Chocolate....

Yesterday I got to spend the day in a room filled with Hawaii's top chocolate growers, makers, and lovers at the Hawaii Chocolate and Cacao Association conference and annual meeting.

I accepted an invitation to attend the meeting thinking it would provide the inspiration I'm looking for to create my next chocolate concoction.  I was beyond inspired and happy to learn all I can about any ingredient, especially chocolate!  To sit in a room listening to the ideas and issues surrounding chocolate production from grower to chocolatier was very interesting.  I took a lot away from the day and would like to highlight a few things that stuck with me.

The chocolate industry is just beginning in Hawaii and this group of cacao growers and chocolate makers have big plans for the long term future of Hawaiian chocolate.  I was amazed to hear about the costs of growing chocolate and the risk a farmer takes by planting this fragile crop and the long time frame they're looking at before #1) knowing if their crop creates chocolate that tastes any good and #2) making any profit off the harvest of trees planted up to 4 years prior!  Keeping this long term commitment of the farmer in mind imagine the fear of a chocolate pest infestation in Hawaii.  This topic came up a few times and educating the public is imperative to the health of the chocolate industry, and part of the HCCA's mission.  Read more in their newsletter:  PLEASE DON'T SMUGGLE PODS.  Further, if you go on vacation to a place that grows cacao, visit a cacao farm, or come in contact with cacao in another chocolate growing country please be careful not to smuggle cacao pests back to Hawaii.  Burn your clothes and shoes!  Hawaii grows only a tiny percent of the worlds chocolate and the future of Hawaiian chocolate is bright; it could all be ended by one tiny pest stowaway.

Another topic that was of interest to me was the diversity of chocolate in Hawaii.  I personally believe terroir absolutely has an affect on the flavor of chocolate as well as variety and of course fermenting and drying (the #1 time in the life of the cacao the the flavor can be made or ruined).  Previously it was believed that there were only 3 varieties of cacao:  criollo (an inbred pure cacao from ancient times believed to be the best by some, others believe its comparable to a purebred dog and carries health issues that make it weak), forestero (another ancient variety grown mostly in Africa known for its high yield), and triniterio (a hybrid of the two, or any shade of grey).  I learned yesterday that there are many more than just the three and that new species are being discovered in the depths of the jungles in central and south America more and more.  Hawaii has many of these varieties including some ancient species and many micro climates among the islands to grow very diverse and unique chocolates.  Therefore there should be appellation control of cacao in Hawaii...I loved this discussion and wholeheartedly agree.  This got me thinking about an appellation specific dish, chocolate grown on the Hamakua coast sweetened with vanilla and honey from the same coast, maybe pair it with lilikoi, coconut, macadamia nuts, Suriname cherries or any other crop that also grows nearby.  Plate it on Koa wood...now I'm getting carried away.

Although I got to taste some chocolates from all over the world at the end of the day I was left with a huge craving!  Luckily I am going to be testing recipes over the next week for my new spring menu chocolate dessert at work...looking forward to that!  I'm also working on a presentation for the Big Island Chocolate Festival next month, until then.....

Honeydew and Poprocks.

So this was my favorite dessert ever invented to date...don't know why it took me this long to write about it but we're coming into springtime when the flavors are again becoming relevant (though one could argue that this is a perfect year-round dessert, especially in Hawaii)

Here's the description, long form...here we have some fresh Maui pineapple and honeydew brunoise topped with fresh coconut sorbet, honeydew foam, and sweet tea ice; surrounded by Frankie's Nursery Meli Kalima pineapple jelly and ginger popping sand.  Suggested eating:  sweep the sand into the middle of the plate and eat everything together.  Summertime in a plate.

The most interesting component of this dish is the inspiration.  I started with a tiny Parisian scoop (melon baller) and wanted to incorporate tiny melon balls into a dessert (a component which I've used in an amuse bouche at a previous restaurant).  I ended up with a honeydew melon soup which a coworker remarked reminded them of the honeydew melon flavored sodas and ice cream bars popular in Japan.  I had never heard of such things so I looked them up...honeydew soda floats????...think root beer float but vanilla ice cream and honeydew Fanta, what the crack!?

Reading more into this unfamiliar flavor combination I found people adding flavor descriptions such as ginger and ice tea...hmmm.  So I ditched the tiny melon balls (an idea to be resurrected at a later date for sure) and leaned toward soda float.

I always try to have a vegan dessert option on my menu so my first adaptation was easy, sub coconut sorbet for vanilla ice cream.  Coconut is one of my favorite fruits to make into a sorbet because it naturally makes such a creamy product it is almost like ice cream.  The recipe is simple...

Coconut Sorbet
3 cups fresh frozen coconut milk (Hawaiian Sun)
1 cup sorbet syrup (3lb sugar, 32fl oz water, 8oz glucose syrup; bring to a boil, remove from heat, strain, cool.  recipe from Baking and Pastry Mastering the Art and Craft, CIA)
Salt, to taste

Combine all ingredients and spin in ice cream machine, store in freezer for further use.

You know when you make a root beer float and you get crispy bits of foam around the edges.  This is my favorite part of the float and I had to recreate it in my melon soda float dessert.  I simply brewed a good strong English Breakfast Tea and added an equal part of simple syrup then froze the sweet tea to be scraped into a granite with a fork come serving time.

I decided to make a honeydew melon foam to emulate the float using an iSi canister and NO2 charges.  There's no recipe for the foam, combine honeydew with enough almond milk (keeping the vegan option while adding enough fat to make a foam) to the canister of a heavy duty blender to make a smooth puree.  Strain through a chinois and add enough Midori extract (bring the midori to a boil to cook out the alcohol) to have a strong melon flavor.  Blend in xanthan gum to thicken without making too gummy (remember this is all to taste, sorry, no recipe!).  Add the melon puree to the iSi canister and charge to consistency with NO2 cartridges.

For the ginger popping sand I made a vanilla sable crumb, candied ginger brunoise, and plain pop rocks around the edge of the plate.  Place a quenelle of brunoise pineapple and honeydew melon, top with a quenelle of coconut sorbet, honeydew melon foam, and a bit of sweet tea ice. Voila!