Theobroma Update
Back at the beginning of this summer (wait! is summer over? where did it go? how did I miss its going!), I wrote about Dan Schreiber’s project to purchase fair trade cacao beans, roast them in his oven, grind them in a stone mill, and fabricate his own chocolate bars. Right here in Urbana. Yesterday, I had my first chance to taste some cocoa nibs (coarsely ground, roasted, hulled cocoa seeds or “beans”), as well as some dark chocolate bars from Panamanian and Peruvian sourced beans.
All I have to say is WOW! (For those of you who don’t speak the same IM or text message language, that stands for Wonder Of Wonders!) For early attempts, these are amazingly good. They are a little bit grittier and don’t quite have the same firm “snap” of the most refined Belgian chocolates, like Dolfin, but I actually appreciated that. Without detracting from the taste at all, they spoke of this chocolate’s hand-made origins. It reminded me of what John Ruskin (who initiated much of the Arts and Crafts movement in England in the 19th-century) wrote in The Seven Lamps of Architecture about how “hand-work might always be known from machine-work”: “the life and accent of the hand are everything,” he wrote, as opposed to “the smooth, diffused tranquility of heartless pains.”
Here were flavors I had never tasted in chocolate before–floral notes, rich, spicy undercurrents. Here was chocolate that was intriguing, that had depths, like a dense, diverse, tropical rainforest, as opposed to a monocultural plantation.
Right now, Dan is still making his chocolate in small batches, and samples are occasionally available at Café Paradiso. If you want to contact him about availability, follow the “local link” on the right or click here to go to his blog, artisanal thinking. As for me, the coffee that I made this morning and that I’m drinking right now, as I type this, was brewed with his cacao nibs, and I can definitely say that it is paradise to be alive, right here, right now.
Oh, man.
I love love LOVE cacao nibs. They are amazingly versatile, and work well in everything from cookies to braised shortribs, not to mention snacking out of hand.
I’ve never really been a fan of Dolfin, as I find their flavoured bars to be too strong, but I am always amazed by a Chicago company called Vosges; their chocolate bacon bar is my boyfriend’s favourite, but I love the goji berry and salt or marcona almonds and maldon sea salt bars best. For “commercial” chocolate it’s really good.
I wish I could try some of your friend’s work, it sounds amazing. If he gets to the point where he’s ready to ship international, I’ll be all over it!!!
Lucky bastard. These are probably what I need to pull off the cocoa bacon.
Scott, Scharfenberger sells cacao nibs.
In the states you can probably get them at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.
I’ve used them before and they’re pretty decent, though probably not as good as these artisanal ones
Don’t hold out on us, mochapj! Share that cacao nib short rib recipe!
Haha, thanks, Larbo!
I was going to mention, too, that classic things to do with nibs are to sprinkle them on ice cream or make ‘nib chip cookies,’ eg: http://patric-chocolate.blogspot.com/2009/02/patric-chocolate-nib-chip-cookies.html Like mochapj, I like to eat them plain, but for those a little scared of 100% cacao, they give texture and chocolate flavor to something already sweet.
I’d be interested to try cocoa bacon, in Seattle recently I saw cocoa pasta… why not?
Thanks for the cookie recipe, Dan! Mochapj, I’m also a fan of Vosges chocolate’s Mo Bacon bar (although everyone who’s tried it agreed that it would be even better with more bacon!). OK, y’all have convinced me; I’m on board with the cocoa bacon; I’m ready to follow in Scott’s trailblazing footsteps.
Instead of curing the bacon with ground cocoa nibs, I’m thinking (at least for starters) about coating the smoked bacon with finely ground nibs. Any thoughts about what else should go in the cure (a pinch of cinnamon, maybe allspice?), and what kind of sugar would best complement the cacao?
Larbo,
I haven’t made the short ribs since last year (wintery dish) so I’ll have to dig out the notes for you this weekend.
For the cocoa bacon, I’m voting for something like a demerara sugar – I think it’s darker flavour would work well with the cocoa for sure. As far as spicing goes, I made some cacoa nib, pink peppercorn and fleur de sel cookies a few months ago that were excellent – perhaps some pink pepper or szechuan pepper might fit… to be honest I’ve been planning on doing that exact blend myself once I get through the bacon I recently made.
Mmm… I agree about the Mo’ Bacon. Needs more bacon. I think that’s why I prefer the one with the almonds a little more. It’s still sweet and salty, but has more salt in it from the almonds.
I’m thinking along the same lines, mochapj: some kind of flavorful brown sugar to mate with the cocoa. I might try panela sugar. And you’re right about the pink peppercorns! Add maybe a pinch of star anise with the cinnamon, a little orange zest, and I’m on my way!
Enjoy cheesing in Quebec! It’s still a fantasy of mine to get back to Quebec one day and do the route des fromages through the province.