Forum Activity for @Nancy Nadel

Organic Beans Question

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

I have asked around about this as well. I am working on it now from the customs and ag commission side to find out what is done. Even there, I am getting the run around.

The high cost for farmers of organic and fair trade certifications

Posted in: Opinion

As a chocolate maker working with Jamaican farmers who were interested in organic certification, we were astonished to find out that certification that allows such designation on their/my label costs a farmer $2500 per year. There is no way the farmers I work with could ever afford that. Even if they form a cooperative, the coop would have to be huge to spread that sufficiently and then the chances of one farm endangering the certification increases.

Local certification from the Jamaican Organic Ag Movement is a lot less but evidently not recognized internationally. I think we need to have some effort put into standardizing requirements and allowing locals to do certification and maybe that would reduce the cost of transportation and lodging that these European, US and Canadian certifiers charge. I'm assuming that is the reason for the high cost.

I'm interested in whether anyone else working with farmers has explored this.

updated by @Nancy Nadel: 05/03/15 18:51:14

Lead for anyone in the group

Posted in: News & New Product Press (Read-Only)

Does "facilitate" mean be on hand with the children for the party or just supply the chocolate for the party? Do you know how many children?

Cacao Pods

Posted in: Classifieds F/S or Wanted

I'm so pleased to have found that website. I just ordered one and we'll see how it arrives. Perhaps the fact that it is coming from a US colony (Puerto Rico) influences the rules about importation. I read something from the USDA a few years ago that said I could only bring dry beans from Jamaica.

Best Female Chocolatier?

Posted in: Opinion

Forgot to point out the truffles in my picture are pierced with Jamaican almonds which are a little different from what we are used to in the states. I think they are also called Indian almonds.

Best Female Chocolatier?

Posted in: Opinion

I'm a comparative newcomer and have been working so much, haven't communicated much with other chocolate makers until recently. I make chocolate from Jamaican beans exclusively and started the business to feature Jamaican chocolate to get Jamaican farmers a better price for their beans. Some of my flavors are comfortable and some are very unusual. Some showcase other Jamaican products like an oval leaf chocolate bonbon filled with Busha Browne's lime pepper jelly. I have a little chocolate barrel filled with a rum raisin in curried sweet milk. I just tried one with sorrel chutney which is a very complicated pocket of flavors. Most of my chocolate bonbons are 70% cacao. Website is www.theoaklandchocolateco.com .

Growing trees from Cocoa Seeds.

Posted in: Tech Help, Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

but you won't get pods because you need an insect to pollinate.

Chocolatiers = Re-melters?

Posted in: Opinion

Alan makes a good point. There are times when I want a bonbon or truffle but there are times when an absolutely plain bar is satisfying, complex, sophisticated and excellent - one is not better or higher level than the other. I make them all and find that plain, bonbon or truffle satisfy different taste needs/desires at different times.

Chocolatiers = Re-melters?

Posted in: Opinion

I have come to the chocolate making world late in my life. I have been an artist, an engineer and a policy maker. I came into the chocolate world for the purpose of helping Jamaican farmers get a better price for their chocolate and to see if I can start a sustainable business both in Oakland, CA as well as stimulate sustainable business in Jamaica because as a policy maker I have been preaching sustainable development for decades. I have enjoyed learning how to ferment and hope that sometime before I am too feeble, I can focus some years on the variations in the art of fermenting.When I was in art school, I studied ceramic art and painting. In ceramics we made our own clay. As a painter, I didn't make my own paint. I never thought myself less of an artist as a painter because of that. I think it's interesting that technical wrangling over materials didn't occur in the fine art world. The focus was on the quality of the final art work.The real interest I have as an artist/engineer/sustainable development advocate/chocolatemaker and chocolatier is in the quality of the final product and transparency to the public about what process went into it so that we can compete fairly (is that an oxymoron?). If someone's final product is superb and they control every aspect from bean to bar to bonbon, that deserves recognition. If someone's final product is superb and they use chocolate processed by someone else, it doesn't reduce the quality of their final taste treat. It does reflect a difference in investment and complexity in control of the many elements. But like a painter, the chocolate artisan who chooses his/her supplies thoughtfully to capture the qualities of those supplies in their final more complex product is no less an artisan than someone who makes it from beans.
updated by @Nancy Nadel: 01/27/15 23:29:06

Chocolatiers = Re-melters?

Posted in: Opinion

Alan, I'm surprised to see this post because I thought back in March you knew about me making chocolate from Jamaican beans.

Cocoa butter and cocoa solids

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I'm very interested in this. I and a Jamaican friend taught ourselves to ferment in Jamaica and dream of experimenting with fermenting and influence on flavor. I can only be there in August due to other job requirements, out of harvest season, so I don't get enough to experiment with from a single tree. I have worked with single farmers with very small cocoa walks and really see the difference in flavors from one farm to another. You mentioned having photos and I would love to see them.

Weird Flavors and Inclusions in Chocolate

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I make three unusual combinations regularly and a fourth I will only repeat on request because it is so complex and filling - may as well describe that one first - it's a 70% cacao Jamaican chocolate (floral at first, nutty at finish) molded cube filled with sorrel chutney that has vinegar, garlic, sorrel, raspberries and I forget what else. Two of the others also have the same chocolate shell ingredients but one is filled with lime pepper jelly, straight out of the jar by Busha Browne to promote another Jamaican product. The other is my own recipe, a chocolate barrel shape with a rum soaked raisin (Jamaican rum of course) swimming in curried sweetened condensed milk. The last one is a ball of 60% ganache rolled in a mix of crushed blue corn chips, chipotle pepper and roasted Jamaican cocoa nibs. I love those.

American, Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Makers: A Complete List

Posted in: Tasting Notes

I'm adding my company, The Oakland Chocolate Company in Oakland, CA. I make chocolate from Jamaican beans exclusively. Very small batches. Bars and bonbons.Here's my U.S. list:AmanoAmbrosiaAskinosieBittersweet CafeBlack Mountain ChocolateBlommerChocolate HavenCioccolatoDeVriesDe ZaanEscazu ChocolatesFearless ChocolatesFrescoGarden Island ChocolateGhirardelliGuittardJacques TorresKraft ??Lillie Belle FarmsLulu's ChocolateMarsMast BrothersMerkensNestleOlive and SinclairOriginal Hawaiian Chocolate FactoryPatric ChocolatePetersRogue ChocolatierSacred ChocolateScharffen BergerSeeds of ChangeTazaTheoThe Oakland Chocolate CompanyVan LeerWilburWorld's Finest Chocolate