Journey in a box

FOR nearly five years, chef Sanjana Patel has been working with cacao farmers in Idukki, Kerala, where cacao or theobroma trees are found growing naturally. “It’s rare to find cacao in our country growing naturally. It came into India through the Silk Trade route. So, there’s a lot of potential,” reveals Patel, who joined forces with the cultivators to not only make space for Indian cacao on the global stage, but also give them their due. The founder of La Folie’s new line, cacao origins, is a collection of single-origin chocolate thins inspired by the question — how do you introduce chocolates to a consumer? “They don’t always understand and are sometimes intimidated by concepts such as single-origin, dark chocolate or percentages. So, I wanted to start a conversation.” The limited-edition assortment of thins are crafted out of cacao beans like Gran Nativo Blanco from the San Juan de Bigotes in Peru, Mava Antsamala from Sambirano Valley in Madagascar, and Idukki Cacao from Kerala. “I want people to taste and learn the story behind a five-gram square piece of chocolate from a particular estate. There are also experience notes and a sound note about my journey with the thins and how you can enjoy chocolates,” she adds.