- Thread starter frank12
- Start date
Homemade Organic Chocolate bars in Cabarete
The balls of chocolate are basically a rough grind of roasted cacao. It is a drinking chocolate at this point and known as liquor, mass or paste. It is mostly used in the DR with milk or avaina and other countries use it for chocolate tea. Corn starch is a good to thicken it up. They generally contain 53% fat which is the cacao butter coming to the surface and makes them greasy. This is probably the healthiest way to eat chocolate and if the women who roasted this did a low roast, it would be even healthier, but from what I have seen in the campo, low roast is not in the vocabulary.
Tom, did you figure out the email for Cabarete's Miss Willy Wonka (Maria Mironova)?
Frank
reading this post is exactly why i posted on another thread about the error of putting financing first, instead of knowledge. it is apparent that poster Tom F is versed in the science of producing proper chocolate, while there are deficiencies in the methodologies of the local producers, however well intentioned their homespun techniques may be. maybe before Danilo and the boys start hurling pesos their way, they should invest in a knowledge bank which could help these people better their craft. then they can consider the little matter of helping them with financing.
There are a number of these women groups around the country working with chocolate to sell domestically. They are all associated with a cacao farmer cooperative and is a part of the 10% each cooperative is required to invest in the communities where the farmers live. This is necessary to maintain fair trade certification. The women in Palmar Grande (Chocal) have had help from a number of sources over the years to purchase their machines and receive technical assistance. They are further along in making eating chocolate then the other groups due to the having a refiner and a generator to run the thing when the power goes off. All these groups are making chocolate (mostly drinking) for local use and not in the tourist areas. Chocal is there from what I have see on the net and will be visiting them this summer and will let you know if they are making quality chocolate. Maria is making a nice chocolate bar for the tourist market and I will let you know how it tastes in July. I have been making chocolate bars at home for a few years now and have tasted way too much fine chocolate over that period of time and have a pretty good idea what is good and great chocolate. The Risek's make a bar called Kaw Kow which is very good and around the same price as Maria and Diana Munne has a very nice shop in the Capital called Xocolat which makes a nice bar and more. I have also read about a chocolate making shop in Punta Cana which opened recently and is part of a group which does the same thing in Peru. Those are the only people I know making good chocolate in the DR. Danilo throwing around some financing around is good because these women have shown they can grow their business and are honest and hard working. The other groups are honest and hard working but are not good at running the business side of it. Chocal seems to have the right supports to begin to bridge the campo capacity with the city and tourist markets.
As for Maria, we struck a non-binding verbal deal about a week ago and I haven't heard from her since.
Maybe she's low on product, or maybe she's overburdened with new orders, or whatever.......and her product to me
was actually not so special, but if I can help a small, local independently-owned business I'll give it my best shot.
My magazine, however, has an expiration date.
Maybe she's low on product, or maybe she's overburdened with new orders, or whatever.......and her product to me
was actually not so special, but if I can help a small, local independently-owned business I'll give it my best shot.
My magazine, however, has an expiration date.