Cacao or chocolate is a beloved ingredient and food. Considered in ancient times as currency, cacao almonds when grounded are a prized commodity and there is no denying Filipinos are lovers of chocolate ever since the first cacao trees were brought here in 1670 from Mexico.
If you think you know everything about chocolate, wait till you meet Lyss or Alyssa Jade McDonald-Bärtl, the Bean Queen, considered a foremost expert in chocolate and an advocate of responsible cacao farming all over the world. The Cravings Group and the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA, Manila), the pioneer culinary institution in the country, brought her recently to Manila to share to Filipinos what we need to know more about cacao or chocolate.
“You would be surprised that some of the best and purest cacao pod varieties can be found here in the Philippines,” Lyss enthusiastically declared during a chocolate and cheese pairing event at Epicurious in Shangri-La Mall recently. ldquo;And chocolate, in its purest form as a bean, is very expensive, far more expensive than the rarest coffee beans.”
Lyss is a third-generation social entrepreneur, advocate of responsible and sustainable chocolate farming and the founder of BLYSSChocolate, which sells single bean virgin chocolate that food critics and chocolatiers define as the “purest chocolate in the world. Armed with the advocacy of responsible agriculture or agro-ecology that she learned from her family, BLYSSChocolate harvests pure arriba nacionale cacao from 450 farmer families in Ecuador.
She is recently in the country to share her knowledge to Filipinos, who are avid vans of chocolate, and the culinary and gustatory possibilities that this magical ingredient can offer to Filipino tastebuds. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Cravings and CCA, Manila prepared an elegant 4-Course Chocolate Dinner prepared by Chef Sau del Rosario accompanied by Lyss’ lecture on the aphrodisia and euphoria that chocolate can generate. The day after, interested audiences got the chance to learn the nuances of chocolate and pairing them with other flavors –- cheese, wine, and even local fruits -– and the different permutations of flavors at Epicurious.
She also conducted a training lecture, “The Chocolate Business as a Social Enterprise,” where participants – from student enthusiasts, foodie gourmands, start-ups to trade leaders – gained a profound learning experience and various global perspectives about the thriving industry and future of chocolate making.
For CCA, she will also conduct a Master Chocolate Connoisseur Certificate Program exclusive to the school, a quarterly course on chocolate appreciation and expertise, where Lyss as its master lecturer will delve on breaking common myths about chocolate and her working principle “bean2belly”, the process that starts with plantation, origin, transformation, production, profiling and trends.
“What really brought me here to the Philippines is Badjie (Guerrero-Trinidad, Cravings Group CEO),” she shared. “We share a common advocacy to sustainable agriculture, organic farming, non-exploitative methods of growing crops. Both our mothers impart the same message that have inspired us to pursue the same paths. I am inspired by her and her mom, Annie Guerrero, and their eco-friendly advocacies.”
Badjie Guerrero-Trinidad, The Cravings Group CEO, first heard about Lyss from another business partner, Phillip Di Bella of Di Bella Coffee, which is exclusively available here in the Philippines through Cravings Group establishments. “Philip referred me to her since we share the same sentiments on responsible and sustainable food growing,” Badjie recalled. “At first I wanted to just buy beans from her, but I found out they were out so soon! But her expertise as Bean Queen will be particularly good to share to those in the food industry, so we decided to bring her to the Philippines and familiarize her with the cacao farming traditions here.”
For more information about the CCA Master Chocolate Connoisseur Certificate Program, you may email talktoccamanila@gmail.com or call 0917-7337413 or (02) 426-4831.
