Well Fed On the Town

Like a bell to a dog, the very mention of the name Scharffen Berger tends to induce instant salivation among chocolate lovers. The Berkeley-based chocolate company is one of the few “bean to bar” chocolate manufacturers in the United States. Unlike most chocolate companies in the U.S., Scharffen Berger works with cacao farmers all over the world, selecting their own beans, roasting them, and combining them to produce a variety of chocolate products.

John Scharffenberger recently gave a chocolate making demonstration and lecture at Sur La Table in San Francisco. How could I not attend? Scharffenberger is a charming and eloquent speaker who really knows his chocolate. He covered both chocolate history and certain aspects of its biology.

Some salient facts from the presentation:

• The pulp surrounding cacao beans tastes like “nectarine sorbet.” Cacao was originally used to make alcohol, the bitter beans were discarded. Whole cacao fruits can sometimes be found in specialty markets in Florida and New York City.
• The original xocolātl was more like a porridge, including corn masa and other grains.
• The Spaniards were the first Europeans to find chocolate in the new world. They kept it secret from the rest of Europe. The secret was discovered when a Jewish royal chef, expelled from Spain in 1492, escaped to the Medici court. The chef combined a bit of cacao and some meat with a strange fruit that had just arrived from the new world—tomato—to make what is now the classic sugo.
• Chocolate was quite possibly the first widely consumed stimulant in Europe.
• The term “devil’s food” in reference to chocolate cake is a holdover from the American Pilgrim era. The Pilgrims, being religious zealots, referred to chocolate as “devil’s food” as it was often consumed in chocolate houses and social clubs. Invigorated by theobromine and sugar, “devil’s food” consumers were much too lively for sedate Pilgrims.

Scharffenberger also demonstrated how to make chocolate in the home kitchen. It’s easier than one might imagine. In fact, many rural South Americans still make their own chocolate with a metate y mano, a traditional Aztec and Mayan kitchen utensil similar to a mortar and pestle. Cacao pods are still highly prized and used for special occasions. In order to celebrate, families roast their cacao beans in a skillet, then peel and pound them in a metate. The liquefied cacao mass is formed into a hockey puck shape and left to dry. The dry chocolate is scraped into boiling water with sugar and spices such as cinnamon, or even black and red pepper. The water is then poured from one container to another and back until it froths. Preparation takes around thirty minutes, and produces a rich, fresh chocolate with a unique flavor.

Even without a metate, you can make your own chocolate at home. A spice or coffee grinder takes the place of the traditional method of preparation, with a simple mortar and pestle to smooth the chocolate mass. Cacao beans are generally hard to find at the local market, but cacao nibs—broken bits of the shelled cacao beans—are becoming more common. The resulting homemade chocolate is rich and creamy, perfect for frosting a cake.

John Scharffenberger’s Homemade Chocolate

This recipe makes chocolate with 80% cacao solids. You can make chocolate with 66% cacao solids by doubling the amount of sweetener. John Scharffenberger recommends using white cane sugar as a sweetener. I tried this recipe with white cane sugar, brown sugar, and honey, using no spices except a bit of ground vanilla bean. Each chocolate was delicious, although I admit I prefer the one made with ordinary sugar as it doesn’t compete with the complex cacao flavors.

8 parts good quality cacao nibs (such as Scharffen Berger or Dagoba)
2 parts white cane sugar
any mix of spices you like, such as cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, nutmeg, even chile (John recommends using only a tiny amount of chile as it tends to overpower the chocolate flavor)
Cacao butter, palm oil, lecithin or butter (optional)

1. In a coffee or spice grinder, combine the ingredients.
2. Pulse for 5 minutes, stopping every minute to scrape down the sides.
3. Transfer the mixture to a mortar and pestle and pound until smooth.
4. Optionally, add a little cacao butter, palm oil, lecithin or even butter for a smoother chocolate.

For more information on chocolate, see the following links:

• The History of Chocolate at allchocolate.com
• The National Confectioners’ Association what’s happening today in the world of chocolate
• Manufacturing Chocolate, an interactive presentation at the Field Museum
• Xocoatl.org everything you could possibly want to know about chocolate all in one spot, collected by an avid enthusiast and chocolate expert

Classes at Sur La Table:
77 Maiden Lane
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 732-7900