Making Bean-to-Bar Chocolate between Passion and Fashion!

I have been traveling around the world for years, meeting people who work in various capacities in the Cocoa and Chocolate setore. But one thing is common among all, They want to make Chocolate!

What does it mean to make Chocolate? Making chocolate is a passion for me that was born long before it was a fad. My history teaches that, in 1986 with my wife Mery, we managed to turn a dream I had been cultivating since childhood, into reality! To say that it was easy is not true at all! Sacrifices, frustrations, debts, fatigue and above all, a lot of determination. To achieve in 2001 the dream of seeing my seeds turn into Chocolate I really had to climb Everest three times and I would say even from the most dangerous side! But sometimes looking back at the route and looking at the current state I see that still nothing has changed! Always sacrifice, always toil, always debt but at least one word has changed SATISFACTION! Transforming this small detail has been a path paved with many mistakes! But that time there was NO ONE left who had the ability to tell me anything, the historical chocolatiers of yesteryear no longer existed, and those of the generation before mine erased everything! Yes, the fault is right there! In those professionals who in the 60s-70s and 80s left the culture of making Chocolate, to buy chocolate already made! Activity that was less demanding, costly, and allowed to comfortably find Chocolate at home when returning from vacation!

Today it has become a fashion!

Every day someone phones, writes, chats, texts etc to ask me about this new refrend, Making Bean-to-bar! I’ve never liked fads, but in this case I have to admit it was also a bit my fault! The various articles published in magazines the many television appearances (ceased at my behest in 2005) for the past several years the sharing of my travels on the Web, have really stimulated many chocolatiers to want to make the big, or small, leap.

Turning cocoa into Chocolate, is neither easy nor trivial! Gianluca Franzoni said a few years ago in Caracas (2009), making chocolate can also be done with a blender! He was actually right! it can be done for real even like that! However, there are different levels to express and different products to appreciate. Using Modica Chocolate as an example, in that beautiful Sicilian village you can find Bars dedicated to doing their natural work, who in their breaks of the day, heat in any oven some industrial cocoa mass, add 100% (when it’s good) sugar, mix it with a spoon and mold it in the special molds! Chocolate Done! Sure! but let’s not confuse this, albeit simple work with making Chocolate, even the Modican kind! For everything, depending on the investment in equipment, training and commitment makes the differences.

But the real desire of new Chocolate enthusiasts is to make a difference!

How can this be done?

Making a difference is for few people in any field anyway! But just wanting to do it puts people in a position of privilege-no one can make a difference by defoult! To really make a difference requires: Sacrifices, frustrations, debts, hard work, and above all, a lot of determination! Yes just as I wrote in the previous chapter. However, today I can say that the same choice is less difficult than it used to be, less expensive, and even more profitable!

Bessone Method Patent

I for years I teach how to make good cocoa to farmers in a lot of countries! like Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Sao Tome, Nigeria, Ghana, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Côte d’Ivoire, Grenada, Trinitad Tobago, Bolivia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, Vanuatu Islands, Madagascar, Tanzania etc. In each country I tried to bring enthusiasm and common sense! Doing foolishness leads nowhere, only to failure!

With this article I want to start a real talk, dedicated to all those who want to MAKE A DIFFERENCE! I am working toward the release in the next few months of my First Book on Chocolate, but I am gestating about ten, to avoid publishing an encyclopedia since of texts written on the subject I am up to over 1900 pages! As you can imagine there are really many things to say but if you follow me we could really unveil a lot! Coming out next month of my first professional course Profession Chocolate!