Death By Chocolate

Many people consider chocolate the food of the gods. Some would even say they’d die for it, figuratively that is. Peter and I would not go that far, but on the weekend we took our lives in our hands, and a subway, to an alleyway that looked a little suspicions from the street.

We inched cautiously forward, and discovered some interesting boutiques; a flower shop, a craft brewery and finally Soul Chocolate. We stepped inside, entranced by the aroma. And the choices!

The chocolate teacher, Adrian, invited us into the classroom and began his story of the history of chocolate, with a real Cacao bean:

Then he showerer hundreds of cacao seeds on our “desk” and explained the make-up of each bean. He had us sort through them and choose the best ones for making chocolate. It was a time-consuming process.

He made us tea from the shells and a chocolate drink, from the beans and some added chili powder, that were both delicious. To show how truly versatile these beans are, he covered his face in the cacao butter that comes from squeezing them. This was a lesson in cosmetics as well:

Then he had us get to work, grinding the beans by hand, which required a lot of strength and determination. Soon we gave up and he showed us the machine that is used commercially for this process. After the beans were ground down, the result was a smooth liquid that had to be cooled on a stone surface. This stage too is labour-intensive:

Then came the fun part; choosing our extra ingredients: coconut, cherries, banana, orange, nuts, salt, and putting them in the little compartments that would then be smothered by the cooled liquid chocolate

For the final exam of the course we did a tasting test, identifying 6 chocolate samples for their quantity of cacao, sugars and other flavours. Despite our newly acquired expertise we had some difficulty. We were not experts yet.

After class was dismissed and we said good by to Adrian, we knew we would have to spend a lot of time doing our homework: sampling our homemade chocolates and trying new varieties.

If you are looking for an adventure, and are not afraid of the addiction that might result, then go to Soul Chocolate and eat your heart out.

Sue