Chocolate Education: Changing the Way We Think About Chocolate
Many Americans see chocolate as a kind of candy, unlike other specialty foods, like craft beer, fine wine and specialty coffee (agricultural products seen as having fine flavor) But, just as these products have both high and low quality offerings, chocolate too has a wide range of options, which include some that are really exceptional. One…
Chocolate Education: Chocolate, Then & Now
The chocolate tree has a rich cultural history. As we head into the holiday season we wanted to share with you some of those stories that took chocolate from its humble jungle origins to the center stage of culinary culture. We hope you enjoy! Cacao originated in the Amazon region of South America and we…
On The Farm: A Day in the Life of a Vanilla Farmer
n the months of April and May, the nights on Kauai begin to warm (from lower 60’s to lower 70’s) and our Makahiki season (Hawaiian winter) draws to a close. As the days increase in length our vanilla vines begin to show small buds (photo of bud), these buds turn into flower clusters (called racemes), and the elusive vanilla orchid bursts forth from them. Thus begins a period of some of the most focused activity here on the farm: vanilla pollination season. And good thing we grow coffee here on the farm, because vanilla is best pollinated early in the morning. The vanilla orchid has a window of 24-36 hours or fertility. This means that the earlier in the day it is pollinated the more pollen is transferred. And since the vanilla bean is filled with thousands very small seeds…
Chocolate Education: A Note on Taste
As many of you who have been on our tour have discovered, there is so much more to chocolate than candy bars. Along with numerous health benefits come a wide diversity of flavors. Fine chocolate can taste fruity or nutty, like flowers, spices, herbs and more. Chocolate tastes like a lot more than chocolate! Discovering what makes the flavor of chocolate is part of your journey as a chocolate connoisseur. All of that flavor originates at the farm — not the factory. It starts with the genetics or varietal. Just as a granny smith apple tastes different than a honeycrisp apple, or one kind of grapes taste different than another, so too strains of cacao have different flavors. These strains are referred to as varietals or under the umbrella term of cacao genetics. Here at Lydgate Farms we have a…