Let's Talk Chocolate
As a cooked food vegan I was something of a chocolate connoisseur, and when I went raw I mentally gave up chocolate and cacao knowing that they had to be cooked.
I was with some surprise, then, later on, that I heard that raw foodists eat raw chocolate. I had studied how chocolate was made previously, and it always involved heating or fermentation, neither being great processes to put your food through.
The white pulp inside the pods I've eaten raw, and it's very good. But the seeds? They taste nasty uncooked.
But I figured someone must have found a way, so I set off looking around for how this mysterious raw chocolate was made.
I pretty much found vague answers that don't make sense.
So I'm assuming that raw chocolate eaters here must have looked into this stuff and know the process.
Anyone someone explain to me how it's made while still being raw and healthy?
Check out this blog by a chocolate maker who I believe doesn't claim to be raw: http://www.thechocolatelife.com/profiles/blogs/is-chocolate-raw
Heat? Fermentation? So basically they rot the stuff? I might as well drink wine if that's the case.
There has to be some other way then.
Anyone?
I haven't had the stuff since going raw and probably won't anyway because it acts as a stimulant, but I'm really curious about this now since I just recently got bashed for being a raw food elitist for not eating chocolate.
I was with some surprise, then, later on, that I heard that raw foodists eat raw chocolate. I had studied how chocolate was made previously, and it always involved heating or fermentation, neither being great processes to put your food through.
The white pulp inside the pods I've eaten raw, and it's very good. But the seeds? They taste nasty uncooked.
But I figured someone must have found a way, so I set off looking around for how this mysterious raw chocolate was made.
I pretty much found vague answers that don't make sense.
So I'm assuming that raw chocolate eaters here must have looked into this stuff and know the process.
Anyone someone explain to me how it's made while still being raw and healthy?
Check out this blog by a chocolate maker who I believe doesn't claim to be raw: http://www.thechocolatelife.com/profiles/blogs/is-chocolate-raw
Heat? Fermentation? So basically they rot the stuff? I might as well drink wine if that's the case.
There has to be some other way then.
Anyone?
I haven't had the stuff since going raw and probably won't anyway because it acts as a stimulant, but I'm really curious about this now since I just recently got bashed for being a raw food elitist for not eating chocolate.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by silvergirlsouth on -
hey Andrew
there are loads of posts on the site about the pros and cons of raw chocolate and raw cacao .... but i am interested in someone bashing you for not eating it - that blows me away! the most fascinating thing i saw recently was a video post by Kevin Gianni about the negative effect putting raw cacao into his smoothies over a long period of time had on his health, and the rapid reversal when he finally stopped doing it. I think it is posted here in the videos section.
I don't fully see how cacao can be raw, to be honest either, but i haven't really investigated the processes in great detail. my understanding is that it is not roasted, but i don't know any more than that. David Wolfe is one of the raw cacao gurus, so you might want to read his information.
but back to the bashing thing (sorry, i'm like a dog with a bone) - to me, this lifestyle is about personal responsibility and making choices about the foods that resonate with our bodies and our own health. i would never, ever bash someone (well i wouldn't for anything) for choosing not to eat something, particularly something as controversial as raw chocolate. That would be like someone bashing me for choosing not to drink wine or coffee ... i make those choices for my health - it's nothing to do with anyone else!
sending love your way
sgs
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Permalink Reply by Raw'r on -
well its fermented....so "technically" its raw i guess. I wouldn't recommend eating it on a daily basis. It's so addictive for me. But once in a blue moon i'll eat it.
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Permalink Reply by Claire on -
naturalzing.com has unfermneted raw cacao beans..but like you said they taste bitter. Still use them occasionally though, they are nice in recipes sometimes.
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Permalink Reply by ♡Alicia ♥ on -
Well, my boyfriend's best friend has his own raw chocolate/smoothie tonic bar in our local health foods store and their chocolate bars tastes GREAT. Their business does really well, too. I know because I worked in the same store. Here's a link..maybe you can order from them or ask them questions?
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&am...
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Permalink Reply by KarmaFree Kale Chips on -
At the risk of sounding ... well ... "something" - I will say that I have direct experience working with what I will call FRESH CACAO. Fresh Cacao is picked off the tree when RIPE - and the pod is cracked and scooped out whole. I would then eat if FRESH or would take the WHOLE inside and blend it up and it TASTES FANTASTIC !!! So, one needs to know how to combine it - what it tastes like when RIPE and of course have a GREAT TREE - some trees are bred for production and NOT taste. So, this is a report from a guy who has BEEN TO THE FARM and DONE THE DEED. DID NOT READ this in a book nor did anyone tell me a Story. The same hands that are typing this note to you are the same hands that picked the FRUIT (that is what it is) from the tree and scooped the whole fruit out of the pod.
Now, it is clearly up to each person (you know free will and all ) to make a choice wether to eat this fruit dried or heated or have gone through a fermentation process - that is up to you. When people speak ill of the cacao tree - I feel it important to speak up on their behalf.
Now the rub. Getting fresh Cacao Pods any other state but Hawaii - or by going to countries in south america or central America ... maybe parts of Florida might .. MIGHT be able to grow it ... so that is the tough thing finding it fresh.
I am working on ways of getting I call truly raw .. yes TRULY RAW - meaning that the bean is still purple - just like when it is FRESH - and being a purple food - making it a key food for your crown chakra. That is another day.
Blessings to you all ...
Karma Free KC
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Permalink Reply by KarmaFree Kale Chips on
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Mark baby -
If you have a point of view that you do not want to shift - then my dear that - that is up to you.
AND by the same token - please be aware that you make an assumption ... "it is not realistic ..." because ... well ... that is why we are all here. According to main stream media - folks who eat SAD .. it is not realistic to ... eat nothing but fresh organic fruits, veg, seeds and nuts .... it is not realistic to ... be in a healthy place your whole life .. it is not .. and so forth.
I wish you all the best with what ever you feel is best for you - in this time and space and the state of beingness that will allow more space as things shift and grow ...
blessings
Karma Free Kale Chips
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Permalink Reply by KarmaFree Kale Chips on
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WOW
you guys are the BEST !!! Thank you for sharing some GREAT 1st hand experiences. Looks like my relationship and prep of my personal Cacao ... is so very unique to me. That is cool. I personally find that not fermenting my personally harvested Cacao from the trees I know and when they are tree ripened is THE BEST for me NOW. Then we have the situation of making it a product with a shelf life and making it available on line or in stores and packaging it and customs and the whole AG thing .. and on and on. Did I mention you guys are the BEST !!?? Thank you again and hope to see you either here in LA or on your side of the pond ... blessings - KFKC
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Permalink Reply by Lorianne on
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I don't know of how much help I can be because my experience with raw cacao hasn't been any different than being high or on a caffeine binge. Some say that when your body isn't mineralized properly that you react to cacao, mainly aimed towards the high fruit eaters. People I highly respect in the raw food community both are pro and against it, so all I have to judge is my personal experience and I'd just say you try it out and come to your own conclusions?
There are loads of people who love the stuff and don't react to it, and there's those like myself who're better off without it.
The ideal situation would be to travel to a warm country and pick the pod and eat it fresh, if you're up for it :)
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Permalink Reply by Eva Rawposa on -
That sounds great -- to just eat it fresh! Do you happen to know more about the "mineralized properly" information? I would love to read more about that.
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you could always have "slipped" and said Rawconomy
Next time you should demand to have it written in your contract that you can say RAW at least twice!
I will see your samples
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