sweet would logically be able to combine universally. The Chinese, a thousand years or more developed the Five Spices powder. The magical powder that would render the blandest of dishes into a treat for the palate.The Punjabis, in India, have their own version. On the other side of the world, 3000 years ago, the The Olmecs discovered chocolate.<br /><br />Another movement recognised in 2008,was change in the classifying of the chocolate "target market." It has been a tradition is assume that the main consumers of chocolate were teenagers or "youth". Many advertising agencies cling to this belief because it is easy to pander to.Times are changing. Chocolate eaters cannot be classified by demographics or psychographics. They are merely chocolate lovers enthralled by the adventure, taste and experience of chocolate.<br /><br />Those loosely termed as "youth" has moved away from "chocolate". They are different from the simpler youth of say, 15 years ago. You don't find the youth of today stalking up and down the confectionery aisles of hypermarkets. In fact you hardly find "youth" in hypermarkets or supermarkets. These are not the places they hang out.<br /><br />The chocolate consumer may ten years old or a hundred and ten.They take great pleasure in the discovery and enjoyment of chocolate and occasionally sharing it. They are not enticed by swirling, streams of chocolate on television. Nor do they connect with gambolling about the countryside or occupy themselves in pretty and inane pursuits that advertising agencies think are "youth fun." Chocolate has become an intellectual adventure through the medium of taste.Many are mysterious journeys to be indulged in.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-22113134005310442242008-11-30T13:44:00.007+07:002008-11-30T14:08:39.679+07:00WHAT ON EARTH IS FRUIT TASTE STONE CHOCOLATE?It exists and is produced, I am told by a reliable source in Guangdong, China, in Hainan Island. It was not clearly described to me, so I cant really enlighten myself and the reader any further. The same company I am told also produces another confection, chocolate coated sunflower seeds. And the chocolate comes from plantations in Hainan. Which again was a surprise, because I had no idea that there were cocoa plantations in China.<br /><br />Hainan is off Guangdong, is southern China. The Hainan province is really over 200 islands in the South China Sea. The largest, some 34,000 sq kilometers(about the size of Belgium) is the one that produces a whole range of tropical crops:rubber, coconut, coffee, pepper, cashews, pineapple, bananas, vanilla, longans, lichees, jack fruit, caramblas, lemon grass, lots and lots of rice and of course cocoa. About 20 to 30 tons a year, I am told.<br /><br />The soil is volcanic, well watered by four long rivers and rainfall is around 1500 to 2000mm a year.The center of the island is mountainous. The highest Mount Wuzhi rises nearly 2000 meters. Temperatures and humidity in Hainan is a little low for truly luscious chocolate, I suspect. But no doubt the soil will make it interesting. I am trying to find out more.But it is good to know there are still surprises waiting to be discovered.<br /><br />Incidentally I am told that the world famous Hainan Chicken Rice is unknown in the island.I am devasted!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-81474245083239423822008-11-26T21:20:00.019+07:002008-11-28T18:34:01.817+07:00THE NEW COCOA BEAN! FROM AUSTRALIA?The great thing about chocolate is the adventure you can taste. As it melts in your mouth the mysteries of Madagascar, Java, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Venezuela fill the recesses of your mind. What pictures you see, what sensations you experience and what thrills stimulate you. It is not the taste of chocolate that makes us addicted to it, it is the journey it takes on. During the personal chocolate experience we get high with a touch of the Indiana Jones or Laura Croft fever.<br /><br />It will be exciting indeed one day if we can venture through a chocolate vision into the monsoon jungles of Cape York, Australia or hack our way through the northern edges of Australia"s Northern Territory.Australia is a perfect place for a new cocoa bean to emerge from. In fact not far from Port Douglas, near Mossman, are the first ever cocoa plantations of Australia. These plantations are on the edge of the Daintree Rainforests.<br /><br />Daintree Rainforests should not be spoken in the same breath as other rainforests. Daintree is the oldest in the world. It celebrated its 135 millionth birthday recently. It was forged out of volcanic explosions, fires, cyclones, climatic changes and everything Nature could think of.<br /><br />Daintree is about 1200 square miles. Size of 5 Singapores. Cape York is just a little smaller than Sulawesi(the largest cocoa region in Indonesia with about 400,000 small farms). At one time historians say, there was probably a land-bridge between Sulawesi and Australia.Which probably explains why Sulawesi and Maluku(lots of good beans here too) share some the flora and fauna with Australia. The Wallace Line runs through Maluku.<br /><br />This is a perfect place for a new breed of bean to emerge from.The country has from Cape York in the north-eastern edge. westwards along the tip of the continent's northern coast the hot and humid conditions that cocoa trees thrive on.Tropical cyclones and monsoons bring rain to this region. The soil is ancient and mystical--ask any of the Aboriginal people that live there. The area bristles with excitement.<br /><br />Daintree is home of the viscous Cassowaries and the tree kangaroo. There are also many patiently waiting crocodiles. It was close here that Captain Cook"s Endeavour struck a coral reef. So he called the place Cape Tribulation.<br /><br />Cape York, is on the same latitude as Madagascar where some intriguing beans come from. It is also within the belt of the primary cocoa growing regions of the world.<br /><br />Cape York is a World Heritage site. So is the great Barrier Reef across the road, as it were. Coco plantations can help create forests and propagate them. It can grow with harmony with the fruits already being cultivated in the area. It will not encroach into ecological balance of that environment.<br /><br />Down south are the incredible resources that Australia has that perhaps no other cocoa rich country possess. First its severely applied laws make it very unlikely that flora or fauna diseases can sneak into the country. Second the country has extremely innovative scientific and intellectual resources to support the science of cocoa breeding. Thirdly it has the food technologists and world class culinary stars that can surely take chocolate to great new heights, especially when they are inspired by their own beans. Already Australian chocolate artisans like Cocoa Farm are inventing some delightfully new cocoa experiences.<br /><br />Fourth, Australia will have no problems with issues like Fair Trade or Child Labour.You can buy beans here without feeling any guilt. Lastly, and I think it is important, Kevin Rudd is Prime Minister. The man undoubtedly has courage, vision, the intellect and is innovative.A man with a face, where a chocolate smear will not be out of place. It is bound to trickle down, or up, to chocolate and cocoa. I am sure he will be around through many, many yields of cocoa pods.<br /><br />Perhaps what Australia lacks currently is the expertise to process the bean to chocolate ingredients. We have that long experience and expertise, which are indeed excellent, in Indonesia.What are neighbours for?<br /><br />Frankly there's only one thing about Australia that bothers me. In spite of their atrocious accent they are actually a very civilised people. The problem is that they may civilise the cocoa bean. One must not forget the beans comes the depths of jungles. The bean part of the Olmec, Aztec and Mayan civilisations. The bean was Cortes' passion(when it was money). The bean it is said was at the root of Casanovas and Don Juan's wicked philandering, the bean was nearly the victim of the Inquisition.<br /><br /> It is a history of blood, sweat and tears. It's roots are savage, sensuous, dark and brooding. It needs to be sought after and conquered.<br /><br />The Australians may civilise the bean. Have landscaped plantations, with little plagues with neat descriptions, a quaint little factory at the end and a cafe where you can sample and buy chocolates made from the cocoa grown on plantation, enjoy buttered scones and great wine even. It would be wrong! It would rob the mystic and of the bean mysterious depths and subsequently the flavour and the luscious romance of the chocolate.<br /><br />One way out would be to totally handover the cocoa project in Cape Youk to the Kuku Yalariji Aboriginal tribal. They have lived in the these rainforests for over 10,000 years. They lived with what the forests provided. I am sure they would be delighted to give the forests a return gift of chocolate without disturbing the spirits that dwell therein.<br /><br />If cocoa beans take their characteristics from the soil, climate and environment what would Cape York(Or Daintree beans) taste like? It makes the hair at the back of my neck to bristle. For it must be awesome.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-85327315450528300582008-11-23T20:09:00.014+07:002008-12-10T15:40:53.272+07:00THE MYTH OF BELGIAN CHOCOLATES.In some of our slick and expensive shopping malls Belgian chocolate boutiques are popping up.At this time of economic woes. At this time when imports are beginning to be very expensive as our currency seems rather smitten.At one outlet, at a very new mall, strangely called Creole, 50gm can set you back $5."Why?" you gasp, and the Sales person replies , "Because it is Belgian Chocolate." Now that really got my bristles up.<br /><br />Of course I ate the three pralines I bought and it tasted just pretty expensive.Just that. New Tree is the only Belgium chocolate( now located in the US) I would cross the road for. The rest are boring. They are riding a reputation that was perhaps at it height in the 1960s. Since then there magnificent chocolatiers from the United States, Italy, one in the French Alps, Spain and one or two boastful ones from Venezuela. Surprising Australia's Cocoa Tree is coming up fast with some great chocolate. And here in Indonesia I know at least three housewives that make superb chocolate. I make some pretty good stuff too and at least they are good value for money.<br /><br />The fact that Belgian chocolates are the best, is a myth. They are OK. But too expensive like all things in Belgium, including taxi fares, three star hotels(One shudders to think what the five starred charge), lunch, dinner, European Union and NATO headquarters.<br /><br />Chocolates are all made through a particular process. It needs a careful selection of beans. It needs loving care and passion thoughout the process. Indeed it does not help one bit if you happen to be a Belgian. It helps if you are Spanish which means you invented the Tango and can probably dance the Fandango. That's the kind of vitality you need to make great chocolate. Have you ever seen a Belgian with vitality?Or one that can dance? Or for that matter a Belgian chocolate with a dash of verve? Remember this is the country where the Manneken-Pis is the national treasure.<br /><br />Here in Indonesia we have the greatest collect on of cocoa beans in the world. There are at least 400,000 small holding cocoa plantations. Spread over 17,000 islands that revel in conditions that cocoa beans thrive on. The finest coffee also comes from these islands. And all the world's known spices. Plus our history in cocoa goes back at least 300 years. Here are also some of the best cocoa processors and manufacturers in the world.<br /><br />But the Belgian Chocolate myth is so strong that we still have among us incredibly naive people who suscrible to belief in this myth. Break away today and take that Delicious adventurous journey to the real world of chocolate.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-56602453155461925152008-11-16T18:42:00.010+07:002008-11-16T22:22:08.516+07:00TIME TO TAKE A RIGHT ABOUT TURN WITH CHOCOLATE?(from which chocolate is derived from)Since 3000 years, chocolate has come an incredible long way. Imagine an Olmec, holding a cocoa pod, scratching his head and saying to his wife, "Can we eat this?" As it turns out his wife, like most wives, was right when she answered, "Honey what you have there, in 3000 years, is destined to be better than sex." It was likely that the wife was subsequently sacrificed to a ferocious Deity. The grieving husband got drunk from the alcohol made from the white mucus that covered the beans inside the pod and was buried with the remains of the drink. <br /><br />The Aztecs learned to crack the bean, extract the nibs, crush them to paste and make a bitter drink which they believed kept them in excellent vigor.In time the learned to mix it with maize gruel and honey. Montezuma, the great Emperor of the Aztecs, drank it dyed red.And beaten to a froth. In fact, whatever the experts may say, the word "choicolat" means "beaten drink."<br /><br />Later they experimented with extracts of vanilla, chili and annatto.<br /><br />The Dominican Friars introduced it to Spain.The ancestors of El Bulli and Chocovic then took over and Chocolate began the first step towards an incredibly wonderful future.<br /><br />But the chocolate of today bears little resemblance to its origins. It is being sissified so that we, who don't quite measure up in spunk to the Aztecs, Mayans an Olmecs can find it palatable. And pleasureable. Are we missing out in the real pleasure of chocolate?<br /><br />French pastries are concoctions with chocolate. They do not offer the unique pleasure that chocolate is meant to offer. They use chocolate for sensational gimmickry.The mass manufactured chocolates,rich with alpine milks and cane sugar, laden with nuts, are say what you may are not the stuff that braced up the Aztecs. In some of the mass produced chocolate, you can still taste a trace of palm oil. These manufacturers, would have promptly beheaded by Montezuma. Justly so.<br /><br />The chocolate revolution led by the Artisans, Amano, De Vries, Tim Childs, Bonnat, Cocoa Farm of Australia(though this one is a bit too civilised) to name a few, that restored some of the mystic and adventure of chocolate. They have brought back the passion and romance and their chocolate can justly be gifts of love on Valentine's Day. Then there are others who have come up with a "new idea" chocolate revolution.<br /><br />The chocolate experience I took immense pleasure from was a moist,rich velvety, utterly sinful "cake" from "awfully chocolate".It's really not a cake, but a gloriously round of superb chocolate.There a bit of fudginess in it somewhere. This one you dream about.It is not a return to the origins but it has reinvented the chocolate experience.<br /><br />The company "awfully chocolate" is, I am told was founded by Singapore lawyers. Which explains the exactitude of the definition of chocolate, in 2008, or what it legally should be. The "awfully chocolate" shop in Jakarta, is almost sterile.It's bare. There is no display nor evidence of chocolate at all. You walk up to the counter and ask for the chocolate. There is one ONE kind. Customers keep coming back!I must say, lawyers are far smarter than we usually credit them for. <br /><br />It is the right time to go back a 1000 years or so and look at recipes that seemed to have worked well with chocolate,and ingredients like honey, vanilla, cinnamon. annatto and chili. And giving it a good beating in-between.Bring back the boldness and the savage romance!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-88092241986539836972008-11-14T08:03:00.013+07:002008-11-15T14:04:05.764+07:00BEING ENTERPRISING WITH CHOCOLATE.Our neighbourhood consisting of 274 homes and approximately 1196 persons answered a questionnaire recently on their chocolate habits, Mind you this is a mere middle-class neighboured in Tangerang, Indonesia. A place most of my blog readers have never heard of.<br /><br />These are our findings: 60% of all homes buy at least 100gm of chocolate(bars or wafers) a month.They spend approximately a $1 for this purchase.20% 200-400gm(Spending up to $3 a month). The rest, 20% purchase up to 800gm ($8) a month.We found that total expenditure of chocolate from this neighbourhood per month was a staggering $657 a month, devouring 65kg a month.To put it in perspective, $657 is at today exchange rates is the monthly income of the upper-income group. It amounts to about 19 doctors visits and nearly a year of fees for a slightly above average private school.<br /><br />Our little community's annual per capita consumption is 650gms.Interestingly close to the national per capita of chocolate consumption. Obviously lot of room for expansion!<br /><br />On the other hand the 28 home-industries in this area purchase between 30kg to 120kg per month for making chocolate, chocolate confectionery, cakes, browning, donut and other dipping. But take into consideration that this is a particularly industrious area. Our average monthly turnover on chocolate is $8000. Highest monthly sales have hit $14,000.<br /><br />Our chocolate are sold to to retail outlets like convenience stores, bakeries,bazaars, theatres, corporate sales, schools and one-to-one customers and packs to events like birthday parties. Our products include chocolate snacks, drinking chocolate,tarts, chocolate crispies, fruit covered chocolate and chocolate wafers and biscuits.<br /><br />We don't produce bars, round or square pralines or anything you can get in the local supermarkets or mini-marts. Our chocolate snacks are little irregular rocks, some bursting with whole nuts, raisins, candied fruits bits and caramel,twisted shapes, triangles, crumbs and whatever irregular shape we can make. We flavour with cardamon, chili, cinnamon and other spices, wherever inspiration takes us.The group tries to come up with a surprise each production run.<br /><br />Our community works with pots and pans and usual household equipment.Loose cooperative movement has evolved into an efficient "production line", home kitchens, linked together.<br /><br />Chocolate from this community kitchens cost approximately $1 to $5 per hundred grams.<br />Occasional specialities are sold for close to $7 per hundred grams. Under trial are "health Chocolate" with beet or carrot sugar. <br /><br />The community group now plans to hold a Chocolate, Food Fare at the local school hall with special invitations to retailers, corporations, mini marts and supermarkets with a view to contract sales.<br /><br />We would rate ourselves are being moderately successful. The community itself has a very buoyant entrepreneurial stirrings. Other business from households include, baking, catering,packed-lunches, hair salons, school-bus(my wife), health foods, vegetable and fruit juices made to requested recipes as well as little known and well know healthy recipes,two boutiques,purified water, cooking gas agency, tuition in English and Mathematics, phone-cards and a photo-copy centre. The security guards in the area also run a very efficient real-estate business.<br /><br />Perhaps there is a good chance we will ride out the global financial crisis without much help from the IMF.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-46383217911061343032008-11-08T13:57:00.003+07:002008-11-08T14:19:38.753+07:00JEMBRANA CHOCOLATE?Art Pollard of AMANO Chocolate announced the launch of Jembrana Chocolate recently. Naturally it got us very excited. Jembrana is in Bali, Indonesia. The district is at the very tip of Bali and at the narrowest point only 60 meters from the tip of Java island.<br /><br />AMANO announced that their 70% chocolate was made from cocoa beans from Jembrana, It has a fine rich flavour, with fruit notes and with nutty overtones.It has left us puzzled. Jembrana is indeed very fertile. Soil is volcanic. Cloves are grown but the main crop is coconut, Plantations of coconut blend into the jungles and rises over 1000 meters into the highlands.<br /><br />In the lowlands are rice fields.Rice harvests are celebrated enthusiastically with buffalo races.<br /><br /><br />Overland travellers from Java Cities take a ferry from the southern tip of Jave and travel through this district to Denpasar, capital of Bali. The problem is we could find no cocoa plantations.Balinese in the area were doubtful of cocoa plantations in that area. If they did exist, they would have merely produced unfermented beans.<br /><br />In all likelihood the beans secured by AMANO probably came from across the straits from the Java, where indeed there are large cocoa plantations which process high quality beans. These beans are Java and as chocolatiers know, regarded very highly, in the chocolate world. <br /><br />There is geographical evidence that these areas were connected. The soils tend to be similar. Crops of cloves, rice, rubber and quality coffee besides cocoa is grown on the Java side.Java cocoa besides being fruity has a leathery hints Bonnat of France has produced bars made of Java.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-37749236479977663972008-11-06T21:48:00.005+07:002008-11-06T22:19:57.966+07:00HAS YOUR CHOCOLATE GOT PERSONALITY?The trouble is that people, yes even top chefs, make chocolate because they like making chocolate. Well that's great. But it is better if they make chocolate with a personality suited for the occasion.<br /><br />A night time, watching TV, snack is best with a chocolate thin, dark and sexy. It stays on your tongue, melting gently, soothingly, preparing you for good dreams. A chocolate to read with is a totally different person. It also depends on the book you are reading. If the book promises no great excitement, you might as well get from your chocolate--a chunky, nutty, milk chocolate that kind of gets you hooked.<br />If you are reading King or Clancy, I recommend something exciting to keep in pace with the excitement each page unravels.<br /><br />You might try Chocolate Chilli Excites. It easy and quick to make and you can soon settle down with your book.What you need:<br /><br />150gm salted butter<br />200 gm dark chocolate<br />150 gm sugar<br />5 eggs<br />A tablespoon of flour<br />Pinch of salt<br />Half a teaspoon of chilli flakes. Some may suggest ground chilli. But I feel that chilli flakes give you just the right thrill to go with King's latest best-seller.<br /><br />1)First melt the butter and chocolate together carefully in a saucepan.<br />2)Pour into a mixing bowl and blend in the sugar.<br />3)Add the eggs one-by-one stirring it in well. It is mysterious but it turns out better when you add the eggs one-by-one than all in one go.<br />4)Add the flour and mix it in.<br />5)Add the chilli flakes<br />6)Throw the salt in. Don't mix.<br /><br />Now put it little bake bins and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. They should be firm on the outside and soft inside. Cool, place in plastic container, refrigerate.So I lied, it far nicer if you wait till the next day.<br /><br />Enjoy your exciting book with the equally exciting Chocolate, Chilli Excites.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-15707131494359050332008-11-02T14:26:00.010+07:002008-11-02T20:27:46.805+07:0010 REASONS WHY CHOCOLATE SHOULD BE DECLARED A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE.A group of us Chocolatiers noted with alarm that there was some discussion among some French culinary practitioners, in Paris, to declare French cuisine a part of UNESCO World Heritage.Of course that is quite absurd.The only thing quite international about French food is probably French Fries. But that was invented by the Belgians. Indonesian cuisine is much older, more sophisticated, more complex and more varied.But we put that aside for a while.<br /><br />However we felt that if any food should be declared as part of the UNESCO World Heritage it should be chocolate or cocoa.Here are our reasons. UNESCO please take note.<br /><br />1)Chocolate has been a thrilling, multi-dimensional, monument to man's ingenuity for 3000 years.<br /><br />2)Chocolate is "exceptional in its universal application.It now belongs to all the peoples of the world." Not to Switzerland nor to Belgium.<br /><br />3) Chocolate begins with the humblest and most needed segment of mankind--the smallholder farmer. Fifty million of them located along the equator, around the world.<br /><br />4)Chocolate is the world's biggest "monument" in the world, stretching from Mexico to<br />the South Pacific islands.<br /><br />5) Cocoa and Chocolate continuously challenges and excites the creativity of a community of millions of artisans, hobbyists, home industries, manufacturers and scientists and technologists.<br /><br />6) Chocolate is the world most loved and respected flavour.<br /><br />7)A potential exists for Chocolate as an universal food solution: nutritious, satisfying and uplifting.<br /><br />8)Today it has acquired and has been absorbed into the cultural characteristics of the hundreds countries in which is enjoyed.<br /><br />9)Chocolate and Cocoa have enhanced more foods round the world than any other flavour or food.<br /><br />10)There is always a chocolate for every person. From a mini bar or wafer costing 5 cents to $250 per praline.<br /><br />There is obviously no other food that deserves to be declared a world treasure and part of UNESCO World Heritage.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-61441585398734546652008-10-29T14:53:00.003+07:002008-10-29T15:34:14.338+07:00A 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />"OK we need:50gm of salted butter. Salt give things a bit of ping! 90gm of real smooth brown palm sugar.<br />"Palm sugar?" you say."Yeah, I'm bored stiff with refined sugar. Besides it will taste a bit creamy without getting creamy." says Recipe.<br />".. 75gm of dark chocolate. One egg! Pinch of salt,40grams of cassava flour.."<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />"...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?"<br /><br />So you take over:<br />1) Melt butter over a low heat, add sugar, dissolve, remove from heat.<br />2)Add dark chocolate. It will melt with residual heat. Stir signing an aria.<br />3)Blend cocoa and flour nicely dancing briskly.<br />4)Whisk in egg, singing a soft and gentle song.<br />5) Add in the butter mix and a pinch of salt all in any animated way.<br />6)Add the chocolate squares and mix to combine. <br /><br />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!" <br /><br />7) Add the cashew nuts and stir it in.<br />8)Scoop into a brownie tin and bake in a 170C oven for 20 minutes.<br />9)After cooling remove from tin and cut into chunky rectangles.<br /><br />IT looks good. It feels good. It tastes incredibly good.<br /><br />Do a little jig with the Recipe and take a bow to a grand invisible audience.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-68633383936493062392008-10-28T16:13:00.009+07:002008-10-28T20:07:50.243+07:007 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />5)Cultivate the habit of being a inquisitive tourist in your own neighbourhood. You <br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />A professional Artisan Chocolatier is recognised by his furious energetic and unquenchable curiosity.If that's not you go into muffins.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-71791702472041965352008-10-24T07:07:00.021+07:002008-10-27T14:25:33.985+07:00OUR 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />We the chocolatiers of the world, probably have several thousand or a million or two <br />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.<br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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!<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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!<br /><br />We wish the new President-to-be, a successful and happy eight years.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-23267393179073449922008-10-21T15:52:00.009+07:002008-12-10T15:42:21.547+07:00BELGIUM 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />"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.<br /><br />A New Tree artisan said that the challenge was to create a "good balance between taste, flavor and texture."<br /><br />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<br />O.If she ever becomes President, wow New Tree will really go places. Their problem will be to keep on repeating their success.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-31990891928766672072008-10-18T20:45:00.002+07:002008-10-18T21:30:44.313+07:00CHOCOLATE 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.<br /><br />He quotes the following trends which are evidently showing through at checkout. <br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-37468772974842401832008-10-16T20:33:00.003+07:002008-10-16T21:10:23.658+07:00LIVE 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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?<br /><br />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). <br /><br />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.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-88714219826213736182008-10-15T14:42:00.003+07:002008-10-15T16:21:52.809+07:00CHOCOLATE 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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?<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br />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.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-49215532708707156822008-10-13T16:06:00.003+07:002008-10-13T16:37:50.682+07:00CHOCOLATE 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.<br /><br />GENERALLY SPEAKING.<br />If you chocolate making environment is too humid, the chocolate will develop a sugar bloom.Humidity can also cause dullness.<br />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.<br />If you get it in contact with water, all manner of problems can interfere with your chocolate making.<br /><br />DULL PRALINES<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Chocolate can be dull if you molds are not clean.Use clean polycarbonate molds.Not cheap plastics.<br /><br />Your chocolate can also get a dull look if over-tempered or under-tempered.<br />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.<br /><br />Chocolate cooled in much too cold temperatures can turn out dull and even crack.<br /><br />SHINY CHOCOLATE.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />BUBBLES IN YOUR CHOCOLATE.<br />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.<br /><br />If you have more questions be as specific as you can. I will try to give you reliable answers.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-53960470534946933512008-10-10T21:50:00.005+07:002008-10-10T22:33:26.604+07:00COMING 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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).<br />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.<br /><br />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.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5624693229805496308.post-91050851731925544212008-10-08T21:15:00.006+07:002008-10-08T22:25:20.939+07:00INFUSIONS AND CHOCOLATEToday, 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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."<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Mary's Chocolate, Tokyo have champagne and kahlua-laced ganaches which are made more appealing with silver glitter sprinkles.<br /><br />Cielo, which translates to "heaven" in Italian, are infused with local ingredients like olive oil, salt and decanted balsamic vinegar.<br /><br />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?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1