Club news by Chocolate Tasting Club

Club News

The monthly newsletter from the Tasting Club

Issue 1303

Eat chocolate

win prizes New research suggests the more chocolate you eat the more likely you are to win a Nobel Prize. More on page 6

Hot Topic Chilli and chocolate… some love it and others, well, not so much. Tell us where you stand on this hot topic. See page 13

Ghana Appeal Cuthbert Monroque urged his tree on to a great victory!

Cocoa Race results!

the Great

This month we’ve been mainly counting pods… which means that we can reveal the winner of the Great Rabot Estate Cocoa Race!

1303NL

This has been our largest scale competition ever, having been launched in January 2012 and running for the entire year. The idea was that we presented details of five different cocoa trees situated on the on Rabot Estate in Saint Lucia – each of which has been adopted by a member of the estate staff. We revealed more about those trees and the members of the Cocoa Team assigned to ‘mentor’ them. And finally, armed with that information, members continued on page 8... entered the competition by choosing the tree...

Target:

£45,000 If you would like to contribute to the Appeal to fund the Osuben Medical Clinic (CHPS) please send a cheque for whatever amount you can give made payable to:

Current Amount:

£16,019

The Cocoa Farmers’ Fund, and send to: CTC Ghana Appeal, FREEPOST ANG10659, Royston, SG8 5YD.

Letter from the

Editor

his month you might have noticed we are covering the small matter of the results of our largest scale competition yet – the yearlong Great Rabot Estate Cocoa Race. It certainly has been fascinating to read the updates and get the pod counts. We’ve discovered that some trees can have bountiful years, while others can experience poor seasons for no obvious reasons, but that is just the natural rhythm of nature and that is what cocoa growing is all about. Did your chosen tree win? Turn to pages 8 & 9 to find out and see – you could well be our overall winner and on your way to Boucan Saint Lucia for a luxury holiday, or you could have won a year’s supply of chocolates as one of four runners-up. Elsewhere in this edition, you’ll see an interesting piece on a possible link between chocolate consumption and Nobel Prize winning… Yes, I was dubious at first, but statistics don’t lie (not much anyway). And with the season of chocolate eggs upon us, we delve back into the history of the Easter egg and find out where they came from in the first place.

What exactly is

marzipan

“

We’ve discovered that some trees can have bountiful years, while others can experience poor seasons for no obvious reasons, but that is just the natural rhythm of nature…

”

Finally, you’ll find a fascinating article written by Club members Ryan and Sylvia Kelley who took time from their own aid trip to Ghana to visit Osuben village and our Green Tropics Group partners. Don’t miss out on your exciting Easter Collection – get cracking on page 4!

Until next month, happy tasting.

Simon Thirwell Club News Editor Send your letters to The Chocolate Tasting Club, Mint House, Royston SG8 5HL, or simply email me on simon@hotelchocolat.co.uk or via our website: www.chocs.co.uk We are waiting to hear from you! Club News Editor: Simon Thirlwell; Contributors: Simon Thirlwell, Terry Waters.

t fails to divide opinions here in the Tasting Club and, in fact, out there in the nation too. But love it or hate it, there’s no doubt that marzipan has a long, rich history that goes back to the ground almond delicacies enjoyed in ancient Persia. It was introduced to Europe during the 13th century when it brought back from the Crusades and by the 14th century it was a luxury to be found only at the tables of the rich, because sugar was a very expensive commodity. However, with the discovery of the new world, sugar became

much cheaper, which in turn enabled marzipan to really take off in Europe – with the Baltic city of Lübeck becoming the specialist centre, as it remains to this day. Sugar is now marzipan’s cheapest ingredient and many mass produced marzipans are overly sweet – doing its popularity no favours! The secret to making good marzipan is to use as much ground almond paste as possible and therefore as little sugar as possible, just as we do with the recipes that feature in our tasting boxes. So go on, give one a try!

Photography by TOM MANNION

Winners

This month’s Prize Draw

Classic Selection Prize draw winner is Mrs Jackie Couchman from Innerleithen who wins a Truffle Selection. Next month’s

All aboard for...

The Grand Tour

prize is a Less Sugar More Cocoa Selection.

LAST call for…

Dark Selection Prize draw winner is Mr Graham Pedley from Colchester who wins a Serious Dark Fix Selecion. Next month’s prize is a Dark Signature Collection

Elements

Selection

Prize draw winner is Mrs Sue Chesser from Wood Green who wins an Eton Mess Giant Slab. Next month’s prize is a Nut Mania Giant Slab.

Purist

Selection

Prize draw winner is Dame Kirsten Hey from Edinburgh who wins a Super Boosters Desk Pot. Next month’s prize is a Purist Collection.

All Milk

FOR A DELICIOUS EASTER SPIN! This Easter we’ve created a most deliciously different Easter Collection, with a stunning zoetrope-inspired keepsake box – and just wait until you see the adventure of chocolate inside! There are two extra thick shells to discover, a gorgeous array of 12 Easter chocolates and a FREE Easter tablet too. And this year we’ve added two new versions – ALL MILK (alcohol-free so it’s suitable for those of you who take Elements and any children on your gift list) AND FORTIFIED (which is of course all alcohol!). All you need do is choose your favourite, or favourites, as they make stunning Easter gifts too – but please reserve yours soon! Available for just £24 (plus £4.95 P&P) at www.chocs.co.uk/EASTER or call 08444 933 933.

Selection

Prize draw winner is Mrs Paula Jones from Norwich who wins a Peepsters Bestsellers Collection. Next month’s prize is an Oysters & Champagne Selection.

Don’t forget – score by post or online at www.chocs.co.uk 4

and you’ll be automatically entered into this prize draw.

Inspired by the golden age of travel let us take you on a gastronomic chocolate tour of Europe featuring stunning recipes from cities and regions on the way. With 17 different recipes, an exclusive set of postcards and a unique map to show you the way too. Departing soon! Reserve your place now for just £29.95 (including delivery) at www.chocs.co.uk/grandtour or call 08444 933 933

The nobel prize for

chocolate goes to...

what came first the

Does eating chocolate make you clever? As members of the Chocolate Tasting Club we’re bound to agree, but there may be research to back this up…

So, taking the number of Nobel Prize winners in a country as an indicator of national intelligence, he simply compared that with the nation's annual chocolate consumption. The results were amazing – showing an incredibly close relationship between the two sets of figures. In fact, the correlation has a ‘P value’ of 0.0001 (for those of us not really into statistics, this means there’s a less than one-in-10,000 probability of getting the same results if no correlation existed). However, there’s one country that does not seem to fit with this theory, Sweden, with a high number of prize winners and a lower than average chocolate consumption. The report’s author suggested this might be a case of patriotic bias, given that Sweden evaluates all potential Nobel Prizes (apart from the Peace Prize). Or perhaps Sweden is just the exception that proves the rule? It can only be a matter of time before we celebrate our own Tasting Club Nobel laureate!

SWITZERLAND

SWEDEN

DENMARK

AUSTRIA

NORWAY

UNITED KINGDOM

GERMANY

UNITED STATES

IRELAND

FRANCE

THE NETHERLANDS BELGIUM

FINLAND

CANADA

AUSTRALIA

POLAND

SPAIN

BRAZIL

ITALY

PORTUGAL

JAPAN

GREECE

CHINA

ANNUAL PER CAPITA CHOCOLATE CONSUMPTION (KG/YR)

recent study appears to suggest that eating more chocolate improves a nation's chances of producing Nobel Prize winners. It all began when Franz Messerli of Columbia University, who conducted the research, read about cocoa being good for you. The piece suggested that a regular intake of cocoa improved mental function in elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment, and it set him wondering about just how good chocolate can be for you. “There is data in rats showing that they live longer and have better cognitive function when they eat chocolate and even in snails you can show that the snail memory is actually improved,” Messerli says. We’ll have to take his word for it as, the last time we checked, no rats or snails were listed as Tasting Club members…

NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS PER 10 MILLION PEOPLE

rabbit or the egg? Chocolate eggs are now the most iconic symbol of Easter, but where did they come from and who first made them? We delve into the history of the Easter egg to find out.

any of our Easter traditions are hangovers from Easter’s pre-Christian past – the rabbit and hare, for example, were symbols of fertility that have gone on to become the Easter bunny. But more notably, the egg was the symbol of new life, which has now become the definitive trademark of Easter in the form of chocolate Easter eggs. From the earliest of times, painted eggs have been exchanged at Easter, from the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, to the Persians, Chinese and the Saxons – they were all at it! The egg itself (as a gift) has continued to evolve over the centuries from dyed goose eggs, to beautifully decorated papier-mâché eggs in the 17th & 18th centuries. Fabergé, of course, hit the heights of man-made eggs with his jewel-encrusted works of art. But the most exciting evolution, as far as we’re concerned, happened in Europe in the early 1800s when chocolate

Easter eggs first started to appear. However, being made from fairly basic, gritty dark chocolate, they were still worlds away from our modern day Easter eggs. It wasn’t until 1873 that the first mass-produced egg appeared, the Cadbury Easter egg. And we had to wait until 1905 for the first milk chocolate egg to appear. Who’d have guessed that our love affair with chocolate Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny had such ancient roots? For inspiration for this year’s Tasting Club Easter egg we look back to the more recent past, however, to a time epitomised by the scene on our 1920s antique chocolate mould and the ‘new fangled’ zoetrope machines that brought pictures to life – how times have changed! See page 4 for more on this year’s Easter Collections. 7

cover story – continued

Great Rabot Cocoa Race THE Results ...they thought would provide the most cocoa pods during the 2012 season. And as cocoa pods are harvested all year long (but with one main harvest period in the autumn/winter) we were able to supply regular updates on the number of pods produced by the trees in question right here in Club News. And so, without further ado, here are the results. WINNER – 85 Pods Tree One – Cuthbert Cocoa type Trinitario ICS 39, grows in the Cortes du Lac and is looked after by Cuthbert Monroque.

Second – 66 Pods Tree Five – Mr Matt Cocoa type Trinitario ICS 1, grows in the Cortes Marcial and is looked after by Matthew Alcindor (Mr Matt).

Third – 61 Pods Tree Two – Murray Cocoa type Trinitario ICS 95, grows in the Cortes du Lac and is looked after by Murray Bertie.

Fourth – 44 Pods Tree Three – Simon Cocoa type Old Rabot Heirloom Trinitario, grows in the Cortes du Lac and is looked after by Simon Monrose.

Fifth – 26 Pods Tree Four – Freda Cocoa type Trinitario ICS 98, grows in the Cortes Fond Mathurin and is looked after by Freda Augustin.

And the Winner is… Just to remind you, first prize is a seven night stay for two people at Boucan Hotel in Saint Lucia (including flights and full board accommodation), plus there are four runnersup prizes too – a year’s supply of Tasting Club chocolates. To help us choose the winner and runners-up, we asked entrants to tell us in 30 words or less why they would most look forward to a holiday at the Boucan Hotel. We then picked the first five names with the correct answer and decided the winner based on who had the most interesting thought. The winner is off to Boucan for seven nights and four runners-up will each receive a year’s supply of Club chocolates. The lucky winner, chosen by Club Founder, Angus, is… Brian Adams from St Albans, who put his reason for wanting to go to Boucan in verse:

A return to Saint Lucia where we were wed Is an act of Chocolate Love instead But no mention to the wife please Of my other love in the Antilles Our very worthy runners-up are: Sally Buttolph from Marlow Ann Thornton from Leeds Jane Woodward from Isle Of Man Paul Carr from Beccles Congratulations to you all!

Clockwise from top left – the victorious Cuthbert; the poly tunnels where our seedlings start life; grafted seedlings are carefully noted; harvested pods; Mr Matt, pipped at the post; some of the harvesting team in action; Freda Augustin; a shaded cocoa grove at Rabot; Murray Bertie; the raw white beans in a freshly cut pod; and Simon Monrose.

scores

feedback

Classic Selection – D156 No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

10/10

Average

Pink Champagne Truffle

O Nicod

32%

8.7

Cashew You

F Plimmer

30%

8.7

Pomegranate Tasting Batons

The Tasting Club

21%

8.4

Cranberry Truffle

F Plimmer

21%

8.4

Bourbon Pecan Pie

R Macfadyen

21%

8.4

10/10

Average

Your Tasting Comments! Bouquet Cashew You – Classic Loved this one – a creamy smoothness with texture to it – if that makes sense? Valerie Reilly, Johnstone Pink Champagne Truffle

DARK Selection – K89 No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

Ruby Port

O Nicod

23%

8.4

Cranberry Truffle

F Plimmer

22%

8.2

Pink Champagne Truffle

O Nicod

21%

8.5

67% Dark Tasting Batons

The Tasting Club

21%

8.5

Extreme Praline

O Nicod

20%

8.3

Ruby Port

Elements Selection – S67 No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

10/10

Cashew You

F Plimmer

35%

Average 8.7

Cranberry Truffle

F Plimmer

25%

8.4

35% Milk Chocolate

The Tasting Club

24%

8.7

Chilli Penguin Slab

R Macfadyen

21%

8.7

Pomegranate Tasting Batons

The Tasting Club

19%

8.4

10/10

Average 8.1

Cashew You

Hazelnut Marzipan – Classic Yum! I really don't like marzipan but these were delicious! Lucy Buckley, Worksop

Bouquet

Bourbon Pecan Pie – Classic He hates nuts, I hate bourbon! Julie Nerney, Hove

Brickbat

Bourbon Pecan Pie – Dark This was great – punchy and smooth with a little crunch and lots of kick. Tim Stockil, Great Missenden

Bouquet

Hazelnut Marzipan – Dark Mealy and neither sweet enough, nor chocolaty enough. Katrina Voysey, Surrey

Brickbat

Bouquet 70% Milk Hacienda Iara – Purist I always thought that I didn't like milk chocolate, but this mix was very good. Strong notes of dark chocolate with a hint of creaminess added unexpected pleasure to the taste and texture of this selection. Jane Crawford, Witney

purist Selection – p21 No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

70% Dark Kallari, Ecuador

The Tasting Club

23%

Walnut Gianduja & Raisin Bûche

F Plimmer

15%

7.1

Buena Vista Praline

R Macfadyen

15%

7.6

90% Hacienda Iara, Ecuador

The Tasting Club

14%

8.2

Cranberry & Cinnamon Bûche

K Kalenko

13%

7.9

Chocolatier

Dear Simon In response to the How Do You Eat Yours in Club News, this is how I eat mine... 70% Dark Kallari, Ecuador

ALL MILK Selection – M11 No. Chocolate Name

IN THE POSTBAG…

10/10

Average

Cashew You

Felicity Plimmer

41%

8.9

Pink Champagne Truffle

O Nicod

38%

8.9

Walnut Praline

V Elliot

31%

8.6

Vanilla Star

K Kalenko

29%

8.8

Pomegranate Tasting Batons

The Tasting Club

28%

8.6

Cashew You

Open the envelope and read all the bits EXCEPT the menu. Then take my time to unwrap the box, peeling off layer by layer until I can lift the lid and savour the sight of a bed of deliciousness. Then either me or my hubby makes a choice. We bite in and let the flavours erupt. We both comment, sharing our thoughts on the chocolate. What we can taste and

smell, whether we like it or not and the points we will award. If we can't agree we meet half way and award accordingly. Only then do we look to see what the chocolate is. Did we guess the flavours or some of the ingredients? Some times yes, others way off! Eating our choccies this way gives us no pre-conceived ideas and we taste with an open mind. It works for us! Regards Carolyn Robbins

Don’t forget – if we publish your letter you’ll receive your next tasting box FREE! Write to simon@hotelchocolat.co.uk or The Chocolate Tasting Club, Mint House, Royston, SG8 5HL

FORTIFIED is on the way

Photography by TOM MANNION

The next

Chilli

in chocolate – the hot debate Chilli is one ingredient that divides opinion right down the middle of our membership. Some won’t touch it and some just can’t get enough. Where do you stand?

he latest quarterly instalment of our legendary Fortified Selection is now almost ready for despatch and its not one to miss! Featuring 28 chocolates, it’ll be freshly made and ready for despatch in March – including renowned Glen Morangie Single Malt Whisky, Damson Gin with a fruity

kick, Grey Goose Vodka Martini, warming Courvoisier VS Cognac, tropical coconut with boutique Toz rum from Saint Lucia, Mercier Champagne and so much more. Plus, each selection also includes a set of exclusive Provenance Cards with fascinating background information about four featured alcohols and liqueurs.

Reserve the next Fortified Selection for just £16.00 (plus £3.95 P&P) at www.chocs.co.uk/mmm or call 08444 933 933

s you well know, your scores and comments are at the centre of all we do, helping in the creation of new recipes and in shaping the direction of our selections in general. But when it comes to chilli we regularly receive comments from both extremes – some imploring us to cease and desist immediately and others begging for more! So what happens when something polarises opinion to the extent that there’s very little middle ground? Well, in the best traditions of the Tasting Club, we’re having a survey! More on that in a minute, first we need to get to the bottom of where this whole idea of chilli and chocolate came from. The answer, you’ll be interested to hear, comes from the ancient Meso-American civilisations that pioneered the use of cocoa as a foodstuff approximately 3,000 years ago. First the Olmecs, then the Mayans and, probably most famously, the Aztecs. Of course, they were all consuming cocoa as a drink (solid chocolate was not invented until the mid 19th century). It was frothed up by pouring it from one vessel to another and spiced up with, amongst other things, chilli.

So, as you can see, chilli and cocoa share a long partnership together. In fact, for the vast majority of its long history, cocoa has been enjoyed as a savoury drink – sweetened cocoa and chocolate have merely a few hundred years under the belt. However, back in the present day we still have the hot debate as to what you think about chilli in modern day recipes. We’d love to hear how many chilli and chocolate recipes you would you like to see in your Tasting Selections – just tell us which of the answers below relates to you on your scorecard or enter the survey online at www.chocs.co.uk/hotdebate How many chilli recipes should there be in a tasting selection?

¨ As many as you like ¨ Three maximum ¨ Two maximum ¨ One only ¨ None We can’t wait to see the results!

results

Sarah open & Naomi ing th e pod s

David, Sarah, Jos ephine, Sylvia, Isaac & Ryan

lvia owing Sy ss David sh ce Sarah & pollination pro the hand

CHRISTMAS 2012 – THE RESULTS

This year our big project in Ghana is our biggest yet, the building of a health centre and we’ve made a great start to raising the money. We’re delighted as this is exactly the kind of enterprise we have always sought in Ghana – to provide the impetus for the creation of the project, which is then sustained by the local community. Our Health Centre will operate a 24/7 service with a live-in nurse and midwife, so care can be provided immediately for local people and within less than an hour for the surrounding villages. This one is a big ask, we need to raise £45,000, and thanks you to everyone who has contributed so far we’re over a third of the way there – but there’s still a way to go! Your generosity is greatly appreciated but there are some contributors without return addresses, however, that we have not been able to thank and those who have sent particularly generous contributions. To spare everyone’s blushes, we’re using initials and towns, but hopefully you’ll know who you are!

It may feel like a distant memory now, but thanks to everyone who took time over the holidays to send us their Christmas Collection scores and comments. Here are the top three chocolates that most impressed you from all four of our Collections – a warming reminder of those cosy Christmas nights.

Mr K, Grange-over-sands £300

Miss H, Dartmouth £100

Mr Y, Sidmouth £100

Mr & Mrs K, Norwich, £100

Mrs T, Gwynedd £100

Mrs G, Bury St Edmonds £500

MGL, Winscombe £120

Mrs G, Swansea £250

Miss L, Okehampton £200

Ms T & Mr C, Bracknell £100

Mrs M, Fife £100

Mrs P, Derbyshire £200

Mrs B, Liverpool £100

Mr S £500

No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

Osuben THE

THE HEALTH CENTRE APPEAL – UPDATE

10/10

Average

Classic Christmas Scores 1

Christmas Mess

O Nicod

28%

8.6

Florentine Dream

K Kalenko

26%

8.6

Cranberry Truffle

V Elliot

25%

8.6

8.5

dark Christmas Scores 1

Florentine Dream

K Kalenko

25%

Gianduja Yule Log

R Macfadyen

25%

8.4

Champagne Star

M Meier

24%

8.6

Milk Christmas Scores 1

Baileys Chocolate Custard

V Elliot

34%

Salted Caramel Star

K Kalenko

32%

8.6

Praline Whirl

E Desmet

31%

8.3

8.8

Elements Christmas Scores 1

Christmas Mess

O Nicod

44%

Dasher’s Dream

K Kalenko

37%

8.9

Praline Whirl

E Desmet

33%

8.5

Classic

DARK

MILK

elements

Christmas Mess

Florentine Dream

Baileys Chocolate Custard

Sticky Toffee Slab

y wife, Sylvia, and I have been members of the Tasting Club for over 10 years. We have seen cocoa growing in Ecuador and Sierra Leone in passing, but knew very little about it. However, a visit to Ghana, passing close to Osuben, was too good an opportunity to pass up and, via the Club, we made contact with Isaac of the Green Tropics Group (GTG). So on 29th November we met at Fodowa, on the main road from Kumasi to Accra and Isaac guided us the 15km on rough track to the village of Osuben and the GTG base. There, we were welcomed by David, the manager, Sarah, a volunteer, and Naomi, David’s wife, who were to show us how some things were done. We were quickly immersed in matters of cocoa growing, being shown the processes of harvesting pods. A batch of cocoa beans, which had been fermenting under a pile of banana leaves for six days was then opened, and the aroma was intoxicating – these beans were then ready for drying. David spread them on the drying table and quickly washed his hands thoroughly before the fermented mixture damaged his skin. Our next stop was at a very important place – the site where the Osuben community have decided to build the new medical centre sponsored by the Club. The clinic will become a valuable facility for the 22 villages around Osuben, removing the need for sick people having to walk 6km to the next clinic. From

David show ing Sylvia th site for the medical ce e ntre

experience

By Ryan Kelley

our experiences of being involved with village clinics in West Africa for nearly 30 years, we could appreciate the enthusiasm shown for this project. The next highlight of the tour was a visit to Pankese Seed Production Unit where we welcomed by Josephine, the manager. She showed us in more detail the hand pollination process, whereby pollen from one male flower fertilises five female flowers using tweezers! Insects alone fail to achieve such an effective result. Workers undertaking this pollination are expected to pollinate 400 female flowers per day working from 6am to 11.30am, and the effect on the quantity of seed pods was impressive. Sadly, after seeing the fermentation and drying facilities at Pankese, our time ran out and we had to head onwards to Accra, but with much more knowledge of the hard work and commitment in uncomfortable temperatures needed to produce the lovely chocolates we all enjoy. With thanks to Isaac, David, Sarah and Josephine we returned to Accra. During the visit we saw the truck and the boreholes provided through the contributions of Club members and heard about the benefits they had brought. We would recommend highly to support the medical centre project for which the need is great, and through which there will be enormous benefit to the farmers on whom we as Club members all depend. 15

The Easter Adventure STARTS HERE hotelchocolat.co.uk