(from which chocolate is derived from)Since 3000 years, chocolate has come an incredible long way. Imagine an Olmec, holding a cocoa pod, scratching his head and saying to his wife, "Can we eat this?" As it turns out his wife, like most wives, was right when she answered, "Honey what you have there, in 3000 years, is destined to be better than sex." It was likely that the wife was subsequently sacrificed to a ferocious Deity. The grieving husband got drunk from the alcohol made from the white mucus that covered the beans inside the pod and was buried with the remains of the drink.
The Aztecs learned to crack the bean, extract the nibs, crush them to paste and make a bitter drink which they believed kept them in excellent vigor.In time the learned to mix it with maize gruel and honey. Montezuma, the great Emperor of the Aztecs, drank it dyed red.And beaten to a froth. In fact, whatever the experts may say, the word "choicolat" means "beaten drink."
Later they experimented with extracts of vanilla, chili and annatto.
The Dominican Friars introduced it to Spain.The ancestors of El Bulli and Chocovic then took over and Chocolate began the first step towards an incredibly wonderful future.
But the chocolate of today bears little resemblance to its origins. It is being sissified so that we, who don't quite measure up in spunk to the Aztecs, Mayans an Olmecs can find it palatable. And pleasureable. Are we missing out in the real pleasure of chocolate?
French pastries are concoctions with chocolate. They do not offer the unique pleasure that chocolate is meant to offer. They use chocolate for sensational gimmickry.The mass manufactured chocolates,rich with alpine milks and cane sugar, laden with nuts, are say what you may are not the stuff that braced up the Aztecs. In some of the mass produced chocolate, you can still taste a trace of palm oil. These manufacturers, would have promptly beheaded by Montezuma. Justly so.
The chocolate revolution led by the Artisans, Amano, De Vries, Tim Childs, Bonnat, Cocoa Farm of Australia(though this one is a bit too civilised) to name a few, that restored some of the mystic and adventure of chocolate. They have brought back the passion and romance and their chocolate can justly be gifts of love on Valentine's Day. Then there are others who have come up with a "new idea" chocolate revolution.
The chocolate experience I took immense pleasure from was a moist,rich velvety, utterly sinful "cake" from "awfully chocolate".It's really not a cake, but a gloriously round of superb chocolate.There a bit of fudginess in it somewhere. This one you dream about.It is not a return to the origins but it has reinvented the chocolate experience.
The company "awfully chocolate" is, I am told was founded by Singapore lawyers. Which explains the exactitude of the definition of chocolate, in 2008, or what it legally should be. The "awfully chocolate" shop in Jakarta, is almost sterile.It's bare. There is no display nor evidence of chocolate at all. You walk up to the counter and ask for the chocolate. There is one ONE kind. Customers keep coming back!I must say, lawyers are far smarter than we usually credit them for.
It is the right time to go back a 1000 years or so and look at recipes that seemed to have worked well with chocolate,and ingredients like honey, vanilla, cinnamon. annatto and chili. And giving it a good beating in-between.Bring back the boldness and the savage romance!
Showing posts with label De Vries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label De Vries. Show all posts
Sunday, 16 November 2008
Thursday, 21 August 2008
AFFORDABLE LUXURY CHOCOLATE.
I was just beginning to get seriously worried that chocolate will indeed be beyond the wallets of ordinary Joes, when I recalled Steven De Vries. Chocoholics will know De Vries as the man who took chocolate a hundred years back at his factory and shop in Denver Colorado, USA. A long way from Java Island but his existence is reassuring.
De Vires began by working closely with small plantations in Mexico, Costa Rica and Venezuela. Being a small artisan manufacturer he goes directly to small growers with very good beans. But in such small quantities that they don't interest the big manufacturers who have to buy big. De Vries goes to growers that grow on ten acres or less and produce one to two tons of dried beans per year.
He hit upon the artisan technique when he was in Costa Rica seven years ago. He brought back 30 kilos of dried beans in his bags. He roasted some in his oven. Peeled them by hand and ground them in an old grain grinder. The chocolate that emerged was gritty but full of "complex" flavours that he had never tasted before. He decided that he was not going to miss out in the "complexity and intensity" of these chocolate flavours in the production of his chocolates.
De Vires inspired by his "discovery" took classes in chocolate making in California, scoured libraries throughout the country and all the way to Amsterdam and Spain. He visited dozens of chocolate factories. He says that he discovered that the people who made the best chocolates used the oldest equipment. With slower operating speeds and lower temperatures the old machines, he says, nurture flavour development.
De Vries monitors the first crucial points of processing. He does not want the beans ever to be rushed. Fermentation and sun drying stretches over two weeks. Later low temperatures and slow roasting preserve the aromas that can be burned up by high temperatures. De Vries then winnows cracked shells by hand to avoid husk being blended with the chocolate.
De Vries's recipe is simple:77 percent cocoa. The rest is sugar."Dark and intense," says a reviewer,"it pushes the upper limits of portability." Lately he has begun to age his blocks of chocolate for two months before releasing them for sale.
In tasting sessions at Berkeley California, De Vries chocolate took top spots over the big, big names.
At the moment he has been sourcing from Mexico, Venezuela and Costa Rica. But he says, he is certain that many more flavours are currently available. I have made it a point to email him about cocoa beans in our region.
He has not blended beans yet. He says he has his hands full with single origin cocoas at the moment.
Finally, what does De Vries chocolates cost? He told an interviewer once that"Chocolate is the only product where the difference between a run-of-the-mill chocolate bar and the best chocolate is only about five bucks."
And since he says his aim is to make the best chocolate in the world, it is certainly reassuring for us ordinary Joes. It is wonderful if great chocolate can remain egalitarian.
De Vires began by working closely with small plantations in Mexico, Costa Rica and Venezuela. Being a small artisan manufacturer he goes directly to small growers with very good beans. But in such small quantities that they don't interest the big manufacturers who have to buy big. De Vries goes to growers that grow on ten acres or less and produce one to two tons of dried beans per year.
He hit upon the artisan technique when he was in Costa Rica seven years ago. He brought back 30 kilos of dried beans in his bags. He roasted some in his oven. Peeled them by hand and ground them in an old grain grinder. The chocolate that emerged was gritty but full of "complex" flavours that he had never tasted before. He decided that he was not going to miss out in the "complexity and intensity" of these chocolate flavours in the production of his chocolates.
De Vires inspired by his "discovery" took classes in chocolate making in California, scoured libraries throughout the country and all the way to Amsterdam and Spain. He visited dozens of chocolate factories. He says that he discovered that the people who made the best chocolates used the oldest equipment. With slower operating speeds and lower temperatures the old machines, he says, nurture flavour development.
De Vries monitors the first crucial points of processing. He does not want the beans ever to be rushed. Fermentation and sun drying stretches over two weeks. Later low temperatures and slow roasting preserve the aromas that can be burned up by high temperatures. De Vries then winnows cracked shells by hand to avoid husk being blended with the chocolate.
De Vries's recipe is simple:77 percent cocoa. The rest is sugar."Dark and intense," says a reviewer,"it pushes the upper limits of portability." Lately he has begun to age his blocks of chocolate for two months before releasing them for sale.
In tasting sessions at Berkeley California, De Vries chocolate took top spots over the big, big names.
At the moment he has been sourcing from Mexico, Venezuela and Costa Rica. But he says, he is certain that many more flavours are currently available. I have made it a point to email him about cocoa beans in our region.
He has not blended beans yet. He says he has his hands full with single origin cocoas at the moment.
Finally, what does De Vries chocolates cost? He told an interviewer once that"Chocolate is the only product where the difference between a run-of-the-mill chocolate bar and the best chocolate is only about five bucks."
And since he says his aim is to make the best chocolate in the world, it is certainly reassuring for us ordinary Joes. It is wonderful if great chocolate can remain egalitarian.
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