The chocolate industries of the world have been watching the elections in Ivory Coast, Africa very closely. And the results are making some people nervous.
On December 4, 2010, both the incumbent and the challenger took the oath of office as president.
Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent, was declared the winner by the Constitutional Council after rejecting the Electoral Commission’s vote count from the November 28 election. Gbagbo’s opponent, Alassane Ouattara, allegedly won the vote on that day but is accused of rigging the results in the northern states.
Ivory Coast is the world’s leading cacao producer, and cocoa purchasers speculate that borders could close and exports could be disrupted because of these political issues. This impasse could have a negative impact on their economy since cocoa is almost one third of the country’s gross domestic product.
The current situation has the potential to escalate into violence, and that may force small cocoa traders to stop their operations.
Peace mediator, former South African President Thabo Mbeki, has been trying to reach an agreement between the two “presidents.”
An innovative chocolate was developed recently by scientists at the G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in India. It is unique because of the addition of jaggery as an ingredient.
What is Jaggery and why is it in chocolate?
Jaggery is a sugary, sweet, unrefined product made from either sugarcane or the syrup tapped from certain palm trees. It is sold in the form of blocks or pastes of solidified concentrated syrup.
Jaggery typically contains minerals not found in refined sugar and is considered healthier and more nutritious. Jaggery is added to both sweet and savory dishes throughout India and Asia.
In some countries, jaggery is eaten by itself as a candy or sweet treat with tea. In parts of Myanmar (also known as Burma), jaggery is made into small pebble size chunks and referred to as Burmese chocolate.
Jaggery and sugar are processed differently and, consequently, have different reactions in the body. Both jaggery and sugar do provide energy, but the energy release is different. Sugar is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and releases a burst of energy. Jaggery is more complex than sugar, made up of longer chains of sucrose. It is digested slower than sugar and energy is released slower.
The manufacturing of jaggery has been practiced for centuries in certain parts of the world, and in mostly rural areas. The familiarity with the sweet product makes it an obvious choice as an ingredient to chocolate in these areas. The university that developed the Jaggery Chocolate hopes to improve the health as well as the income of the rural farmers that make jaggery.
Master chocolatier Patrick Roger is kicking off this Christmas season with a giant Christmas tree – made from chocolate of course!
Here’s a preview….
Patrick Roger calls himself a chocolate artist and sculptor of flavors. He owns several chocolate boutiques in France.
The Christmas tree weighs 4 tons and measures 10 meters high. It is made of dark chocolate and took a month to create. Santa Claus and his reindeer, all made of chocolate too, surround the tree.
If you are wondering if it is for sale; sadly, no it is not. However, if you want a nibble, simply donate to the chosen charity. And fly to Paris, but hey, that’s not a bad idea!
As reported by the Associated Press from Brussels, at least according to the high court of the European Union, there is no such thing as pure chocolate!
In Europe, unlike in the United States, chocolate can contain other vegetable oils and still be called chocolate. Chocolate makers in some of the European countries typically include other oils, whereas some only use cocoa butter.
Most notably Italian law permitted the use of “pure chocolate” as a designation, contrary to the 1999 legislation where all EU nations agreed that the label would make clear whether the chocolate contained cocoa butter and/or other oils.
They had agreed that the word “chocolate” could describe all such confections, but the ingredients shown on the label would indicate the quality of the chocolate.
So, after the European Commission sued Italy, the EU high court concluded that the Italian labelling was not in conformity with the law, and the use of “pure chocolate” was struck down.
Whether it’s called pure chocolate or not, look for chocolate with cocoa butter as the only fat, and you’re much more likely to have a better chocolate tasting experience.
There is small chocolate company revitalizing cacao and chocolate production in Fiji.
Adi Chocolate Fiji, is located on the island of Vanua Levu. They make chocolate using two crops grown on the island; Trinitario cacao beans and raw cane sugar.
The owners of the company fell in love with chocolate while running a restaurant and serving homemade chocolate ice cream. In 2007, they began making dark chocolates from their native Fiji cacao.
The British brought Trinitario cacao beans to the islands in 1880, planting the original variety on Vanua Levu. For a while, cacao farmers in Fiji thrived but when other crops, like cassava and taro, became more profitable, cacao was abandoned. The forgotten cacao trees are still there, but have been hidden among the overgrown rain forest.
Adi Chocolate Fiji has worked hard to restore cacao farming. With a lot of back breaking hard work and the help of mother nature, cacao trees are coming back to life.
Processing chocolate has its challenges on the island. Road conditions sometimes prevent getting the harvested cacao to market. Heavy rains and hurricanes damage trees and cause mud slides, delaying the fermentation and drying stages. Still, the farmers and Adi company manage to turn about 60 kg of beans into chocolate every 2 weeks.
The month of October 2010 marked the tenth anniversary of the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF).
During a recent two-day partnership meeting in Washington, D.C., the foundation focused on the theme “Marking a Decade of Cocoa Sustainability”
Some of the leading members of the WCF were there, representing many large and influential chocolate manufacturers including: Blommer Chocolate Company, Kraft Foods, The Hershey Company, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, Olam International Ltd., Armajaro, and Casa Luker Colombia. WCF members represent more than 80% of the global cocoa market.
There were sessions during the meeting that talked about moving forward on subjects like cocoa and the environment, child labor, emerging markets, diversification, food security, and more cocoa research.
WCF is an international foundation committed to promoting a sustainable cocoa economy. The goal is to help increase the supply of cocoa while increasing the quality of life for those that farm cacao and their families and communities.
I keep reading about the continuing surge of chocolate sales in India. Sold mostly in urban areas, premium chocolate bars like Lindt, Ferrero, and Godiva are flying off the shelves.
Some of these chocolate manufacturers are setting up local factories to meet the demand.
India is embracing chocolate with all their senses. One growing market is the chocolate lounge. One such recent addition to the Mumbai scene is A Chocolate Affair. It is more than a café, it is a place to savor all things chocolate.
The décor is “chocolate,” the aroma is chocolate and, of course, the menu is sinfully chocolate. They serve chocolate drinks (hot chocolate and milkshakes), chocolate pastries, chocolate doughnuts, chocolate ice cream and – how cool is this – chocolate pizza!
The two specialties of the house are Decadent Chocolate Belgian Waffles and Spanish Churros accompanied by chocolate dip. Every menu item comes with a milk chocolate or a dark chocolate option.
The owner is from New Zealand and she has seen the success of the chocolate lounge in her own country as well as Australia and England.
I would love to find out more in person, but alas, plans to travel to India are not in the near future for me. Guess I’ll just live vicariously through their twitter account: http://twitter.com/choc_affair
Muslims celebrate Eid Al-Fitr, a three-day feast that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Special foods are prepared and eaten during Eid. Some of those dishes are prepared days before Eid because it takes so long to prepare and cook them.
It’s interesting that chocolate has become a recent tradition to help celebrate Eid. The younger generation prefers the chocolate over some of the more tradional sweets.
As a result some chocolate shops may experience the highest sales orders of the year at the beginning of Ramadan.
In the Muslim home, guests are often served Arabic coffee (sometimes called Turkish style coffee) with an assortment of chocolates. If it’s anything like the Turkish coffees I’ve had then a dark chocolate would make a great pairing with great compatibility of flavor notes.
Arko is a German company specializing in premium coffee and fine chocolates.
When Arko began 60 years ago, customer satisfaction was at the center of their thoughts and actions. That habit continues to the present.
According to the Arko website, they are the brand for discerning connoisseurs.
Wondering how I got my hands on their chocolate? Once again, I was given a gift from a fellow chocolate lover/world traveler. Oh yes, my friends know what I like!
This particular Arko indulgence is called Marc De Champagne schokolade. This bar is a rich milk chocolate with a layer of 2.9% marc de champagne ganache. The cocoa content is 35%.
Sweet honey and creamy milk flavors are the first to appear followed by the unique flavor notes of the marc de champagne. Soft cocoa notes linger after the finish.
Incidentally, Marc de champagne is a colorless brandy that is produced by distilling the grape skins which are left from the pressing process in the first stages of Champagne production.
Arko has many retail stores throughout Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. They offer handmade truffles, pralines, fresh baked goods, and high-quality coffee too.
Next time you are busy taking in the sights around Germany, stop in an Arko store and have a treat. No, have two treats, one for you and one for me!
I was recently asked about the spread of Cocoa or Cacao trees around the world.
Cacao is believed to have originated in South America. There is a lot of evidence suggesting that the ancient Maya in Central America were the first to domesticate Theobroma cacao as a crop.
The Aztecs ground cacao into Xocoatl, a chocolate drink used mostly for spiritual and ceremonial rituals.
Hernan Cortés is credited with bringing cacao to Spain where it spread throughout Europe in the 1500’s and 1600’s.
Spanish friars began to grow cacao in Ecuador around 1635. The French introduced cacao to Martinique and St Lucia, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil in the mid to late 1600’s. England started growing it in Jamaica and the Dutch in Curaçao. All of this effort just to meet the ever growing demand for the affluent in Europe.
When demand exploded again in the 1800’s even more had to be cultivated. Cacao from Brazil was taken to Principe and Sao Tomé, islands off the coast of West Africa around 1830. From there, it spread to Nigeria and Ghana.
Today, the largest cacao producing country is Ivory Coast, Africa.
Cacao is believed to have originated in South America. There is a lot of evidence suggesting that the ancient Maya in Central America were the first to domesticate Theobroma cacao as a crop.
