On the one hand, a paternal grandfather, a sailor, not known, but about whom fabled discoveries of distant and fascinating worlds by seeing old photos of the house, with populations of different shapes and skin colors, and landscapes so distant from those normally known; on the other a maternal grandfather, with his feet firmly planted in the earth, who took him by the hand into the countryside to discover "wild herbs, mushrooms, flowers that heal, insects that pollinate and those that destroy", who taught him to smell, to process those herbs to obtain flavors but also medicines of ancient peasant wisdom.
Two opposite worlds? Only apparently because what little Daniele obtained from these childhood experiences was to discover the world not as it presented itself to him in an immediate and manifest vision in his eyes but to deepen, dig into the furrow of human history, study pondered paths and details of its progress.
With these foundations that have permeated his childhood lo study of anthropology it was almost an obligatory step for Daniel Dell'Orco, now an established confectionary entrepreneur in the raw chocolate sector, with a company in Palestrina overlooking the superb prospects of the Temple of Fortuna Primigenia, venerated by the crews of the Roman ships that sailed along the routes to the Mediterranean, which seems to have inherited from the place the restlessness of sailors eager to discover unknown worlds and the aptitude for painstakingly studying the footsteps of man, his relationship with nature, its primordial evolution around the concept of food understood not only as the satisfaction of food needs, but in its broadest sense, from the center of village life to an evolutionary process of well-being and protagonist of the relationship with the environment.
cocoa, kakaw uhanal, "food of the Gods" for the Mayans, whose consumption, mixed with hot water, was reserved only for sovereigns, nobles and warriors, that cocoa born from the legendary blood of an Aztec princess killed for not revealing the treasure that her husband had entrusted to her when leaving for war , associated with Xochiquetzal, the goddess of fertility, imbued with mystical and religious value for the populations of Central America, brought to Europe by Hernán Cortez who donated it to Charles V praising its great medicinal, fortifying and tonic properties, he could not fail to fascinate him, precisely because of its origins and its extraordinary history, when he graduated with a thesis on the role that caseros gardens play in Cuba in conserving agricultural biodiversity, and on the influence exerted by political, economic and cultural factors.
The encounter with chocolate was not immediate to tell the truth. Previously there had been long stays in India and other exotic countries then an internship at the Biobersity International institute, a global body that deals with biodiversity and agro-biodiversity. Thanks to his degree, he obtained some money for a doctorate which he thought it well to put to good use by embarking in 2004 for San Francisco, with the idea of continuing his studies at the University of Berkeley "but then - he recalls today - after a few months, I understood that it wasn't the right context for me and I went back to study in Europe, first in Spain, then England and finally in Holland at the University of Wageningen, the most prestigious for studies regarding agriculture and local and global agri-food policies. And the spark struck in Holland, a land where the love of chocolate has distant origins. He was their compatriot, Coenraad Van Houten, to revolutionize cocoa processing, inventing a machine capable of separating cocoa solids from cocoa butter. A procedure that made it possible to produce a cocoa powder free of fat substances, therefore much more soluble in water or other liquids. As a result, more malleable and easier to work with. It was 1828.
Van Houten, however, did not stop there. He also defined the so-called “Dutch process”: the chemical processing of cocoa which allows the acidity of the product to be eliminated.
The spark struck but not for the excellent Dutch chocolate but for a product that for the young anthropologist had to establish a relationship with nature, had to respect its natural and organoleptic properties, had to bring it back to those principles medicinal and nutraceuticali that i Mayans and the Aztecs they had known how to identify and cultivate and which the European confectionery masters had then bent to the reasons of marketing and the tastes of the old world public.
All of this translated into practical acts had to mean only one thing: to remove the cocoa from the hot industrial processes, from the long conching, and to turn back the hands of its history.
In San Francisco he had known the world of raw food, at that time very popular among Hollywood VIPs according to a philosophy according to which by treating foods at low temperatures, not cooking them, one could eat a final product richer in nutrients, more akin to our health. And here he had had the opportunity to taste a chocolate which “was not lacking in taste, indeed the chocolate was more intense, more aromatic, much more energetic and mental. I was completely blown away by it."
In England and Holland, he therefore deepens those concepts. He threw himself headlong into tasting every type of chocolate to study it thoroughly. But he was faced with complex and elaborate recipes, rich in ingredients, worked with fats and flavors to satisfy greedy palates. “And then I thought: why not start combine health and taste, why if I eat healthy do I have to give up the pleasure of refined, high-level food? Why not choose a few ingredients of the highest quality and leave more room for them in the recipe? I sensed that a research-based approach was needed." It was immediately clear to him that he had to start working from the origin, from the place where cocoa is born. “I had to go back to the land after the sea. I did it and in 2013, thanks also to the entry on the scene of Flavia Lombardi ”, a partner of hers also in another brilliant initiative “Development and Territory” which manages a km0 market in Zagarolo. This is how Cacao Crudo was born, “la first company in Italy to produce this particular product: a chocolate that tastes like cocoa”.
A chocolate produced with cocoa beans always cold processed, starting from the control of the fermentation phase which is essential to give the flavor that we in Europe and the West in general recognize as cocoa. Then, up to the tempering, passing through cold drying, sanitizing without heat, mechanical grinding avoiding the conching phase. For Dall'Orco, always animated by the sacred fire ofanthropology applied to food "In addition to the technical aspect linked to the cold processing of cocoa, the importance of cocoa genetics also immediately emerged, therefore the fantastic varieties grown today by small farmers, the cultivation methods, the selection of pods and environmental sustainability by combining innovative techniques, safeguarding and enhancing the biodiversity of cocoa to obtain a new, different chocolate as a result, to propose a new production and consumption method".
And the first step was to work with small Peruvian farmers who adopt the extensive agriculture method that many indigenous people call Chakra: not cutting and replacing the Amazon forest with mono-farms but integrating cocoa trees with it.
The second, being able to create, as indeed happened, a true cocoa standard that can be defined as really raw, therefore functional to the conservation of its own important natural nutrients, more than 300, with very high levels of antioxidants and in particular of polyphenols and therefore to develop a product that is functional to health but also good.
“Have you ever thought – says Dell'Orco – of how the same raw material such as cocoa can take completely different paths? At the end of one road there is quality chocolate, whether raw or cooked but which tastes like cocoa, at the end of the other there is junk food, chocolate that is the enemy of form, super refined and with the addition of other ingredients unrelated to health and taste. We seriously believe, and even science confirms it and will confirm it more and more, that a good chocolate can be functional to diets, mood, the pleasure of closing your eyes and getting lost in aromatic notes that smell of forest, which remind us to distant worlds, always to those lands there, after the great and still unknown sea".
Pleasure and taste, therefore, but also health. And here begins a very long chapter. Raw cocoa contains 20 times more antioxidants than red wine and 30 times more than green tea. According to David Wolfe, considered one of the greatest connoisseurs of "raw food", raw cocoa has 367% more antioxidants than the best roasted cocoa.
Add that raw (unroasted) cocoa is a great source of magnesium, dopamine and serotonin, helps fight free radicals, prevents heart problems, regulates blood pressure, strengthens the immune system regulates blood sugar.
And this is because it is rich in over 300 precious compounds including: iron, an essential part of hemoglobin which is essential for blood oxygenation and the production of red blood cells; zinc, which are recognized as having important antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial properties against rhinovirus colds, antidepressants, and preventives of senile macular degeneration. We can continue with the powerful antiseptic and detoxifying copper against infectious and viral states, capable of increasing the immune system and activating the metabolism; with calcium essential for the growth and health of bones and to fight osteoporosis and also important for proper muscle development.
Not to mention the magnesium that affects the production of platelets of the blood and therefore it is essential for blood coagulation as well as intervening in the metabolism of lipids, proteins and carbohydrates and allowing the production of energy. Last but not least, it is attributed the power to favor the maintenance of a balanced pH in the blood, regulate the heart rate and perform an effective vasodilatory action.
All properties that are safeguarded in the Cacao Crudo plant in Palestrina thanks to the processing technique perfected after years of study by Daniele Dell'Orco: in fact, his raw chocolate does not undergo the high-temperature roasting phase to which the majority is subjected of industrial chocolates, but also artisanal ones to tell the truth, to reduce the bacterial load of the raw material and its alteration processes. But Dell'Orco doesn't stop here. He asks his Peruvian suppliers to carry out a cold semi-fermentation already overseas in order to avoid a rise in temperature during the processing phase, which would have a negative impact on the effectiveness of the berries' nutrients. Obviously the maximum attention is paid to all the ingredients that are Certified Bio and Vegan. Not only. Nono animal products it is used in the entire production process. His chocolate is a product lactose-free, Soy Lecithin and Palm Oil, gluten free, without additives and artificial flavors, and it is not treated with potassium carbonate.
But once established the universally recognized healthy properties of chocolate, the psychological ones, for which it is worth mentioning Thomas Landolfi, the refined and tormented writer of "The dialogue of the maximum systems" for which: "when one feels sad and grieved, it is enough to eat a little chocolate or wait a bit"; for the gustatory characteristics and above all to discover new sensory perceptions you are spoiled for choice. The Cacao Crudo catalog ranges from great classics such as 80% dark chocolate, 71% hazelnut %, The almond 64%, to captivating combinations with fruit and spices. As is the case with the fudge with raspberry, happy combination of Criollo cocoa with fruity aromatic notes but with the slightly acidic raspberry aftertaste for which a freeze-dried raspberry is used with the freeze-dried method which allows the colors, organoleptic qualities and precious antioxidants and other nutrients to be kept intact of this fruit of the forest. A procedure that is not really cheap since to produce 100g of freeze-dried raspberry you need about 1,5 fresh kilograms.
Another marriage of excellence is that of criollo cocoa with pink salt and cocoa nibs, in which the sap of the coconut flowers expresses great delicacy, while the pink Himalayan salt enhances its intensity and the cocoa nibs bring a pleasant finish. You can then abandon yourself to a godiurosa raw hazelnut cream which synthesizes a perfect balance between the sweet taste of the unroasted “Tonda Gentile Romana” hazelnut and the cocoa powder which, with its strong but delicate character, rounds off the taste and completes it. An excellent result without any added sugar. Another must of “Cacao Crudo” is sweet pancrudo, a tribute to the tradition of popular Italian pastry and its scented notes with a mix of dried fruit, orange peel and spices made special by the crunchiness of whole almonds and the aroma of cocoa.
Then don't miss the Medjoul date filled with almonds covered with dark chocolate 80 a simple and nutritious snack, which combines the sweetness of Medjoul dates considered among the most precious ever, rich in healthy properties of mineral salts, a real natural supplement. which marries with the delicacy of Sicilian sweet almonds all under the cover of 80% dark raw Peruvian chocolate. And it can end on a sweet note, but the catalog is truly vast, with a soft and enveloping apricot, which accompanies walnut in a snack with an incisive and very delicate flavor at the same time. All embellished with a light coating of 80% dark raw chocolate. Irresistible and healthy. There is no more to say!
Raw Cocoa Via Prenestina Nuova 86 – 00036 Palestrina (Rome)
Tel. +39 06 9537218
www.cacaocrudo.it |
info@cacaocrudo.it
Daniel Dell'Orco
