City Style and Living - Winter 2008/2009 - (Page 26)

26 | WINTER 2008/09 | citystyleandliving.com www.amanochocolate.com www.worldcocoafoundation.org COURTESY AMEDEI CHOCOLATE He would open the pods with a cutlass (machete) and remove the seeds encased in a white pulp. The cocoa was fermented by placing it in a cocoa tray and covering it with jute bags. He would then dry the cocoa in the cocoa house, loosen any doubles (beans that were stuck together). Then would begin the ritual of dancing the cocoa. He and his brothers would shuffle through the drying cocoa with their feet, removing residue particles clinging to the beans. They drizzled water and then oil upon the beans to polish them as they danced. One brother would continuously gather the beans back into a mound with a wooden paddle. The luster created by dancing the cocoa would fetch a higher price for the beans at market. The fact that they called it dancing, gives some indication of the joy with which they met their work. We have even heard that on some cocoa estates songs were sung and celebrations made. Dancing the cocoa was a potent symbol of cocoa from the Caribbean. It is no wonder then that the recent trend of creating single origin chocolate has become so widespread. Chocolate tastes different depending on what part of the world the cocoa comes from. That is why the question of who makes the best cocoa is subjective. As with great champagne or wine chocolate is finally being recognized as complex, with nuanced flavours, and attributes that reflect its country of origin. Chocolatiers are therefore forging relationships directly with farmers. “I simply do not want to have the beans from a nameless farmer to show up on my doorstep. I want the cocoa beans I use to mean something to me. I want to honour the farmer’s hard work through using my very best efforts to make their cocoa beans into the very best chocolate possible. If I know the farmer and in many cases can call the farmer a friend, it makes it much easier for me to honour the farmer’s labour,” states Pollard who travels to farms in Venezuela to source the cocoa he uses to make his award winning chocolate. Pollard also sources beans from Madagascar, Bali and Ecuador. A few years ago we returned to our grandfather’s house. Despite all our pleadings, the cocoa house had been demolished as renovation plans had progressed. It was simply a small part of the gradual disintegration of an industry that was once significant to the Caribbean economy. Everywhere cocoa estates had turned to bush with no one to work the fields and prices steadily declining. It was an emotional passing. Though the cocoa house had not been used in decades, it had stood as a reminder of bygone days, and bygone rituals. Like the gigantic silos of the Western prairies it had formed a part of the folkloric landscape. Now, it too was gone. Bean to Bar: about? Theirdreamtomakethebestchocolate intheworld,frombeantobarledthe sisterandbrotherteamAlessioandCeciliaTessieritoformexclusivecontracts withproducersinVenezuela,Trinidad, Grenada,Ecuador,andJamaicaandto createAmedei.Earningthegolden beanawardfromLondon’sAcademyof chocolateforthreeyears,andwith praisefromrestaurants(FrenchLaundry, LeBernardin,andTheFatDuck) Amedei’sexquisitepackaging,andcomplexchocolateshavegarneredacclaim worldwide.CSLinterviewedMs.Tessieri, oneofafewfemalemasterchocolatiers globally,totalkexclusivelyabouther passion,determinationandloveof chocolate. Your family is important to you, a er all Amedei is your grandmother’s maiden name, what are some of your memories of chocolate as a child? To me the challenge is always there. What is the philosophy behind Amedei? Like every other kid I was used to having a li le bar of chocolate at times, but I had already developed a craze for it, to me chocolate was unlike any other kind of sweet. Little by li le it has become a sort of fascination, and it still continues. e use of the interlocking A’s on Amedei’s packaging is a symbol of the relationship between brother and sister. Your mother Ida helped to design the packaging of your chocolate. What can you tell us about working with your family? It is evident that our aim is having a larger and larger number of people sharing this sense of excellence and appreciating our eﬀorts and dedication. Our clients usually associate our chocolate with important and happy moments of their lives, and this is very rewarding and encouraging for us. “To me, Amedei is synonymous with beauty, sweetness, uniqueness, and fascination..I would like it if every taste of this delicious nectar gave lovers bu er ies in their stomach the same kind you feel on a rst date or at a rst kiss” You speak poetically about chocolate. Where did the initial passion for making the best chocolate in the world come from? It has been a very good luck. Each of us has his eld of competence according to his personal skill and training. en there is my mother who represents a moment of synthesis and adjustment. You mentioned that when you rst started Amedei it was diﬃcult, what was some good advice that you were given at this time to help you persevere? Ge ing a company started is always diﬃcult, but with chocolate it was even more so. I was conscious of the issue of competition with other products of the kind and I was persistent with the idea that my chocolate had to be made with the best beans and worked out with the best possible process. I knew I was starting a business, so, of course, it had to be pro table, but I also knew that I had to focus on the creative part, and to achieving the best quality possible If you nd a strain of poeticism in my words, that is because all my passion for chocolate in these years has grown with a sort of creative spirit which needed to be expressed. Why is making chocolate from bean to bar enjoying such popularity today? Demanding people are eager to know what their food is made of. A good chocolate can only be made with the total control of growing and production process from bean to bar. With it disappeared the ritual of dancing the cocoa. It was then that we realized the true significance of cocoa. Cocoa crystallizes the beautiful link that food can create between people in distant lands. Cocoa is joy, or perhaps as Art Pollard says: “As chocolatiers, our process is also very labour intensive. When I come home at night, I am exhausted and fall asleep almost as soon as I can put the kids to bed. But when I am exhausted, I think back to my friends who grow the beans and how hard they work and care for their beloved cacao trees. I quickly realize that they do it for passion just as I do, and that they work just as hard as I do if not harder and I marvel at what an incredible food chocolate is to drive us to such passions.” CSL http://www.amanochocolate.com http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org http://www.citystyleandliving.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of City Style and Living - Winter 2008/2009

City Style and Living - Winter 2008/2009 Contents Editor's Note Behind the Cover The District Events Wrap It Up To Market To Market Culinary Conversation Need It Want It Kitchen Restaurant Inspiration Dancing the Cocoa Covet Prêt-à-porter Inspired By... Giving Anatomy Of... Casanova Fragrance Profile Focal Pointe Passport 24 Hours In... The Staycation Ombudsperson Horoscopes Final Thought

City Style and Living - Winter 2008/2009

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