My dear chocolate!

Set aside the crowds of chocoholics, who worship chocolate in any form, shape and flavour, there is a small number of gourmands who meticulously recall memories tirelessly exploring the finest hues of taste and flavors. The trully exceptional chocolate, just like the wine (or the honey) is rare, hard to find, originates from special regions, while the procedure of its production is a whole art known by very few people on the planet.

The constant research for the one and only chocolate that has the power to bring tears of joy to the most passionate aficionados who feel the privilege of an once-in-a-lifetime experience, often leads to the cοcoa plantations spreading along the shores of Equador. There may be found the beginning of what the journalists love to name as “the world’s most expensive chocolate” or more accurately the holy grail of the world’s most discerning hunters of perfection. It is a chocolate know by the name “To’ak”, which by an ancient local dialect means “earth and tree”. Carl Schweizer, one of the co-founders of the firm that creates this chocolate stated recently: “This is the most expensive pure black chocolate that does not need any flamboyant addition -such as gold leafs or diamonds- to add value”. Its content in cocoa (of the top variety on the planet) is over 80% while it takes a total of 36 steps to reach the creation of this tiny gastronomic treasure to be enjoyed with wooden sticks by the few privileged people who can (and wish) to pay the price of 260 USD for a mere 42 gram. chocolate bar.

Following the collection of the rare cocoa beans, they will be fermented and turned to a delicious liquid and then to the famous chocolate. The beans are treated by hand only and they are selected one by one so that they are not smaller or bigger than 7-8 mm in order to be placed in the heart of each chocolate bar. As Carl Schweizer says, this chocolate is produced at the land of the origin of the cocoa beans which are provided by 14 producers only, selected according to the highest quality standards. And he adds “This allows us to participate and oversee every step of the production: from the land to the tree and from the bean to the final product”.

Food for thought: The price of perfection may seem high, but perhaps the pleasure of one small piece from this chocolate is worth more than all the chocolate one can taste during a whole year.