Market research firm Mintel has discovered that Indians really love their chocolates. We, as a people, consumed 250 thousand tonnes of chocolate confectionary in 2019, up 60% from 2011. The World Chocolate Day, then, is a rather special occasion for us.
Our list of gourmet chocolate experiences goes something like this.
Are these the best Indian artisanal chocolate brands?
As a chocolate savant, I have struggled with the quality of chocolates coming out of India. On the surface it seems all good: organic ingredients sourced from the best purveyors and farms; innovative flavours and blends; small batch production. And yet, many are just gritty, with rough texture and a rather ho-hum aftertaste. A few brands have managed to break through the clutter, though.
Paul and Mike, an artisanal chocolate brand named after two cacao farmers from Brazil and the Dominican Republic and based out of the Kadayiruppu village in Kerala, is winning awards internationally. The brand follows the Latin American tradition of cacao beans growing, fine chocolate making and processes such as fermentation, roasting and moulding.
Vikas Temani, who founded the brand, learnt the art of cacao growing and chocolate making from chocolatiers and cacao plantations in South America. This single-origin chocolate brand (it is made from beans grown in one country or plantation) won a bronze at the Asia Pacific round of the International Chocolate awards for its jamun and Alphonso mango variants in 2019, and a silver for its 64% Dark Sichuan Pepper and Orange Peel Vegan Chocolate in early 2021. One of my favourites is its 72% Dark Vegan Chocolate with a smooth creamy aftertaste.
La Folie’s 3D chocolate bar is an ingenious way to design a chocolate that offers varied taste sensations with every bite. Designed in collaboration with branding design firm Sharpenerinc and product designer Shweta Kaushik, the chocolate’s ingredients such as pink Himalayan sea salt have been paired with single-origin cocoa beans from Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador. Chef Sanjana Patel’s play with textures and layers enhances their intricate flavours. The team worked on the moulds, created by 3D printing, to get the precise grammage, shape and size. This ensures that the final product is free of air bubbles, making it a far richer bar of chocolate.
La Folie chocolates.
All Things, a Jaipur-based handcrafted chocolate brand, uses cacao beans sourced from suppliers in Belgium. The bars come wrapped in beautifully designed packages that narrate the story of each chocolate. For instance, All Things Water is a 64% Malabar Dark Chocolate suffused with sea salt sourced from Bali. The ultimate result is a citrusy, oaky, bittersweet bar. All Things Childhood is a nod to the childhood-favourite flavours of banana and toffee.
Hershey’s Choconut Kalakand, A Chef Ranveer Brar recipe
Star chef Ranveer Brar’s famous twists on classic dishes have come to define progressive Indian cooking, which focuses on maintaining the sanctity of the original dish while creating new flavour profiles. Like the full-bodied kalakand to which he adds chocolate.
Ingredients
Babka: the Israeli chocolate delicacy
The braided bread-meets-cake confectionery emerged from within the Jewish clans of Poland and Ukraine. Sometimes drenched in alcohol, it has swirls of chocolate and infusions of cinnamon, nuts and everything warm and nice. The name is derived from the Polish word for grandmother, babcia.
Traditionally, babka was made by twisting yeast-based dough with nuts and seeds and topping it with a streusel. The contemporary version, with chocolate peeking through folds of the bread-cake, was a later invention.
Mumbai-based Brun & Babka, headed by Chef Heena Punwani, puts out a delicious babka layered with not just chocolate but even orange. Babka Goa serves up an indulgent dark chocolate babka, while Dessert Lane Jaipur has a chocolate hazelnut babka on its shelves.
Babka, courtesy Brun & Babka, Mumbai.
Experience: A virtual Scotch whisky and chocolate tasting experience
Chocolate and whisky is a match made in heaven. The guys at the Whisky Exchange, well-aware of this maxim, have set up virtual chocolate and whisky tasting sessions. The sessions are hosted over a Zoom call. Attendees are taken through what chocolate works best with which single malt. Pairing notes are also posted on their website. Among the combinations they recommend:
Balvenie Caribbean Cask, with flavours of vanilla, mango, apple and a touch of orange, pairs best with a creamy milk chocolate which heightens its flavours.
Talisker Port Ruighe, a smoky, peaty single malt, works well with the tangy freshness of a dark chocolate that has slivers of raspberry.
Learn more on www.whiskyexchange.com.
In India, Kyndal Group, an alcobev company with brands such as The Macallan, Cutty Sark, The Famous Grouse and Bootz Dark Jamaica Rum, offers opportunities to pair the spirits in its portfolio with chocolates. Among its recommendations: the complex Bootz Dark Jamaica Rum, with notes of espresso, tropical fruit and dark caramel, is best paired with the Toasted Coconut Dark Chocolate bar. Toasted coconut adds a nutty flavour and slightly crispier texture to the rum. The fruity and full-bodied Macallan Sherry Oak - 12 years old, matured in Oloroso sherry seasoned oak casks from Jerez in Spain, tastes rather wholesome with a chocolate that has hints of sea salt. The lingering bitterness of dark chocolate blends rather well with the sweetness of whisky.
Chocolate-infused desserts from the world’s best chefs
Chocolate is a versatile medium to work with and globally, chefs have their favourite recipes and dishes. Nigella Lawson’s favours a chocolate peanut butter fudge sundae, which she makes with salted peanuts, chocolate ice cream, double cream, milk chocolate and peanut butter. Combine all ingredients to create a sauce and then add it to a caramel ice-cream.
Chef Marco Pierre White’s chocolate dessert of choice is the tart. He uses plain chocolate broken into pieces, free-range eggs, milk, double cream, icing sugar and chocolate curls. For the sweet pastry he uses unsalted butter, icing sugar, egg yolks and flour.
Chef Heston Blumenthal’s exploding chocolate gateaux is impossible to make at home. Instead, try it at his restaurant when you are next able to travel to London and experience the delight of tasting the popping candy in this simple chocolate ganache gateau, as the base starts exploding in your mouth.
Heston Blumenthal's exploding chocolate gateaux.
So, what does MS Dhoni have to do with Copter 7 and a new range of dark chocolate?
Copter 7 is a new beer and chocolates brand. Its chocolates (and beer) are inspired by the former Indian cricket captain, M.S. Dhoni’s famous Helicopter Shot. He also happens to be their brand ambassador, which is why the chocolate’s packaging is a reference to his jersey colours. For its range of artisanal chocolates, 7Ink Brews teamed up with chocolatier and chef, David Belo of Mysore-based craft chocolate brand Naviluna. The chocolates are made using sustainably-grown cacao sourced from southern India, and are imbued with flavours such as mosambi zest, strawberry, coffee, mint and mulberry.
Where can I buy imported gourmet chocolate brands from in India?
A little weary of mass-market imported chocolate brands available in India? Here’s where you can get the gourmet variety. Japanese fine chocolate brand ROYCE launched in India a few years ago with a retail store in Palladium and then expanded to other cities such as Delhi. Due to continuous lockdowns and restrictions, you can now order them online. ROYCE's Nama chocolate - a silky, ganache-esque melt-in-the-mouth square pieces - are dusted with cacao powder. The chocolate has a high dairy content and is rather creamy.
ROYCE’S other best-sellers are the Matcha Green Tea chocolates and chocolate-covered popcorn. Order on www.royceindia.com.
Amazon’s gourmet section has a wide range of great global chocolate brands such as Puccini Bomboni, a brand that began its journey as a small artisanal chocolatier in Amsterdam, in 1987. Its bonbons quickly became famous across Europe. A couple of years ago the brand went online, on the Amazon platform. The chocolates, with no sugar or butter, have ingredients such as pepper, rhubarb, tea and calvados and are made using traditional ingredients.
Donnelly Chocolate, founded by Richard Donnelly, has been rated among the 10 best chocolatiers in the world by National Geographic magazine. The brand pushes the chocolate experience by combining rich Belgian and French chocolate with ingredients such as lavender, saffron and cardamom. French pastry chef and chocolatier Jacques Torres marries French techniques with his vast knowledge and passion for the culinary arts to produce an edgy brand of chocolates. His cork-shaped Taittinger Champagne truffles exemplify chocolate decadence.
Chocolatier Jacques Torres' cork-shaped Taittinger Champagne truffles exemplify chocolate decadence.
On Chocolouge.in you can buy a range of Belgian chocolates, HERSHEY’s, besides interesting Lindt variations that are rarely available in India, along with the mass-market imported chocolates.
So, will chocolate go extinct by 2050?
Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in California have predicted that cacao plants are likely to go extinct as early as 2050 due to climate change. Most of the world’s chocolate comes from West African rainforests or from Ecuador. Earth’s rising temperatures will push cacao farms further up into the mountains, to areas either unsuitable for cultivation or already reserved as wildlife preserves. In a bid to save cacao production, the University of Berkeley is using CRISPR technology to modify the DNA of the plants, which will help them survive rising temperatures. You can help by ordering single-origin, small batch chocolates that are produced using sustainable methods of cacao farming.
Rising temperatures are already affecting cacao plantations in West Africa and South America.
How Ecuador holds out hope in a world affected by climate change
Ecuador once enjoyed the moniker ‘The Gold Mine of Cacao’. But, plant disease and climate change pushed it off this high pedestal. That is till recently, when dedicated local farmers and sustainably-minded businesses (that have been practising and promoting single-origin chocolate) started reviving the estates.
The cacao that comes from the small, indigenous farmers flavours big brands such as Pacari’s chocolate bars. The endangered cacao variety is known for its rich, fruity, and floral flavour profile. The variety is what put Pacari on the map, after the marquee brand’s partnership with 4,000 Ecuadorian farmers, including Santa Rita’s Alvarado. Now most artisanal brands, from Cru to Alter Eco and Lindt, source from Ecuador.
Pacari, Cru, Alter Eco and Lindt source cacao from Ecuador.
The ultimate chocolate-themed cruise in Galapagos
And while we are on Ecuador… The Galapagos Islands in Ecuador use Arriba Nacional, a cacao bean with complex flavours which is solely found in the South American country. The finest dark chocolate in the world is said to come from the Galapagos. Rainforest Cruises has launched Touring Galapagos, a 10-day luxury cruise, which sets sail on the island, aboard a 9-cabin yacht The Elite Catamaran. It sails around the islands of San Cristobal, Española and Floreana. Cruisers get to experience the islands’ rich biodiversity through private tours, hiking, snorkelling and kayaking, besides understanding the country’s rich chocolate heritage.
The chocolate experience unfolds at Hacienda La Danesa, a family-owned cacao plantation near Guayaquil, very close to the Andes, for over two days. The fair trade estate offers chocolate making workshops where you make ganache, Ecuadorian hot chocolate and chocolate bars. Ecuador has opened travel, including to Indian tourists, particularly those who have received both doses of the Covid vaccine.
Hacienda La Danesa is a family-owned cacao plantation near Guayaquil, Ecuador.
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