Dedicated to a trip full of cacao.
HANS OVANDO
Tell us about a funny experience of your trip to the cocoa plantations in
Brazil.
I was speaking in English to everyone there. I thought they all spoke English, but they
are so nice that they would only nod their heads without understanding a word.
Did you take part in any fieldwork? Tell us about that.
I got the chance to plant some beans and share that with people in the plantations. It
would be a dream for me to go back and soak myself into that knowledge again.
Did you get the chance to try a raw cocoa bean? How did you feel? Did it
bring any memories to you?
Well, cocoa has always caught my attention and so did Brazil. Everything caught my
attention. The food, the people, the cocoa and the plantations. But what really surprised
me was the life philosophy of people. (I want to live like that, football and beach to the
rhythm of samba).
We know the amount of trade that cocoa has in the world but, do you think
it has the right value
I don’t think we are paying the right amount for it. I think that cocoa and the work that
is behind has an incalculable value that no one could ever pay for. They give it so much
love, and that’s hard to find nowadays.
If you were a very influential person, how would you help to protect the
future of cocoa?
Well, I think that the future depends on a greater Bean to bar culture. We need to give
more value to those who work in the plantations and take care of the cocoa, and so this
way we can have good chocolate. They are the heroes in this story.
ELENA ADELL
Enthusiasm, surprise and an extraordinary experience.
Did you take part in any fieldwork? Tell us your experience.
We went to the plantations with the families that own the cocoa farms. They were so
welcoming!
We got the chance to see different type of cocoa beans and they let us participate by
opening some cobs and taking out the fresh beans using a machete.
There’s nothing like eating fresh cocoa beans, the taste is so amazing, like nothing I
have ever tried before!
Do you think that the cocoa world, from an agricultural point of view,
requires a lot of work?
Undoubtedly! It’s a craft industry. From the seed to the harvest, even the cure of the
beans, everything is completely handcrafted.
We also got the chance to see family plantations, which means that the love for cocoa is
passed on from one generation to the next.
Imagine you are working as a farmer. How would you contribute to
optimize the work?
I think it would be the opposite way, I would have to learn how to do all of the
procedures.
It’s a type of work that requires you to love the product.
The ending result is the product of a methodical, well organized and sensorial work, and
that implies the need of humane sensitivity, and that can only be passed on.
Why do bonbons get that white colour?
When the cocoa butter is not correctly tempered, there are too many fluid crystals and
they tend to move to the surface. That’s why we can see those “white waves”. They are
only cocoa butter that has migrated to the surface. In that case all you should do is melt
the chocolate again and temper it correctly.
Now they come together in the new Level 2 chocolate Masterclass, where they are going to convey their passion for this wonderful ingredients to us, preparing different recipes for Bean to bar, candy with new painting techniques and impulse product with chocolate. Are you going to miss it? See all the contents here and if you like it, don’t wait any longer to reserve your place.