Even though the CHOCOA 2022 event happened in June this year, I thought of mentioning this fantastic event if you missed it.
It is definitely worth contacting the CHOCOA team at info@chocoa.nl to request an online access (virtual event) to all the interesting talks and great workshops put together during the show. The event covered a large amount of topics:
- How can Agroforestry benefit farmers and mitigate climate change.
- How to make vegan milk and white chocolate. Two perspectives on flavor and texture.
- How to communicate the sustainability of Craft Chocolate
and many more… the highlight for me was the post harvest talk with leading expert in cocoa post harvest, Zoi Papalexandratou from Zoto “How to use fermentation to create unique cocoa quality”
From Zoi’s perspective, which I totally support, there is no bad cocoa tree genotype … there is only bad post harvest practices. This means that even when using “bad reputation cocoas” (CCN51 for example), if the post harvest is properly done, you can get a really nice chocolate!!
I thought twice about bringing over cocoa from Ghana for example thinking that it will be hard to sell to my fellow chocolate makers…. The message is that one cannot generalize a flavor profile or overall quality on a country of origin. It would be like putting all French wines under the same umbrella!!! The Kuapa Kokoo coop is a model for many not only in terms of positive social impact but has proven to offer reliable and consistent quality over many years.
Forastero type of cocoas have a bad reputation largely due to poor fermentation practices but when handled well they provide a really good chocolate base for a blend for example.
So, don’t believe the hype!! experiment and let your creativity decide and don’t assume because the cocoa is from a specific country it will be good or it will have a certain flavor profile. I have gathered a selection of cocoas from renown plantations and farmers group who understand what quality is and take their post harvest practices very seriously.
Cocoa Post harvest starts at the pod picking stage. Choosing pods which are mature, when their pulp has reached an acceptable level of sweetness is key to good fermentation.
The fermentation, the drying and finally the storage will define the overall quality of the cocoa produced. I will go in depth in future posts so stay tuned and in the meantime hit this link to brush up your knowledge 🙂 https://perfectdailygrind.com/2018/02/step-step-explanation-cacao-harvesting-processing/