FROM BEAN TO BAR

This chocolate begins and ends in Africa.

I was a pastry chef for over 25 years. Chocolate has always been around me. When I arrived in South Africa nine years ago I was frustrated by the quality of chocolate available and I decided to make my own.

The growth of South African artisanal chocolatiers helps increase knowledge about chocolate, keeps us on our toes and we collectively help grow the local market. We trade directly with the cocoa producers, and the beans never leave the continent.

Africa produces almost two-thirds of the world’s cocoa yet most of it leaves the continent. As an Italian I couldn’t understand why Belgian and Swiss chocolate are so famous when all the cocoa beans come from Africa. That’s when we at Afrikoa came up with the “Made in Africa for Africa” concept. We make chocolate in Africa for the African market, and if we start exporting to the rest of the world, the benefit of this will return to Africa.

For many years cocoa farmers have been the last in the food chain and the Bean to Bar movement has started to change this, but it is still a drop in the ocean. With the direct trade Afrikoa has set up, we purchase directly from farmers, cutting out the middlemen. By doing this their income increases by 250%.

“Organic” is a certification that describes cocoa grown without the use of pesticides. Heirloom cocoa is made using the best process to get the best product — and of course is also free of chemicals. The organic certification is very expensive — up to a third of a farmer’s income — and it is not recognised by any South African authorities at the moment. To identify a quality chocolate and cocoa powder, start by looking at the ingredient list: the shorter the better. Chocolate requires no more than 3-4 ingredients. The more information about the product and where it comes from, the better. It means the producer has nothing to hide.

Chocolate doesn’t go stale like bread or biscuits. It can, however, turn white-ish — technically called “bloom” and caused by temperature changes. The chocolate is still good to eat.

I am a purist when it comes to chocolate, but of course I need to be open to new experiences. At the Salon du Chocolat in Paris, I tasted chocolate made with fermented black garlic. Though I love both, the combination didn’t catch my heart — not even a bit.

Valentine’s Day and chocolate are synonymous. For me it would be a rich chocolate mousse topped with crushed amaretti and Italian cherries. Simple to make but effective!

My mom loves dark chocolate and as a child she used to share it with me, and I could eat anything chocolatey. But I have a weakness for Nutella, which sent me to the doctor a couple of times for eating waaay too much!

Afrikoa is the first chocolate in Africa to be made with heirloom cocoa beans supplied by the Tujikomboe Farmers Group in Tanzania , whose trees were the 14th in the world to receive the prestigious “heirloom” designation from the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund.

Visit afrikoa.com for more information and list of stockists in South Africa