cacao ISSUE TWO
The Craft Chocolate Magazine
Welcome to
Issue Two Welcome to the second edition of Cacao Magazine. Our focus country this time around is Thailand, otherwise known as ‘The Land of Smiles’. During our travels from the South to the North of the country, we felt immensely inspired by the passion Thai people have for their culture and wanted to emulate that in this issue. Because no one word describes the craft chocolate community better than passionate. From the current flavour trends to ancient drinking chocolate traditions, we wanted to show how much fine chocolate is influenced by the people who make it. We were so pleased to be able to work with the very talented Chorkung to create the cover, an artist from Bangkok who managed to perfectly capture the essence of this issue. We want to give a big thank you to our wonderful sponsors, Kad Kokoa. A brand who truly embodies everything we wanted this magazine to show; culture, quality, and Thai cacao. As well as the wonderful writers, illustrators, chocolate makers and patrons who made this issue one we’ll treasure as much as we will the memories we have made making it. And lastly, we want you to know that this issue wouldn’t be possible without you. Dive in to learn how to pair chocolate with craft beer, identify flavours as colours, make Paul A. Young’s single-origin truffles and save heirloom cacao varieties. We have tried to create something that anybody can learn, enjoy and laugh with. Thank you for reading and for coming on this journey with us, we have exciting news around the corner, so we hope you’ll stick around.
Lukas T. Reinhardt & Ruby Willow Founders of Cacao Magazine
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Bean
12 – 17
Terroir in Chocolate: Why Does it Matter?
18 – 23
The Children Paying for Cheap Chocolate
24 – 29
Drinking Chocolate Around The World
30 – 39
Ecuador’s Fight to Preserve Heirloom Cacao
42
Feature Country: Thailand
42 – 48
Crafting Chocolate in the Land of Smiles
50 – 63
Discovering the Flavours of Thai Chocolate using Taste With Colour®
64 – 69
Meet the Maker: Kad Kokoa
70 – 71
Recipe: White Chocolate and Mango Cheesecake with a Ginger and Sea Salt Base
74 Bar
74 – 79
The Flavours Soaring and Sinking in 2019
80 – 84
The Life of a Professional Chocolate Taster
86 – 93
Craft Cousins: Beer & Chocolate
94
Guest: Paul A. Young
94 – 95
Recipe: Slightly Sea Salted Single Origin Truffles
96 – 99
Behind The Doors of a Chocolate Shop
100 – 109
Bean to Bonbon with Paul A. Young
Contents
Terroir in Chocolate: Why Does it Matter? What actually is terroir and how does it affect our chocolate? Words by Lilla Toth-Tatai
Growing up on mass-market confectionary, the flavours we associate with chocolate are fairly simple. But as soon as we start tasting craft chocolates, made from carefully selected cacao beans and treated with care to unlock and enhance their original flavour profile, we can discover a true kaleidoscope of notes from nutty to floral, earthy to spicy. Where are these flavours coming from? Research shows that some of the flavour potential is genetically coded in the cacao beans but another great influence on the final taste of the chocolate is what we call terroir [tair-wahr]. The French word literally means land, earth. In this specific case, it could be translated to ‘sense of a place’. It has predominantly been used by the wine industry to describe fla-
vour nuances of wines depending on their place of origin. This concept is now also used for various other food products such as coffee, tea, olive oil, cheese and now, chocolate.
altitude and the microorganisms found in the soil and throughout processing are also important factors.
Environmental Elements
Theobroma cacao, like other trees, takes its nutrients and main water supply from the soil it grows in. Cacao prefers acidic, fertile soil with a high percentage of organic matter. This can be provided by fallen leaves, cut weeds and compost made from empty cacao pods. This protects the soil against drying out and feeds it with the essential nutrients it requires. However, the soil’s structure, more precisely its water retention and drainage capability, is actually the
Terroir is more than a geographical specification, but a truly complex system of elements that have an influence on the flavour of cacao. To understand this, we need to first think about the role of the environment as that has several elements we have little to no control over. The first things people think of as affecting terroir are soil, climate, and geography. However,
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Soil
elements, such as the amount of sunlight, general wind direction and wind speed, the average amount of rain and of course the distribution of rain within a year. However, although rainfall affects variations in the yield of cocoa trees, it won’t necessarily have a direct impact on flavour development. Geography & Altitude
most crucial element. For example, the volcanic soil of the Sambirano Valley in Madagascar is quite porous and thus the water drainage and retention are ideal to ensure a constant water supply. The question is how does this impact the final flavour and whether it’s the volcanic soil that gives Madagascan cacao its renowned tart berry and citrus notes, or is it something else? Climate Climate is arguably the least stable element within terroir. In this category, we can differentiate between macro-climate (country, larger region) and micro-climate (small, restricted areas). Here we need to consider the main weather
Similar to coffee, cacao is sensitive to altitude and it’s nearly impossible to successfully grow cacao above 600m altitude (with a few exceptions), because of the considerable temperature drop. The geographical relief will also influence rainfall, the amount of sunshine, and shade. A 2014 research study carried out in Sumatra found that pod size decreased and bean count per 100g increased at higher altitudes. More importantly, cocoa butter content gets higher, the higher up we go. As cocoa butter is the main flavour carrier in chocolate, this could be an important factor to consider in the later stages of cacao processing and chocolate making.
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Flora & Fauna Plant growth is affected by the surrounding plants and animal wildlife, but there isn’t sufficient evidence to say they have a direct impact on flavour. Although we sometimes hear of cacao planted among banana trees carrying banana flavour notes and so on, this is yet to be confirmed. What does have an influence are Midges, the main pollinating insects of cacao. How far they may have traveled and the other kinds of cacao pollens they carry determines the future fruit’s genetic composition. This in turn creates the base for a myriad of flavour compounds. Microorganisms The role of microorganisms is as multifaceted as they are omnipresent. They can be found in the soil, on the hands of farmers and on their equipment during harvest, fermentation and drying, as well as within the air. Microorganisms are particularly important during fermentation as various
Discovering the Flavours of Thai Chocolate using Taste With ColourÂŽ Hazel Lee is the creator of Taste With ColourÂŽ: The Chocolate Tasting Flavour Map, a part time Chocolate Consultant, member of the Academy of Chocolate, judge for the Academy of Chocolate Awards, Northwest Chocolate Awards and Premio Bean to Bar Brasil, Home Bean to Bar Chocolate Maker and Cocoa Adventurer. She spends her free time hosting tasting and painting workshops using Taste With Colour, visiting chocolate factories and cocoa farms, judging chocolate awards, taking part in chocolate events across the world and eating plenty of craft chocolate!
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What is taste with colour? Chocolate tasting, as a concept, is relatively easy. What’s not always so simple, however, is finding the words for the flavours I am experiencing. Whilst enjoying a bar of chocolate, my mind doesn’t instantly fill with descriptive language and specific tasting notes. Instead I “see” a colour (or colours) related to the flavours. This association of colour and flavour is one example of synesthesia: a phenomenon in which one sense, in this instance, taste, is perceived as if by an additional sense at the same time, such as sight. Through many chocolate tastings, I have used a variety of tools to help me identify flavours, but nothing which included the use of colour. Although I’m one of just 4% of the population who is synesthetic, I noticed that many other chocolate lovers don’t find it easy to put words to the countless nuances in a bar. Taste With Colour is my chocolate tasting flavour map with 111 different flavour notes that I see and taste so often in fine chocolate. The flavours associated with the colours help tasters put their flavour experiences into words.
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The Life of a Professional Chocolate Taster WordsbybyMegan MeganGiller Giller Words
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Although my first-grade teacher Mrs. Castle most likely didn’t take me seriously when I told her I planned to make a career out of eating chocolate, I have done exactly that. I write about my boundless gluttony that the craft chocolate community has been more than happy to indulge. This includes the good folks at the International Chocolate Awards (ICA), who, after being alerted to my gobbling hobby a few years ago, invited me to judge the awards. The International Chocolate Awards are almost as grand as they sound: Chocolatiers and makers from Texas to Taiwan send their finest chocolate to an independent group of partners in regional locales, who judge in rounds. If a chocolatier, say, wins their regional round, they compete in the international heat against chocolatiers from across the globe. Each judging panel consists of experts as well as chefs, restaurant critics, journal-
ists, and members of the awards’ official Grand Jury. Chocolate has never felt so serious. Recently when they summoned me, I perhaps become a tad too excited and pre-gamed with a morning repast of high-percentage bars, graceful wrappers ripped open like a howler monkey’s scream on my kitchen table. I assumed, having moved to the Center of the World, New York, that the Americas judging would convene just a few steps from my residence, but I realized about 60 minutes from the start of my session that it was transpiring somewhere called Hoboken, New Jersey. Thankfully the tribulations of the PATH train dissolved as soon as I walked into Ultramarinos, one of the several restaurants owned by Maricel Presilla, chocolate expert, ICA awards co-founder, James Beard Award winner, and my all-around hero. “Come in, my dear,” she
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Bean to Bonbon with Paul A. Young Interview by Sarit Henig
Paul A. Young is a chocolate celebrity; making regular TV appearances and well known for being one of Europe’s top chocolatiers. His sea-salted caramel chocolates won Gold at the Academy of Chocolate 2005 competition (the first UK brand to win in this category) and today, he operates three shops across London with a long list of awards. I had the pleasure of interviewing Paul to learn about his life as a chocolatier, building his brand to what it is today and his vision for the future. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Let’s start from the beginning. Where did you start and how did your brand develop? Paul: I started out as a restaurant pastry chef and then went into retail, developing meals for M&S and Sainsbury’s to learn about the food business at scale. Then I went back to being a pastry chef and started appearing on live television shows. I was being asked to make chocolates and getting a lot of questions about recommendations, so I decided to develop my own products and ended up specializing in this. My PR agent suggested I enter the Academy of Chocolate awards in 2005, and my sea-salted caramels won gold. I opened my first shop and fully launched in 2006.
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Wow, and thirteen years later you are still going from strength to strength. How do you continue to stay true to your vision and respond to customer demands? Paul: For me, it is important to keep my chocolates pure and natural with no preservatives or artificial ingredients. My customer base is split—some look for classic, nostalgic styles and others want cutting-edge, daring, single-origin chocolates. Customers are vocal about what they like and what they want, and in London especially there are short and snappy trends. I try to keep ahead of trends but not scroll social media too much to look at what other chocolatiers are doing. I want to stay true to my ethos of being innovative and quirky but approachable. I deliver the classics exceptionally well and add unique flavour combinations to create chocolates that spark conversation and give people a reason to talk about my brand. I manage my product selection like a restaurant menu and regularly offer new products with seasonal ingredients. What couverture chocolate do you use to make your confections and how do you select suppliers? Paul: I’m the UK ambassador for Guittard and have been working with them for over two years. I decided to partner with this brand because it is family-run, transparent, and sustainable. When I shifted production to Guittard, it took 18 months to redevelop my recipes with new origins. I also use a bit of Valrhona and British craft chocolate brands Duffy and Firetree. In total, I use 23 varieties to create my chocolates. Few chocolatiers use so many varieties but I love the alchemy of blending flavours, especially since fine-flavour cacao delivers so much and no single grower can cover every flavour profile. Have you ever wanted to make your own couverture chocolate? Paul: I bought a small grinder and some beans in 2012 and played around with making chocolate, but others do it so well there is no point in my getting involved at that level. I’d potentially be spread too thin making chocolate and confections—especially since I use so many cacao varieties. Today, I can choose from craft or larger chocolate
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