Club news

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This has been our largest scale competition ever, having been launched in January 2012 and running for the entire year. The idea was that we presented details of five different cocoa trees situated on the on Rabot Estate in Saint Lucia – each of which has been adopted by a member of the estate staff. We revealed more about those trees and the members of the Cocoa Team assigned to ‘mentor’ them. And finally, armed with that information, members entered the competition by choosing the tree...

Cuthbert Monroque urged his tree on to a great victory!

This month we’ve been mainly counting pods… which means that we can reveal the winner of the Great Rabot Estate Cocoa Race!

Hot TopicChilli and chocolate… some love it and others, well, not so much. Tell us where you stand on this hot topic.

See page 13

Eat chocolatE

win prizesNew research suggests the more chocolate you eat the more likely you are to win a Nobel Prize.

More on page 6

Issue 1303

NEwsClubThe monthly newsletter from the Tasting Club

Cocoa Race rEsults!

thE GrEat Target:

£45,000

Current Amount:

£16,019

GhaNa appEal

If you would like to contribute to the Appeal to fund the Osuben Medical Clinic (CHPS) please send a cheque for whatever amount you can give made payable to:

The Cocoa Farmers’ Fund, and send to: CTC Ghana Appeal, FREEPOST ANG10659, Royston, SG8 5YD.

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EditorLetter from the

Send your letters to The Chocolate Tasting Club, Mint House, Royston SG8 5HL, or simply email me on [email protected] or via our website: www.chocs.co.uk We are waiting to hear from you! Club News Editor: Simon Thirlwell; Contributors: Simon Thirlwell, Terry Waters. © The Chocolate Tasting Club plc 2013

Don’t miss out on your exciting Easter Collection – get cracking on page 4!

this month you might have noticed we are covering the small matter of the results of our largest scale competition yet – the yearlong Great Rabot Estate Cocoa Race. It certainly

has been fascinating to read the updates and get the pod counts. We’ve discovered that some trees can have bountiful years, while others can experience poor seasons for no obvious reasons, but that is just the natural rhythm of nature and that is what cocoa growing is all about. Did your chosen tree win? Turn to pages 8 & 9 to find out and see – you could well be our overall winner and on your way to Boucan Saint Lucia for a luxury holiday, or you could have won a year’s supply of chocolates as one of four runners-up.Elsewhere in this edition, you’ll see an interesting piece on a possible link between chocolate consumption and Nobel Prize winning… Yes, I was dubious at first, but statistics don’t lie (not much anyway). And with the season of chocolate eggs upon us, we delve back into the history of the Easter egg and find out where they came from in the first place.

We’ve discovered that some trees can have bountiful years, while others

can experience poor seasons for no obvious reasons, but that is just the

natural rhythm of nature…

“”Finally, you’ll find a fascinating article written by Club

members Ryan and Sylvia Kelley who took time from their own aid trip to Ghana to visit Osuben village and our Green Tropics Group partners.

Until next month, happy tasting.

Simon ThirwellClub News Editor

What exactly is

marzipaN

iT FAILS TO DIvIDE OPINIONS hERE IN ThE TASTING CLUB AND, IN FACT, OUT ThERE IN ThE NATION TOO.

But love it or hate it, there’s no doubt that marzipan has a long, rich history that goes back to the ground almond delicacies enjoyed in ancient Persia. It was introduced to Europe during the 13th century when it brought back from the Crusades and by the 14th century it was a luxury to be found only at the tables of the rich, because sugar was a very expensive commodity. however, with the discovery of the new world, sugar became

much cheaper, which in turn enabled marzipan to really take off in Europe – with the Baltic city of Lübeck becoming the specialist centre, as it remains to this day. Sugar is now marzipan’s cheapest ingredient and many mass produced marzipans are overly sweet – doing its popularity no favours! The secret to making good marzipan is to use as much ground almond paste as possible and therefore as little sugar as possible, just as we do with the recipes that feature in our tasting boxes. So go on, give one a try!

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doN’t forGEt – score by post or online at www.chocs.co.uk and you’ll be automatically entered into this prize draw.

LAST CALL foR…

FOR A DELICIOUS EASTER SPIN!This Easter we’ve created a most deliciously different Easter Collection, with a stunning zoetrope-inspired keepsake box – and just wait until you see the adventure of chocolate inside!

There are two extra thick shells to discover, a gorgeous array of 12 Easter chocolates and a FREE Easter tablet too. And this year we’ve added two new versions – ALL MILK (alcohol-free so it’s suitable for those of you who take Elements and any children on your gift list) AND FORTIFIED (which is of course all alcohol!). All you need do is choose your favourite, or favourites, as they make stunning Easter gifts too – but please reserve yours soon!

Available for just £24 (plus £4.95 P&P) at www.chocs.co.uk/EASTER or call 08444 933 933.

classic sElEctioNPrize draw winner is Mrs Jackie Couchman from Innerleithen who wins a Truffle Selection. Next month’s prize is a Less Sugar More Cocoa Selection.

purist sElEctioNPrize draw winner is Dame Kirsten hey from Edinburgh who wins a Super Boosters Desk Pot. Next month’s prize is a Purist Collection.

all milk sElEctioNPrize draw winner is Mrs Paula Jones from Norwich who wins a Peepsters Bestsellers Collection. Next month’s prize is an Oysters & Champagne Selection.

ElEmENts sElEctioNPrize draw winner is Mrs Sue Chesser from Wood Green who wins an Eton Mess Giant Slab. Next month’s prize is a Nut Mania Giant Slab.

dark sElEctioNPrize draw winner is Mr Graham Pedley from Colchester who wins a Serious Dark Fix Selecion. Next month’s prize is a Dark Signature Collection

WinnersThis monTh’s Prize Draw

ALL AboARd foR...

The Grand Tour

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Inspired by the golden age of travel let us take you on a gastronomic chocolate tour of Europe featuring stunning recipes from cities and

regions on the way. With 17 different recipes, an exclusive set of postcards and a unique map to show you the way too.

dEpARTING SooN! RESERvE youR pLACE NoW foR juST £29.95 (INCLudING dELIvERy) AT WWW.CHoCS.Co.uk/GRANdTouR oR CALL 08444 933 933

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Does eating chocolate make you clever? As members of the Chocolate Tasting Club we’re bound to agree, but there may be research to back this up…

a recent study appears to suggest that eating

more chocolate improves a nation's chances of producing Nobel Prize winners. It all began when Franz Messerli of Columbia

University, who conducted the research, read about cocoa being good for you. The piece suggested that a regular intake of cocoa improved mental function in elderly patients with mild cognitive impairment, and it set him wondering about just how good chocolate can be for you.

“There is data in rats showing that they live longer and have better cognitive function when they eat chocolate and even in snails you can show that the snail memory is actually improved,” Messerli says. We’ll have to take his word for it as, the last time we checked, no rats or snails were listed as Tasting Club members…

many of our Easter traditions are hangovers from Easter’s pre-Christian

past – the rabbit and hare, for example, were symbols of fertility that have gone on to become the Easter bunny. But more notably, the egg was the symbol of new life, which has now become the definitive trademark of Easter in the form of chocolate Easter eggs.

From the earliest of times, painted eggs have been exchanged at Easter, from the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, to the Persians, Chinese and the Saxons – they were all at it! The egg itself (as a gift) has continued to evolve over the centuries from dyed goose eggs, to beautifully decorated papier-mâché eggs in the 17th & 18th centuries.

Fabergé, of course, hit the heights of man-made eggs with his jewel-encrusted works of art. But the most exciting evolution, as far as we’re concerned, happened in Europe in the early 1800s when chocolate

So, taking the number of Nobel Prize winners in a country as an indicator of national intelligence, he simply compared that with the nation's annual chocolate consumption. The results were amazing – showing an incredibly close relationship between the two sets of figures. In fact, the correlation has a ‘P value’ of 0.0001 (for those of us not really into statistics, this means there’s a less than one-in-10,000 probability of getting the same results if no correlation existed).

however, there’s one country that does not seem to fit with this theory, Sweden, with a high number of prize winners and a lower than average chocolate consumption. The report’s author suggested this might be a case of patriotic bias, given that Sweden evaluates all potential Nobel Prizes (apart from the Peace Prize).

Or perhaps Sweden is just the exception that proves the rule? It can only be a matter of time before we celebrate our own Tasting Club Nobel laureate!

Easter eggs first started to appear. however, being made from fairly basic, gritty dark chocolate, they were still worlds away from our modern day Easter eggs. It wasn’t until 1873 that the first mass-produced egg appeared, the Cadbury Easter egg. And we

had to wait until 1905 for the first milk chocolate egg to appear.

Who’d have guessed that our love affair with chocolate Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny had such ancient

roots? For inspiration for this year’s Tasting Club

Easter egg we look back to the more

recent past, however, to a time epitomised by the scene on

our 1920s antique chocolate

mould and the ‘new fangled’

zoetrope machines that brought pictures to life – how times have changed!

See page 4 for more on this year’s Easter Collections.

Chocolate eggs are now the most iconic symbol of Easter, but where did they come from and who first made them? We delve into the history of the Easter egg to find out.

rabbit or the egg?what camE first thE

THE NObEl PRIzE FOR

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...they thought would provide the most cocoa pods during the 2012 season. And as cocoa pods are harvested all year long (but with one main harvest period in the autumn/winter) we were able to supply regular updates on the number of pods produced by the trees in question right here in Club News. And so, without further ado, here are the results.

AND ThE WINNER IS…Just to remind you, first prize is a seven night stay for two people at Boucan hotel in Saint Lucia (including flights and full board accommodation), plus there are four runners-up prizes too – a year’s supply of Tasting Club chocolates. To help us choose the winner and runners-up, we asked entrants to tell us in 30 words or less why they would most look forward to a holiday at the Boucan hotel. We then picked the first five names with the correct answer and decided the winner based on who had the most interesting thought. The winner is off to Boucan for seven nights and four runners-up will each receive a year’s supply of Club chocolates. The lucky winner, chosen by Club Founder, Angus, is…

Brian Adams from St Albans, who put his reason for wanting to go to Boucan in verse:

A return to Saint Lucia where we were wedIs an act of Chocolate Love insteadBut no mention to the wife pleaseOf my other love in the Antilles

Our very worthy runners-up are:

Sally Buttolph from MarlowAnn Thornton from LeedsJane Woodward from Isle Of ManPaul Carr from Beccles

Congratulations to you all!

cover story – continued

Clockwise from top left – the victorious Cuthbert; the poly tunnels where our seedlings start life; grafted seedlings are carefully noted; harvested pods; Mr Matt, pipped at the post; some of the harvesting team in action; Freda Augustin; a shaded cocoa grove at Rabot; Murray Bertie; the raw white beans in a freshly cut pod; and Simon Monrose.

ThE RESULTS

WINNER – 85 PODSTREE ONE – CUThBERTCocoa type Trinitario ICS 39, grows in the Cortes du lac and is looked after by Cuthbert Monroque.

SECOND – 66 PODS TREE FIvE – MR MATTCocoa type Trinitario ICS 1, grows in the Cortes Marcial and is looked after by Matthew Alcindor (Mr Matt).

ThIRD – 61 PODS TREE TWO – MURRAYCocoa type Trinitario ICS 95, grows in the Cortes du lac and is looked after by Murray bertie.

FOURTh – 44 PODSTREE ThREE – SIMONCocoa type Old Rabot Heirloom Trinitario, grows in the Cortes du lac and is looked after by Simon Monrose.

FIFTh – 26 PODSTREE FOUR – FREDACocoa type Trinitario ICS 98, grows in the Cortes Fond Mathurin and is looked after by Freda Augustin.

GREAT RABOTcocoa racE

classic SELECTION – D156

iN thE postBaG…

doN’T foRGET – if we publish your letter you’ll receive your next tasting box frEE! write to [email protected] or the chocolate tasting club, mint house, royston, sG8 5hl

iN thE postBaG…

Dear Simon

In response to the How Do You Eat Yours in Club News, this is how I eat mine...

Open the envelope and read all the bits EXCEPT the menu. Then take my time to unwrap the box, peeling off layer by layer until I can lift the lid and savour the sight of a bed of deliciousness.

Then either me or my hubby makes a choice. We bite in and let the flavours erupt. We both comment, sharing our thoughts on the chocolate. What we can taste and

smell, whether we like it or not and the points we will award. If we can't agree we meet half way and award accordingly. Only then do we look to see what the chocolate is. Did we guess the flavours or some of the ingredients? Some times yes, others way off!

Eating our choccies this way gives us no pre-conceived ideas and we taste with an open mind. It works for us!

Regards Carolyn Robbins

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feedbackscores

Your tastiNG commENts!No. Chocolate Name Chocolatier 10/10 Average

1 Pink Champagne Truffle O Nicod 32% 8.7

2 Cashew You F Plimmer 30% 8.7

3 Pomegranate Tasting Batons The Tasting Club 21% 8.4

4 Cranberry Truffle F Plimmer 21% 8.4

5 Bourbon Pecan Pie R Macfadyen 21% 8.4

No. Chocolate Name Chocolatier 10/10 Average

1 Ruby Port O Nicod 23% 8.4



4 67% Dark Tasting Batons The Tasting Club 21% 8.5

5 Extreme Praline O Nicod 20% 8.3

dark SELECTION – K89


1 Cashew You F Plimmer 35% 8.7


3 35% Milk Chocolate The Tasting Club 24% 8.7

4 Chilli Penguin Slab R Macfadyen 21% 8.7


ElEmENts SELECTION – S67


1 70% Dark Kallari, Ecuador The Tasting Club 23% 8.1

2 Walnut Gianduja & Raisin Bûche F Plimmer 15% 7.1

3 Buena Vista Praline R Macfadyen 15% 7.6

4 90% Hacienda Iara, Ecuador The Tasting Club 14% 8.2

5 Cranberry & Cinnamon Bûche K Kalenko 13% 7.9

purist SELECTION – P21


1 Cashew You Felicity Plimmer 41% 8.9


3 Walnut Praline V Elliot 31% 8.6

4 Vanilla Star K Kalenko 29% 8.8


all milk SELECTION – M11

CAShEW YOU – CLASSIC Loved this one – a creamy smoothness with texture to it – if that makes sense? Valerie Reilly, Johnstone

Bouquet

70% MILK hACIENDA IARA – PURIST I always thought that I didn't like milk chocolate, but this mix was very good. Strong notes of dark chocolate with a hint of creaminess added unexpected pleasure to the taste and texture of this selection. Jane Crawford, Witney

Bouquet

BOURBON PECAN PIE – DARK This was great – punchy and smooth with a little crunch and lots of kick. Tim Stockil, Great Missenden

Bouquet

hAzELNUT MARzIPAN – CLASSIC Yum! I really don't like marzipan but these were delicious! Lucy Buckley, Worksop

Bouquet

BOURBON PECAN PIE – CLASSIC he hates nuts, I hate bourbon! Julie Nerney, Hove

Brickbat

hAzELNUT MARzIPAN – DARK Mealy and neither sweet enough, nor chocolaty enough. Katrina Voysey, Surrey

Brickbat

Pink Champagne Truffle

Ruby Port

Cashew You

Cashew You

70% Dark Kallari, Ecuador

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the latest quarterly instalment of our legendary Fortified Selection is now

almost ready for despatch and its not one to miss!

featuring 28 chocolates, it’ll be freshly made and ready for despatch in March – including renowned Glen Morangie Single Malt Whisky, Damson Gin with a fruity

kick, Grey Goose vodka Martini, warming Courvoisier vS Cognac, tropical coconut with boutique Toz rum from Saint Lucia, Mercier Champagne and so much more. Plus, each selection also includes a set of exclusive Provenance Cards with fascinating background information about four featured alcohols and liqueurs.

Chilli is one ingredient that divides opinion right down the middle of our membership. Some won’t touch it and some just can’t get enough. Where do you stand?

So, as you can see, chilli and cocoa share a long partnership together. In fact, for the vast majority of its long history, cocoa has been enjoyed as a savoury drink – sweetened cocoa and chocolate have merely a few hundred years under the belt.

however, back in the present day we still have the hot debate as to what you think about chilli in modern day recipes. We’d love to hear how many chilli and chocolate recipes you would you like to see in your Tasting Selections – just tell us which of the answers below relates to you on your scorecard or enter the survey online at www.chocs.co.uk/hotdebate

How many chilli recipes should there be in a tasting selection?

¨ As many as you like

¨ Three maximum

¨ Two maximum

¨ One only

¨ None

We can’t wait to see the results!

as you well know, your scores and comments are at the centre of all we do,

helping in the creation of new recipes and in shaping the direction of our selections in general. But when it comes to chilli we regularly receive comments from both extremes – some imploring us to cease and desist immediately and others begging for more! So what happens when something polarises opinion to the extent that there’s very little middle ground? Well, in the best traditions of the Tasting Club, we’re having a survey!

More on that in a minute, first we need to get to the bottom of where this whole idea of chilli and chocolate came from. The answer, you’ll be interested to hear, comes from the ancient Meso-American civilisations that pioneered the use of cocoa as a foodstuff approximately 3,000 years ago. First the Olmecs, then the Mayans and, probably most famously, the Aztecs. Of course, they were all consuming cocoa as a drink (solid chocolate was not invented until the mid 19th century). It was frothed up by pouring it from one vessel to another and spiced up with, amongst other things, chilli.

in chocolate – the hot debate

Chilli

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RESERvE THE NExT foRTIfIEd SELECTIoN foR juST £16.00 (pLuS £3.95 p&p) AT WWW.CHoCS.Co.uk/MMM oR CALL 08444 933 933

The nexT

FORTIFIeDIs On The way

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results

ThIS YEAR OUR BIG PROJECT IN GhANA IS OUR BIGGEST YET, ThE BUILDING OF A hEALTh CENTRE and we’ve made a great start to raising the money. We’re delighted as this is exactly the kind of enterprise we have always sought in Ghana – to provide the impetus for the creation of the project, which is then sustained by the local community. Our health Centre will operate a 24/7 service with a live-in nurse and mid-wife, so care can be provided immediately for local people and within less than an hour for the surrounding villages.

This one is a big ask, we need to raise £45,000, and thanks you to everyone who has contributed so far we’re over a third of the way there – but there’s still a way to go! Your generosity is greatly appreciated but there are some contributors without return addresses, however, that we have not been able to thank and those who have sent particularly generous contributions. To spare everyone’s blushes, we’re using initials and towns, but hopefully you’ll know who you are!

thE hEalth cENtrE appEal – updatE

christmas 2012 – thE rEsults

Mr k, Grange-over-sands £300

Mr y, Sidmouth £100

Mrs T, Gwynedd £100

MGL, Winscombe £120

Miss L, okehampton £200

Mrs M, fife £100

Mrs b, Liverpool £100

Miss H, dartmouth £100

Mr & Mrs k, Norwich, £100

Mrs G, bury St Edmonds £500

Mrs G, Swansea £250

Ms T & Mr C, bracknell £100

Mrs p, derbyshire £200

Mr S £500


1 Christmas Mess o Nicod 28% 8.6

2 florentine dream k kalenko 26% 8.6

3 Cranberry Truffle v Elliot 25% 8.6

1 florentine dream k kalenko 25% 8.5

2 Gianduja yule Log R Macfadyen 25% 8.4

3 Champagne Star M Meier 24% 8.6

1 baileys Chocolate Custard v Elliot 34% 8.6

2 Salted Caramel Star k kalenko 32% 8.6

3 praline Whirl E desmet 31% 8.3

1 Christmas Mess o Nicod 44% 8.8

2 dasher’s dream k kalenko 37% 8.9

3 praline Whirl E desmet 33% 8.5

dARk ChRiSTmAS SCoRES

milk ChRiSTmAS SCoRES

ElEmEnTS ChRiSTmAS SCoRES

ClASSiC ChRiSTmAS SCoRES

IT MAY FEEL LIKE A DISTANT MEMORY NOW, but thanks to everyone who took time over the holidays to send us their Christmas Collection scores and comments. here are the top three chocolates that most impressed you from all four of our Collections – a warming reminder of those cosy Christmas nights.

ClASSiC

Christmas Mess

dARk

Florentine Dream

milk

Baileys Chocolate Custard

ElEmEnTS

Sticky Toffee Slab

thE

ExpEriENcEour experiences of being involved with village clinics in West Africa for nearly 30 years, we could appreciate the enthusiasm shown for this project.

The next highlight of the tour was a visit to Pankese Seed Production Unit where we welcomed by Josephine, the manager. She showed us in more detail the hand pollination process, whereby pollen from one male flower fertilises five female flowers using tweezers! Insects alone fail to achieve such an effective result. Workers undertaking this pollination are expected to pollinate 400 female flowers per day working from 6am to 11.30am, and the effect on the quantity of seed pods was impressive.

Sadly, after seeing the fermentation and drying facilities at Pankese, our time ran out and we had to head onwards to Accra, but with much more knowledge of the hard work and commitment in uncomfortable temperatures needed to produce the lovely chocolates we all enjoy. With thanks to Isaac, David, Sarah and Josephine we returned to Accra.

During the visit we saw the truck and the boreholes provided through the contributions of Club members and heard about the benefits they had brought. We would recommend highly to support the medical centre project for which the need is great, and through which there will be enormous benefit to the farmers on whom we as Club members all depend.

Osubenmy wife, Sylvia, and I have been members

of the Tasting Club for over 10 years. We have seen cocoa growing in Ecuador and Sierra Leone in passing, but knew very little about it. however, a visit to Ghana, passing close to Osuben, was too good an opportunity to pass up and, via the Club, we made contact with Isaac of the Green Tropics Group (GTG).

So on 29th November we met at Fodowa, on the main road from Kumasi to Accra and Isaac guided us the 15km on rough track to the village of Osuben and the GTG base. There, we were welcomed by David, the manager, Sarah, a volunteer, and Naomi, David’s wife, who were to show us how some things were done. We were quickly immersed in matters of cocoa growing, being shown the processes of harvesting pods. A batch of cocoa beans, which had been fermenting under a pile of banana leaves for six days was then opened, and the aroma was intoxicating – these beans were then ready for drying. David spread them on the drying table and quickly washed his hands thoroughly before the fermented mixture damaged his skin.

Our next stop was at a very important place – the site where the Osuben community have decided to build the new medical centre sponsored by the Club. The clinic will become a valuable facility for the 22 villages around Osuben, removing the need for sick people having to walk 6km to the next clinic. From

Sarah & David showing Sylvia

the hand pollination process

David, Sarah, Josephine, Sylvia, Isaac & Ryan

David showing Sylvia the site for the medical centre

Sarah & Naomi opening the pods

By Ryan Kelley

hotelchocolat.co.uk

The Easter Adventure STARTS HERE

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