Ingredients
Cacao
- 1 kgdried fermented cacao beans
- trinitario, if you can get them
To make chocolate
- 700 gcacao nibs, from the above
- 300 gsugar
- 50 gcocoa butter, optional
- a pinch of salt
Equipment
- a heavy roasting tray
- a hairdryer or fan, for winnowing
- a wet stone grinder, melanger
- a thermometer
- moulds
Directions
- Spread the dried beans on a heavy tray. Heat the oven to 130C before roasting. Roast them for about twenty-five minutes. Shake the tray every ten minutes. Judging the roast takes attention.
- Take one out and crack it to check. It should taste of chocolate rather than raw. Let the beans cool completely. Crack them coarsely with a rolling pin. Pour the cracked beans slowly between two bowls.
- Repeat it until almost no shell remains. Put the nibs into a wet stone grinder. Add the sugar gradually once it is liquid. Add the pinch of salt with it. The grinder keeps running for many hours.
- Taste a little every few hours. It goes from gritty to smooth. Melt the chocolate to about 50C. Then cool it down to about 27C.
- Stir it constantly as it cools. Then warm it gently back to about 31C. Melt two thirds of the chocolate to 50C. Take it off the heat entirely. Stir in the remaining third in pieces.
- Stir until it reaches about 31C. Dip a knife tip into the chocolate. Set it aside for five minutes. It should set glossy and firm. Start the tempering again if so. Pour the tempered chocolate into moulds. Let them set at cool room temperature. Do not refrigerate them at all.
- Let a bar warm up before eating it. Cold chocolate tastes of very little. Break it and listen for a clean snap. It keeps a year in a cool dry place. Keep it away from strong smells.
Technique
- Most cacao is grown in one country and made into chocolate in another, so growing countries capture very little of the value; making the bar where the tree grows changes that, and the Grenada Chocolate Company was an early model others followed.
- Mott Green, born David Friedman, built the factory as a cooperative with local growers, ran it on solar power and shipped cocoa to Europe by sailing ship for a period; he died in twenty thirteen aged forty-seven, electrocuted while working on solar equipment, and the company continued.
- Fermentation happens on the farm, not in the factory: fresh beans ferment in their own pulp for about a week, which creates the flavour precursors, and unfermented cacao tastes flat and astringent no matter what skill follows.
Substitutions
- Any fermented dried cacao beans work, though trinitario gives the Grenadian character.
- Bought couverture chocolate can simply be tempered and moulded without the grinding.
Variations
- Some makers add cocoa butter for a softer melt.
- Bars are made at seventy and eighty-five percent cacao on the island.
- Grenada nutmeg is sometimes ground into the chocolate.
History
The Grenada Chocolate Company was founded in 1999 by Mott Green as a solar-powered cooperative making bars on the island where the cacao grows.
Frequently asked questions
What is Grenada chocolate?
Grenada chocolate is a snack from Grenada: dark bars made from local trinitario cacao, fruity and intense. The Grenada Chocolate Company was founded in 1999 by Mott Green as a solar-powered cooperative making bars on the island where the cacao grows.
How long does Grenada chocolate take to make?
Grenada chocolate takes 1 hour plus fermenting and drying of preparation and several days of cooking. The recipe makes about 500 g of chocolate. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Grenada chocolate?
Yes, within limits. Any fermented dried cacao beans work, though trinitario gives the Grenadian character. Bought couverture chocolate can simply be tempered and moulded without the grinding.
What is the most important thing to get right in Grenada chocolate?
Take one out and crack it to check. It should taste of chocolate rather than raw. Let the beans cool completely. Crack them coarsely with a rolling pin. Pour the cracked beans slowly between two bowls.
