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Caption: CHOCOLATE Made in Hawai'i from Bean to Bar
Caption: I had cooked and baked with chocolate a thousand times at my restaurant. I have also been exposed to some of the best chocolate since childhood, living as I did in such close proximity to the Swiss border and to the Italian Lindt headquarters.
But on the day I joined a cacao farm tour followed by a chocolate making class led by one of the best chocolate makers in Hawai'i, my chocolate world expanded.
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Caption: Nat Bletter and Dave Elliott of
Madre Chocolate
changed their lives to make chocolate.
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Caption: A few years ago, their lives synchronized and they went from talking about chocolate to making it by starting an artisanal business that makes chocolate on site from bean to bar using traditional ingredients and working directly with cacao farmers mostly from Hawai'i.
They make some of the best chocolate I have ever tasted, and the world must agree with me because they keep winning awards.
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Caption: Cacao plantation at Kahuku Farms
North Shore of O'ahu
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Caption: Cacao, which originates from the Amazonian tropics, has been a recent addition to Hawai'i agriculture, though it is fast gaining momentum.
The unique set of different microclimates and soils found in the islands make Hawai'i ideal for many different kinds of crops, cacao being one of them.
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Caption: Cacao farms in Hawai'i are not large plantations, but more micro farms where cacao is grown organically with care and love.
Hawai'i is also blessed with just the perfect climate for actually turning cacao into chocolate, something not always possible where cacao is grown as chocolate making is highly influenced by the temperature and amount of humidity in the environment.
Hawai'i is one of the few places on Earth where the bean-to-bar process can happen successfully all in one place.
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Caption: Dave Elliott
Caption: As we traipsed among cacao trees, Dave shared some of his volcanic knowledge about cacao, its ideal growing environment and how to determine when a cacao pod is ready for harvesting, something which has nothing to do with the color, as even a green pod could be ripe.
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Caption: Looks like a mutant alien, doesn't it. ๐
Caption: Dave had us reach for one of the milky white seeds, encouraging us to put it in our mouth and suck on the juices.
That was soooo good, so fresh and delicate, gently sweet and reminiscent of lychee and rambutan, yet different and unique.
"That," said Dave, "is miel de cacao, or cacao honey."
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Caption: Later on Dave gave us a surprise tasting of this divine nectar, as he had a container of it in a cooler.
We all went for seconds.
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Caption: Miel de Cacao
Caption: One-hour-and-twenty-minutes-drive-back later, we all gathered in Kailua at the Madre Chocolate kitchen and shop for a demonstration.
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Caption: Ingredients to make chocolate: dried cacao beans, vanilla, cocoa butter, raw cane sugar.
Caption: Different types of cacao from different areas require different blending and tempering processes and times.
Cacao is very sensitive to moisture and temperature, and each type of cacao is so in its own unique way.
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Caption: Dave and Nat make their chocolate bars in small batches. They use few simple ingredients, follow tradition, and do all that with extreme care and attention to the requirements of each type of cacao.
It is hard work, but it is also a true passion for them, and only good things come from working with passion for what you do.
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Caption: Madre Chocolate produces over twelve different types of chocolate bars, about seven of which are made from cacao grown in Hawai'i.
All the bars are 70% cacao, except for the Coconut Milk & Caramelized Ginger one, which is a 55% due to the addition of coconut milk.
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Caption: Among the flavors made with Hawai'i cacao:
Lilikoi (Passion Fruit)
Pink Peppercorn & Smoked Salt
Coconut Milk & Caramelized Ginger
Hawaiian Earl Grey Tea from Volcano
Among the flavors made with Dominican cacao:
Hibiscus Dark Chocolate
Amaranth Crunch
Chipotle Allspice
and the award-winning
Triple Cacao
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Caption: I was at the Madre Chocolate kitchen for just a couple of hours, and I smelled like chocolate for three days, in spite of multiple showers.
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Caption: Copy & Photography
ยฉMonica Schwartz
Full story & more images at this page on the blog.
www.lifeoutofbounds.com
#stellerstories #stellerverse #hawaii #chocolate #stelleritalia
#stelleritaliaexpat
Thank you for stopping by.
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