TIME 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.

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!

FAMOUS CHOCOLATE THIS WEEK.

The chocolate dessert atop the dessert list at Fat Duck currently is Delice of Chocolate which everyone knows is Chocolate Sorbet cumin caramel.

I cant off hand tell you what the recipe is. But judging from Heston Blumenthol's masterpieces, it will be very simple but skillfully prepared. So the chocolate will turn out as if it were made in heaven

The difference in this sorbet is the cumin caramel. Blumentol usuaaly turns out a better caramel than mortals. Blended to this is probably cumin seeds, roasted in a dry pan. This will deliver a impactful cumin flavour to the caramel.

You can imagine the result when it crackles with the sorbet.

Finally I got to taste a morsel from the revered Pierre Marcolini. Some chocoholics may have heared of his exquisite lookingFor sexily tickling taste buds I persume. chocolate heart with gold leaf packed in a box worthy of Tiffany,which replaced diamonds last Valentine's day.

What I got to taste, with compliments from a pasrty chef at Ritz Carlton, Marshmally cube , handmade I was told, with chocolates fragments and sprinkled with little sparks of chocolate.
Marshmallows are difficult to get in Jakarta. But this was not the usual stuff you get. It has more of a light jelly texture. It is French in orgin and called guimauve. I was offered it as part of a dessert. But I chose to eat it srraight and eyed the bag in which it arrived. The chef quickly placed it in his desk draw.

Pierre Marcolini's signature chocolate I am told is a blend of beans from Java and Venezuela.
There are nine varieties of Venezulan beans. But I suspect the bean he uses is Chuao. A hybrid of Trinitaro and Criollo. It is very assertive, sharp, plummy, with hints of molasses. It should blend, I guess well with the light bodied Java.

And talking about Chuao, it is also the brand name of the chocolate of Venezuelan brothers Michael and Richard Antonosri. Ferran Adria, of El Bulli, says it is the best in the world. Their Par Con CHocolate Burbon is filled with roasted Panko bread crumbs in olive oil with a pinch of sea salt. Next week I will tell you about their ancient Mayan chocolate chocolate recipes, if a friend at Four Seasons keeps his promise.