Bean to Cup

I’m back in Davao, land of endless shores,  safe evenings, Durians, and, as I recently discovered, purveyor of first class chocolates.

Yes, the Davao cacao is gaining a following internationally. The US-based chocolatier, Askinosie, has produced a line of Chocolates simply called Davao, using the beans from my beloved hometown.

As luck and serenditipity would have it.  An uncle who lives in a suburb in Davao brokered a sale of a working farm to my father.  And what do you know? The farm is planted with Durian, Banana and Cacao!  So now my mind is running wild on ways to utilize these cacaos. Of course, most of the time, the cacaos from Davao are gathered by cooperatives and are fermented and processed into tableas which are then sold to Askinosie, and to a new client, a Europe-based confectionery group.  But my dream is for us to have a local artisanal bean to bar confectionery shop that will produce  single origin chocolates  using the cacao not only from Davao  but from Bohol, Binondo and other areas in the Philippines producing cacao.

Anyway, I received  a big bag of Davao Chocolate Tableas from the uncle.  My plan is to experiment and use the tableas for brownies and cakes, to see if  we can substitute it for the commercial unsweetened chocolates, but because I’m lazy, tonight I decided to use a pack to make the simplest of all preparations — hot chocolate.

The truth: I am not really a fan of chocolate-ah made from Philippine tablea.  The tableas I’ve used (from Leyte, from Binondo and Antonio Pueo) are rather icky, with  bitter flat flavors and gritty textures.  So there was hesitation on my part. I was prepared to be dissapointed.

This is how I made my  Chocolate-ah:  I added 10 tableas to 5 cups water. Turned up the heat and smooshed the tableas with the wooden spoon and whisked the mixture with my heavy duty metal wire whisk.   (Note: to some die-hard pinoys, it is sacrilege not to use a batirol for chocolate-ah. But, though I have a batirol in Davao, to be honest, I find it easier to use a wooden spoon for the smooshing part, and a metal wire whisk for the mixing and aerating steps).  It takes only 3-5 minutes for the chocolate to be aerated well. At this point things were looking good: 1. the cacao mixture was amazingly smooth and without grits. 2. I tasted the mix. Though it was still bitter, there’s a hint of nuttiness, and a somewhat fruity flavor to the cacao.  Which naturally made me all the more excited so I went ahead and  added my secret cacao ingredients– cinnamon and two other secret spices that I shall not reveal in this post . Then I turned the heat to low and mixed in the brown sugar and milk  (to taste).  A minute more of whisking and tada!

Hot Chocolate a la Davao

The chocolate drink was rich, the flavor distinct and amazingly complex! A hint of bitterness, a nutty undertone, and that fruity and aniseed like flavor which I’ve never had before. I paired my mug of hot choco with the Cheesy Chicken Empanadas I baked earlier today for a perfect midnight snack.

And oh I know what I’ll have for breakfast tomorrow: A cup of  Hot Chocolate ala Davao with a couple of  the Banana Crumb Mini-muffins we made yesterday.

Sigh. How magical it is to start and  end the day beautifully and oh-s0 chocolatey