Cello Chocolate Goes to School

Location: Port Of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago

By the time we cleared customs, connected with Gino, one of our cocoa brokers, and Sam, another chocolate maker, it was way past midnight. Gino arranged for all of us to stay in a co-housing place. The laid back vibe, kitchen, living room and outside patio was perfect. Even though we were all exhausted, we popped a couple of beers and spent another hour or so getting to know each other and of course talk cacao and chocolate. By the time our head hit the pillow it was the wee hours of the morning. We were up by 7 and onto our first day of "school" by 8. Some might see this as a rigorous schedule, Ned sees this as a trip to Disneyland.

First up was a visit to the Cocoa Research Unit (CRU) which is part of The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. We met with Dr. Path Umaharan, who is the Director of the CRU and is a professor in genetics. He spent a good hour giving us the overview of the CRU, it's history and mission. The CRU is the oldest cocoa research center in the world and is the custodian of the international cocoa gene bank collection. In a nutshell, The CRU is the Noah's Ark of cocoa. They have over 2700 varieties of different cocoa trees growing on a hundred acres. The CRU also works with cocoa growers by helping them with improved harvest techniques, flavor profiling, geographic indicators, chocolate manufacture technologies, nutraceuticals and certification.

The next professor we met was Dr. Darin Sukha, who is a Research Fellow and Food Technologist. Dr. Sukha, or Darin, as we were calling him by the end of the day, is a very personable, charming and extremely knowledgeable person about everything to do with the flavor of cocoa as it relates to genetics and post harvesting. He serves as one of seven members of the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Tasting Panel. A VERY prestigious international group. Darin has an extremely sophisticated palate and has developed a "flavor description system" for characterizing cacao flavor attributes.
We spent the majority of our day with Darin. He gave us a formal, but very interactive, lecture on the genetic and processing variables effecting cocoa flavor. He also took us to the gene bank farm and we spent several hours wondering past trees from all over the world. Each one is meticulously labeled. While Ned was absorbing all the facts about the growing environment and the scientific data, I was caught up in the sensory experience. The air was thick with hot, tropical heat; the cicadas were giving off an almost deafening eerie siren call; there were cocoa pods of all colors, shapes and varieties hanging from trees; and the small road we were walking along was covered in red flowers that had dropped from the water apple trees lining the way.

By this time it was mid afternoon and I was starving! With our jam packed schedule we hadn't had an opportunity to eat breakfast or lunch. By the time we arrived back at the University, Sarah - our adorable Trinidad guide, had brought us all roti. Think of it as an Indian burrito, but the bread is a flaky crepe filled with spicy curry chicken - bones and all.

Next up was an afternoon in the chocolate laboratory. The CRU is really trying to help the local farmer understand the connection between what they grow (cacao) and how it tastes (chocolate). Therefore, the CRU spends quite a lot of time making small, handcrafted batches of chocolate from each of the different genomes. Ned makes two batches of chocolate a week. One would think we'd get tired of seeing or talking about the process. Au contraire! It was really fun comparing notes with Matthew, the technologist that prepares the chocolate. It was also interesting getting Sam's take on things as well as Gino's point of view as the buyer of the cacao. Yes, LOTS of chocolate was consumed...all in the interest of science.

After this rigorous day, Sarah took us on a walk to the Staff Social Club where we sat outside, guzzled several beers and enjoyed the evening breeze.

By the time we got home, I was running on fumes and really exhausted. I didn't think I was going to rally, but Sarah suggested we visit the street food vendors. Several nights a week, they set up "pop up" tents on the "savannah", which is a huge grassy field. We met up with a couple of her friends and had a great time tasting a bunch of local food. My fave was "doubles" which is kind of like naan or thin pita bread with a VERY spicy sauce, cilantro and chick peas poured over the top. You pull it apart and eat it with your fingers. Delish!! Ned and I also had some BBQ lamb and chicken jerk and a drink of tropical juices. Others had corn chowder, more doubles, hot peppers and something that resembled a Texan BBQ. We popped the tailgate on Sarah's truck and had a great time enjoying our food, awash with more beers, of course! I sure hope we return to these street vendors before we leave Trinidad as I plan on sampling the pig's tail, cow heel soup and perhaps souse (pig's feet?).

My first day in Trinidad and my favorite things were the genuine kindness of the people, especially the professors and staff at the university, the amazing spicy food, and our wonderful connection to our fellow chocolate makers and travelers.