I have my own definition of food perfection. That definition includes the words fun, engaging, useful, honest, real and healthy.
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These little nuggets are literally just cacao beans. I bought them from a farm in Nicaragua. I roasted, cracked and shelled them. I warmed my marble mortar and pestle and then set my husband Rob’s biceps to work grinding the beans into a paste. On my gosh the house smelt good.
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When he’d had enough (after about an hour and a half – he is dedicated as this stuff is good!), I plopped the paste into some chocolate moulds.
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Because there is nothing other than cacao beans in these (no extra fat) and because I don’t want to use an expensive machine that pulverises my beans into a smooth paste, my chocolate isn’t as runny. So, as you can see, it’s not, by societal definition, ‘perfect’.
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But I don’t care! These little gems taste amazing! I can eat them as is, I can melt them into a porridge or I can mix them with warm milk or water, add some spices and make an ancestral cacao drink.
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They tick all my boxes.
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If you’re into chocolate (is there anyone who isn’t?), and haven’t yet listened to last week’s @ancestralkitchenpodcast episode ‘The Secret Life of Chocolate’, I would totally recommend it. You’ll learn things you didn’t know about this wonderful food stuff – I promise! Link to stream or download is in my profile. or you can find us in you podcast app by searching for Ancestral Kitchen Podcast.