OUR EXPECTIONS FROM THE NEW PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

GOD'S RECIPE FOR CHOCOLATE.

You can believe it or not. I must confess, I don't know whether I am being facetious or not. Let me tell it my way. anyway.

In the Bible(I am referring to the New International Version) it say that approximately six weeks after departing from Egypt, the Israelites were literally wandering in the desert somewhere around the plains of Jeri co. They were tired and hungry. They complained to Moses.

In answer to their complaints and having much sympathy for their hunger, God rained MANNA down from heaven for the Israelites to eat.

The Bible describes MANNA as, "It was like white coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey."(Exodus 16,Lies 30-31). Remember the writers of the Exodus, nor the Israelites had any points of reference. So you can draw your own conclusions.

I being an passionate chocoholic for all my life concluded that it was chocolate. It could have been white, having fallen through the the stratosphere, from it journey from heaven. Coriander is also brown. There is of course some similarity in taste between chocolate, white or milk chocolate, to what is described as wafers made with honey. Another translations describes the taste as"like flour with honey".

This happened in 1200BC. Just about the time that Anthropologist Michael D. Coe estimates that chocolate in a pot was buried alongside an Olmec notable in Mexico. It was recently unearthed.

It made eminent sense for God to give chocolate to the Israelites. They did need energy. They did need some uplifting in spirits from their severe depression. They needed vitamins and minerals and no doubt some stabilisation in their blood pressures. Chocolate of course does all these things particularly if it was processed by God.

In verse 31 of the same chapter, Moses urges the Israelites, to "keep it for generations."Apparently they obeyed. MANNA was not their only diet during their subsequent 40 years of wandering, but it was their chief diet. Michael Levine, nutritionist and researcher is quoted(in "The Emperors of Chocolate") as saying, "Chemically speaking chocolate really is the world's perfect food."

So appropriately last Sunday after Church we decided to try out God's recipe in a very simple way. We made some flour(mixed with egg white, sugar, salt,) strips, dipped it into warm liquid milk chocolate, brushed it lightly with honey and dropped it into liquid nitrogen(I found another place where you can get liquid nitrogen. Obviously at the benkel). When the pieces were rock solid we pulled them out with wooden spoons and placed it on a dish to thaw. A tap with the back of a spoon breaks it up.

You might ask why we used liquid nitrogen? Perhaps to be more authentic after all God passed his chocolate,or manna, from Heaven, through the mesosphere, stratosphere, troposphere and atmosphere to freeze it. Also because it has become an adventure with us. We tried it with dark chocolate and white too. We also put some in the frig overnight instead of using nitrogen. We tried it out with some Penabur school kids and moms the next day. They loved it.

Indeed it was very good. We can still work on refinements. We also tried mixing the flour strips with powdered coriander.The coriander with it's nutty, spicy and citrus flavour combined with Tulip chocolate's characteristic sharp spicy flavour rather nicely and contrasted well with the taste of honey.

Thank you God.