CONTENTS Introduction 3 Costa Rica 60 Europe 146 The Beans 4 Cuba 64 Austria 148 Cacao to Chocolate 6 Ecuador 66 Belgium 152 INTRODUCTION Types of Chocolate 8 Honduras 70 Eastern Europe 160 From camel milk chocolate in Dubai to honeycomb We couldn't cover every worthy Swiss chocolatier or Glossary 11 Mexico 72 France 164 chocolate in Australia, single-origin chocolate ice incredible Parisian chocolate boutique, but we included Nicaragua 80 Germany 176 cream in San Francisco and chocolate-covered blueberries favourites from Lonely Planet writers across the world. The Africa & The Middle East 12 Peru 82 Iceland 184 from Trappist Monks in Quebec, the world of chocolate has major cacao-growing countries are represented as well, Cote d’Ivoire 14 Chocomuseos 84 Ireland 186 never been more diverse...or more delectable. Innovative often with tours of cacao farms where it's possible to see Ghana 16 USA 86 Italy 188 chocolatiers are thinking up novel ingredient combinations the crop as it's grown and harvested. While most production Israel & Palestinian Territories 18 Top Chocolate Festivals 116 Netherlands 194 from Ho Chi Minh City to Texas and finding new means of of chocolate is done elsewhere and growers in places like São Tomé & Príncipe 22 Portugal 200 sourcing from and supporting small cacao farmers in the Côte d'Ivoire and Costa Rica primarily export the raw crop South Africa 24 Asia 118 Spain 202 race to elevate each bite into chocolate heaven. Yet not without much in-country chocolate production of their own, United Arab Emirates 30 India 120 Switzerland 206 every chocolate destination in this book is a craft bean-to- new bar-makers are popping up all over to challenge the Top Hot Chocolates 32 Indonesia 122 United Kingdom 212 bar maker; beloved Hershey's Chocolate World, chocolate- traditional paradigm and capture more of the revenue from Japan 124 Top Flavour Pairings 228 themed hotels and classic old-world cafes serving famous the chocolate trade domestically. Americas 34 Malaysia 128 chocolate cakes all earn a mention as well, and we didn't Within each of the countries in this book, we've organised Argentina 36 Philippines 130 Oceania 230 entirely leave out nostalgic childhood favourites either. the attractions alphabetically by region. Each entry suggests Belize 40 Singapore 132 Australia 232 Tastes for chocolate vary from region to region, but must-try chocolate specialties at the profiled shop, as well Brazil 42 Taiwan 134 New Zealand 246 inventiveness can be found everywhere, alongside old, as local sights to visit after your tour, tasting or treat. You'll Canada 44 Vietnam 142 delicious standbys like chocolate con churros. Or maybe you find pointers on tracking down the best Black Forest cake Caribbean 52 Top Chocolate Treats of Asia 144 Index 254 fancy attending the fashion show at the annual Salon du and discover which chocolate makers are the most serious Chile 58 Chocolat in Paris? about ethical sourcing for their cacao. Enjoy! GLOBAL CHOCOLATE TOUR UNDERSTANDING CHOCOLATE 5 For chocolate, it all starts with the bean. ORIGIN VARIETY FLAVOUR PROFILE Cacao beans grow on trees, and they have a The cacao bean is the seed from Theobroma cacao, a tree The three main varieties of cacao plant are Forastero, Criollo If you've ever eaten a cacao bean, you might wonder how long cultural heritage in certain parts of the that is native to the Brazilian Amazon basin. Cacao has been and Trinitario. Forastero is the most widely used, comprising something so bitter and astringent could become the THEworld. Today, chocolate is produced across the domesticated for over two millennia, andBEANS consumption 80–90% of the world production. Criollo is a rarer and much world’s favourite sweet. Raw cacao beans are slimy from globe, but it was once reserved for kings and dates back to the Olmec, Aztec and other major civilisations lower-yield cacao pod and is considered a delicacy due to their surrounding pulp and hard, much like eating a nut in conquerors. through the centuries. Prior to the Spanish conquest of the the low volume it produces. Trinitario is a hybrid between its shell. Their flavour is sour and wholly different from the region, cacao beans were often used as currency. Forastero and Criollo, improving the yields of Criollo while sweet flavours of chocolate. All of the flavour of chocolate After the arrival of the Spanish, chocolate was introduced still maintaining its rarity and quality. we’re familiar with comes from the production process. to the rest of the world, at first as a drink. It became a popular beverage by the mid-17th century, and the Spanish began introducing the cacao tree across other equatorial PROCESSING METHOD growing zones around the world. Its spread would continue Much like coffee, the final product is the result of many in fits and starts for centuries. involved parties and specific steps. As detailed further on the following pages, turning cacao beans into chocolate is a complex and still mostly manual process. Cacao beans are harvested, fermented, roasted, and then undergo a series of processes to create the right mixture of byproducts that give you the perfectly creamy milk chocolate or slightly bitter dark chocolate you enjoy. To ensure the highest quality © 2020, Jauja; ©J ustin Foulkes / Lonely Planet ; © Nataly Studio / Shutterstock Studio ; © Nataly Planet / Lonely © 2020, Jauja; ©J ustin Foulkes chocolate, many farmers and manufacturers still use few machines in the process. GLOBAL CHOCOLATE TOUR GLOBAL CHOCOLATE TOUR SÃO TOMÉ & ROÇA SUNDY SÃO TOMÉ & PRÍNCIPE 23 CLAUDIO CORALLO Av 12 de Julho 978, São Tomé, São Tomé Island; chocolate products, allowing visitors to savour 73.5% cacao SÃO www.claudiocorallo.com; +239 9916815 chocolate bars spiced with candied ginger and smoky ◆ Tastings ◆ Tours home-grown Arabica coffee beans encased within a dark TOMÉ & ◆ Roastery ◆ Shop chocolate coating. Since abandoning coffee-growing in Zaire in 1992, THINGS TO DO NEARBY PRÍNCIPEHow to ask for hot chocolate in the local language? the quixotic Claudio Corallo has flown the flag Roça São João Pico Cão Grande Chocolate quente por favor. for the island’s cocoa production and pioneered choco- Innovative chef João Carlos Get up close to São Tomé’s What to order with your chocolate? Island-grown late making. Beans from his Terreiro Velho plantation on Silva has transformed most iconic landform, a Arabica coffee. Príncipe are transported to Roça Nova Moca on São Tomé Roça São João into an rather phallic-looking Signature chocolate flavour? Coffee, naturally. for hand-preparation and then lovingly blended into choc- artistic hub, restaurant volcanic pinnacle within Do: For safety, use a guide when visiting abandoned roças. olate at his factory and shop overlooking Ana Chaves Bay. and gastronomy school. Obô National Park’s Corallo has long experimented with flavours and roasting Overlooking Santa Cruz rainforest, which is a haven With a sobriquet like the ‘Chocolate Islands’, you’d Now São Tomése cocoa is being reinvented. The UN’s techniques to produce world-class luxury chocolate. His Bay, it’s a great spot for for hiking and endemic expect this miniscule twin-island country off equa- International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) fascinating tour includes a tasting of the whole gamut of lunch. birds. torial West Africa to be a fascinating destination to explore identified the islands as ripe for organic fair-trade produc- cocoa production. And you’d be right. Portuguese colonists tion, given its unbroken lineage of superior Forastero brought Forastero seedlings from Brazil here in 1822 to untainted by chemicals or pesticides, with a richly intense replace the faltering sugar crop, and within a century the taste with refreshing citrusy notes. French biological-choc- SUNDY PRAIA islands became the world’s largest cocoa producer on the olate producer Kakao has a partnership with a cooperative Roça Sunday, Príncipe; cocoa cream. They run a seven-day Tropical Chocolate Safari backs of indentured labourers. Jagged volcanoes, rising like of cocoa farmers (CECAB), and now 15% of the population sundyprincipe.com;+239 9997000 out of Sundy Praia: the itinerary for sweet-toothed foodies Easter egg shards, bequeathed fecund soils and dappled is employed in its organic production, lifting families out of ◆ Tastings ◆ Classes ◆ Cafe includes roça visits, chocolate-making, and writing classes, rainforest shade that fostered bumper cacao harvests and poverty. Kakao guarantees a 40% price above market value ◆ Roastery ◆ Shop ◆ Rooms most recently with Chocolat author Joanne Harris. enabled Portuguese colonists to develop prosperous roça to local cooperatives who roast the beans for export. (plantations) enriched by the exploitation of slavery. ‘Our people can now afford to educate their children and Mark Shuttleworth’s restoration of Roça Sundy has THINGS TO DO NEARBY But like pistoles of tempering chocolate, global domi- move on from the slavery cocoa brought,’ says Alberto Luis breathed new life into a dilapidated plantation Praia das Bananas Turtle Nesting nation melted away. Around 1909, Quaker-owned British from a CECAB cooperative. Small scale bean-to-bar produc- (itself the site of 1919’s Eddington Experiment confirming Spend a day at the beach – Take a nocturnal walk with chocolate giant Cadbury boycotted cocoa from the islands, tion has been pioneered by São Tomé island’s only local General Relativity) to create a luxury tented beach-camp and what a beach! Praia local conservation rangers citing the practice of indentured labour, and production chocolatier, Italian Claudio Corallo, nicknamed the ‘King of bringing much-needed local employment to Príncipe. das Bananas’ golden to witness leatherback further waned after the Portuguese abandoned São West African chocolate’. More recent investment by South Chocolate lovers may tour an active plantation and factory foreshore is so sublimely and hawksbill turtles Tomé and Príncipe in 1975.