Artisanal Chocolate - The Pure taste of Dark Chocolate

Pic courtesy/ Swathi Rishi

Artisanal Chocolate is the new black! Artisanal is the new buzzword in food and simply put means that it is made in a traditional way by someone who is skilled and with their hands. That itself indicates that it can't be mass produced, the ingredients are carefully sourced and devoid of too many preservatives harmful chemicals.

There are a few homegrown Indian brands that are creating a niche for themselves in the Artisanal Chocolate Segment. Mason and Co, based out of Auroville, near Pondicherry, is a certified organic, Bean to Bar Chocolate Maker. Interestingly their factory is staffed entirely by women from the surrounding village who are trained in the art and science of chocolate making. A visit to them in Pondicherry could also get you a peek into the chocolate making process.

These bars tend to be very intense in their flavour. The dark chocolate percentage is anywhere between 40 percent- 80 percent. The manufacturers experiment a lot, Innovate, and the product is for true chocolate lovers only. If you still love really sweet milk chocolate, this would take a bit getting used to.

Mansi from Mason and Co told us "We are mainly inspired by local ingredients that are organic, high quality and delicious. Our latest flavour was inspired by our cafe and chocolate shop, Bread & Chocolate and contains crumbs of our sourdough bread and locally sourced sea salt." While, David from Earth Loaf, draws inspiration from both the natural environment and the cultural environment. He goes on to elaborate "Coming from South Africa, I found India, and especially South India fascinating. Every new ingredient I come across is a journey of exploration, especially things that I've never seen before like Jackfruit and Jamun. I'm always looking at how the culture around me has deployed different ingredients in the cooking, and take a cue from there. Like our jack (fruit) and black (pepper) bar that was inspired by Mangalorean, Tamil and Sri Lankan cooking."

Devansh Ashar, partner at Pascati Chocolate when asked about his inspiration mentioned that sometimes it comes from fruits i.e Blueberry & Mango, hence there is a Blueberry Walnut bar (with organic walnuts sourced from Kashmir) and they are in the process to launch our Freeze dried Mango bar soon. The bright side of all the experiments is the consumer who is enjoying an array of options to choose from.

The weather and conditions in South India are most conducive to growing cocoa beans. The beans come from organic farms in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In fact, Earth Loaf elaborated that their beans come from a protected forest reserve in Eastern Kerala and a conglomerate of about 100 small farms in Kerala as well. There is another brand called "Soklet" that is based out of Pollachi in Tamil Nadu, and whose beans come from the nearby Annamalai Hills. Pascati Chocolates a Mumbai based company also sources certified organic and Fairtrade beans from farmers. In fact, Devansh from Pascati mentioned that most of the workers who work on plantations are women, a point we noted with Mason and Co as well.

Interesting to note almost every diet be it a fad, or recommended by conventional dieticians encourages consumption of dark chocolate. These chocolates are also vegan-friendly, Mason and Co is a vegan brand, and they have no intention of using any animal products. The brands see a huge demand for their chocolates in urban pockets since the offering is niche. Such products tend to be welcomed more in Metro cities since people there are more exposed to global trends and open to new products when compared to tier 2 cities. Having said that the chocolates are also popular where there are a lot of international visitors. The distribution network of these chocolates is still not very mainstream. You can pick them up at Boutique stores, their website or some coffee shops.

We can all feel less guilty about the next indulgent bar of dark chocolate that we reach out to, for more reasons than one. For one we would be supporting a local business, better working conditions, encouraging sustainable practices and of eating something that's supremely delicious and healthy.

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