Cacao is a wonderful gift. It is the heart and soul of great chocolate.
Knowledge of cacao
In the many different plantations stretching around the equator from Latin America, over Africa to Asia, we find all different types of cacao with certain characteristics and aromatic profiles.
This raw and unprocessed resource contains the essence of all the sensorial richness that can be released in our variety of chocolate products. The key is to recognize and define them. The art is to cherish and preserve them during the processing.
How to process
When the cacao fruits is harvested, it is opened and the cocoa beans with its sugary pulp are extracted from it.
From here begins the most important process regarding the development of the aromatic precursors of cacao: fermentation. This process is key to develop the flavor precursors that will only be revealed afterwards, when the cacao beans will be roasted.
After fermentation, the beans are first dried and shipped. Once arrived, the beans are roasted, peeled and refined into pure cacao mass. This really will become the heart and soul of the chocolate. Every cacao mass had a unique aromatic and flavor profile. By mixing it with sugar and/or milk, and by conching all ingredients very precisely, we obtain different types of chocolate that become the base for the chocolatier’s work.
Knowledge in tasting
Davide Comaschi’s ability to taste chocolate, recognising the most varied aromatic notes of cocoa, comes from many hours of tasting chocolates from all over the world. This ability was recognized with Davide’s assignment of being appointed third level cocoa and chocolate taster by the International Institute of chocolate and cocoa tasting, the only certified institution in the world.
This ability allows him to choose the most suitable cacao for each combination in the creation of his products, creating wonderful harmonies between the aromatic cacao notes of the chocolate and the other ingredients.
Sustainability of Cocoa
The chocolate is produced through a controlled supply chain, from a cocoa that is cultivated by farmers, helped and trained to improve their skills, without using child labor, in favor of communities that owe their survival to cocoa.
This is a human sustainability project, carried out by Callebaut, a company with which Davide works. An initiative to improve the quality of cocoa and lay the foundations for future productions.