01x06 - Is Chocolate the Lover You've Been Neglecting?

[bunniefuu]

[Zooey] How many candy bars
have you eaten in your life,
a 100, a 1000?

What if I told you,
you probably never actually

had a single bite
of real chocolate.

If you're anything like me,
you're probably asking,

"what is real chocolate?"

Where does it come from?
Where do I get it?

Can I take a bath in it?

Don't worry,
fellow chocoholics,

we're going to find
the answers
to all our questions.

Plus, we'll learn
which type of chocolate

is the absolute best for you,
that's a lot of chocolate
to chew into,

let's get started.

If dating competitions
have taught me anything,

a relationship
only gets serious

when you visit
somebody's hometown.

So, if we want
a real relationship

with real chocolate
and not its half sibling
milk chocolate,

we got to go to its roots,
like literal tree roots.

I sent my friend and fellow
chocolate lover Sophia Roe

to Hawaii to meet Cacao Farmer
Will Lydgate and see

where and how chocolate
is born.

Ever since I was
a very little girl,

I always wanted to visit
a chocolate farm.

Here at Lydgate Farms,
we have 46 acres of land

and about 2700 chocolate trees
on there.

We're going
to taste chocolate fruit.

I'm so excited, I've never
had chocolate fruit.

Yeah, most people haven't.

Where are we going?

To the cacao.

Whoo-hoo, this is so sick.

Now we're entering into...

Cacao city.

The land of cacao.

[Sophia] Look at all these
cacaos, wow.

[Will] So, I want to show you
some baby chocolate.

This is the cacao
flower here.

I was going to say,
yeah, these little things.

Yeah, cacao flowers
are too small to be
pollinated by bees.

- Okay.
- They're pollinated by gnats.

- [Sophia] Really.
- [Will] G-N-A-T-S.

- Now, I'll never
complain about gnats again.
- No.

So how long does it take
for a tree to actually
start bearing fruit?

[Will] Ah, it's not
full maturity for eight years.

[Sophia] Wow.

[Will] Eight years
to full maturity,

six months for a cacao pod,
one week fermentation,

two weeks sun drying,
three months dry aging,

a month to get it
made into chocolate.

I try to tell people,
please take more

than 2 seconds
when you eat my chocolate.

Take your time.

So, they're all kind of
different colors,

are they all
a different variety?

[Will] There's many
different varietals.

Does the variety kind of
create even more challenges?

- No, I'd say creates...
- No, okay.

...some benefits because
of the genetic diversity,

and also, we get this
incredible diversity
of flavors.

- So, I'm gonna open them up.
- [Sophia] Okay.

Oh, my gosh, it's gorgeous.

[Will] Suck the sweet pulp off
the outside of the seed,

but don't bite into it.

Okay.

Whoa.

So this one,
Watermelon Jolly Rancher.

It is like
a jolly rancher, kiwi...

- Mango.
- Mango.

[Will] It's about 10
to 15% sugar.

Later, we'll ferment those
sugars and we ferment

the sugars to change
the flavor of the seed,

because the seed itself...

- Mm-hm.
- ...is bitter.

Bite into it. Purple.

Oh, it's beautiful
on the inside.

[Will] Bitter.

Every chocolate
you've ever had comes
from this strange purple seed.

Taste that and tell me
what it tastes like.

Okay.

Taste the whole thing,
Yeah, it doesn't taste great.

- [Will] That is chocolate.
- Wow.

It doesn't taste
like chocolate.

I actually think that
this fruit tastes

better than
chocolate does.

Does... do the different
varieties taste
different, too?

I can give you
a different one.

- They give different
fruit flavors.
- We can try a second one.

No, no.

People need to understand
that the chocolate

that they know
of is inside this.

- [Will] Mm-hm.
- Yes.

I also think a lot of people
don't realize that cacao
are fruit.

- Yeah, chocolate is a fruit.
- This is a fruit.

Right. We try to eat
a little bit
of fruit every day.

I want people to know
that chocolate is a fruit,
that it's delicious.

That chocolate
has fine flavors,

and it's more than
just candy bars.

Boom, mic drop, that's...
that's what I'm about.

I really want to see
the next step.

Can you walk me through
what happens?

Absolutely, we're going
to crack these pods open

and we're going to scoop out
the wet seed inside.

So, we're going
to machete 'em,

we're going to scoop the seeds
on the inside.

It's very good for the skin.

[Sophia] Wow, so you really
just scoop, huh.

[Will] We're gonna take
this wet seed in here...

[Sophia] Okay.

...and then we're going
to ferment it.

[Sophia] Very excited
about that fermentation stage.

Just like Sofia's cacao beans,
some questions are starting
to ferment for me.

Who is this
mysterious chocolate?

Can we discover
its true identity?

It's time to unmask chocolate.

All this time, chocolate's
been like Clark Kent,

pretending
it's a mild-mannered candy,

when, in fact,
it's secretly a superfood.

Studies show that
for chocolate
to be beneficial,

it should be dark chocolate
with at least 70% cacao.

The higher the concentration
of cacao, the more beneficial.

Milk chocolate bars,
by the way,

usually have only 10
to 55% cacao.

Think of it like this,
in terms of health.

Dark chocolate is Superman,
it has all of the superpowers.

Whereas milk chocolate is one
of the lesser sidekicks

with only one
measly superpower.

Not naming any names...

[coughs] The Flash.

Now that we're focused
on the right type

of chocolate crusader,
let's talk about three
chocolate superpowers.

Number one,
chocolate has antioxidants,

mean little henchman
called free radicals

can cause damage
to your cells,

but antioxidants
can help fight them off.

Number two, chocolate
may be good for your heart.

A clinical trial
found that subjects

who consumed cocoa powder
for four weeks

had less bad LDL cholesterol
and increased
good HDL cholesterol,

that's the kind
that lowers your risk

for heart disease and stroke.

Number three,
chocolate may improve
brain function.

There are some studies
that associate the flavonoids

in cacao with better
brainpower and thinking skills
in older adults.

Scientists don't know exactly
why this is yet,

but I'm sure if they keep
eating their chocolate,
they'll figure it out.

So how do you make sure
you're making the most

of these superpowers
in the grocery store?

Other than grabbing chocolate
that has at least 70% cacao,

it's also a good idea to look
for brands with the least

amount of sugar,
since added sugar

might be sweet
for your chocolate,
but not for your health.

Oh, and watch out for terms
like chocolatey and made
with chocolate.

The FDA requires
a product to have at least

10% cocoa solids
and cocoa butter
to be called chocolate.

So, these chocolate
adjacent terms signal that

there's probably less
than 10% cacao in there.

With that in mind,
hit the chocolate aisle

and get into some delicious,
healthy, dark chocolate.

Sophia is about to get
some more surprises

on her journey
from bean to bite.

This is some of the wet seed
that we harvested
today in here.

Yummy, wow.

[Will] We're going
to dump it right in this...

- Oh, in here.
- [Will] Right in there.

Okay.

Wow.

Yum.

[Will] We'll dump.

Fermentation typically
describes yeasts

converting sugar into alcohol.

Those same yeasts are going
to be fermenting our cacao.

The second stage
of fermentation...

- [Sophia] Okay.
- ...is going
to develop vinegar.

The natural vinegar made
by acetic acid bacteria

is going to actually cook
the seed...

- [Sophia] Wow.
- [Will] ...and turn it
from purple to brown.

[Sophia] Why are we using
banana leaves?

[Will] Ah, they are
readily available,

every cacao farmer
is a banana farmer.

Like this, right?

Nailed it.

- [Will] Fold one
of these in half...
- [Sophia] Okay.

[Will] ...and place it
ever so gently.

Now, would you like
to see a ferment
that's four days in?

We're going to pull
back these,

and these are the cacaos.

Stick your hand in there.

[Sophia] Will,
this is scorching hot.

[Will] So that temperature
is being generated right now

by acetic acid bacteria.

So, let's talk about
why this is important
in terms of flavor.

[Will] Now, acetic acid
is permeating the inside

of this purple cotyledon,
and it's beginning to turn

those purple colors to brown.

The yeast turns the sugar
into alcohol,

and then acetic acid
bacteria bloom

in the alcohol,
also known as vinegar.

The vinegar chemically cooks
the inside of the seed,

lowers astringency
and bitterness.

So, the fermentation
actually makes it less bitter.

This step is the most crucial
step for fine flavor cacao.

You could have so-so material
and ferment it well

and it could be exquisite.

It's the magical step.

Would somebody want
to cut fermentation time
to... to... for productivity?

If it's going to make
commercial milk chocolate,
it doesn't matter.

Commercial
milk chocolate like,

it's about typically
11% cacao,
89% sugar and milk powder.

So, you're not really going
to taste anything.

It's only 11%?

Yeah, so that's the same
quality of cacao that most

of the world's chocolate is,
because the farmers
just have no incentive.

[Sophia] Yes.

So, you wouldn't want to eat
this at this time, right?

You want to try it?

Whoa, it's kind of grapey. Wow.

This still has a little bit
of sweetness too.

It's very sweet.

There's still a touch
of sugar in there.

I can taste that at one point,
it was that bitter fruit
that I'd had.

What would be the next step?

They will be taken
when they're fully fermented
to our drying tables.

Drying is one of the final
steps on the farm,

and it is as important
as fermentation
for flavor development.

- Are you gonna show it to me?
- Yeah.

- Yeah, let's go.
- Let's do it.

Look at these beans,
oh, my God, they're gorgeous.

The beans when they first
come on this table

are still filled
with that acid.

The beans need to slowly dry,
to mellow out
some of the flavors.

So, we have
the raw purple one,

I want you to try eating
that nib right there.

So just the inside.

It's super full body,
kind of citrusy, a little.

What a difference in flavor.

It tastes like
a completely different thing.

Fermentation and sun drying.

Next step is, these are going
to be sent off to the factory

to be roasted into chocolate.

Do they have to be roasted,
is that crucial?

Yes, the difference
between steak tartare
and steak medium rare...

- Gorgeous example.
- ...on the grill.

So, there is... those
Maillard reactions,

- those browning reactions.
- Mm-hmm.

Once you roast,
then you're really there.

So, interesting,
it's obviously
about the flavor,

but you're really just
so passionate

about the process
as well, yeah?

Yeah, and Sophia, it really
is all about the flavor.

And actually, right now...

[Sophia] Is it time...

...I would like
to actually eat chocolate.

I want you to take one
of these pieces,

put it in your mouth,
let it melt on your tongue,

okay, but don't just
swallow it right away.

The first five or six seconds,
the cocoa butter is gonna warm

to the temperature
of your mouth

and it won't really
release its flavor

till it does,
so we enjoy that.

And now the chocolate
is warm in your mouth,

you're getting flavor.

I am.

Should take a minute,
when you eat chocolate,

you always let it stay
in your mouth,

then you decide what you like.

It's not enough to say slow,
but it's like,
put it in your mouth,

close your eyes,
have an experience.

Because I feel like people
are willing
to do that for wine,

they're willing to even do
that for coffee.

- Yeah.
- Chocolate takes
just as much energy.

I just feel so lucky
that my first time

at a chocolate farm
is this experience.

Yeah, thanks for today.

- You're welcome.
- You're the best.

- Yeah, Aloha.
- [Sophia] This is rad.

Okay, chocoholic recap.

So far, we've learned
that we probably

haven't been eating much real
or dark chocolate
for most of our lives.

That using real chocolate
makes things taste real good.

And although cacao
does grow on trees,

it goes through one heck
of a process to actually
become chocolate.

And yes, I know, I promised
that we're going to find out

what the best chocolate is,
and that's coming.

But don't you want to know
how a little seed pod

on a tree became
a multibillion-dollar
industry?

Well, the tale begins a half
a millennium ago in Mexico.

Chocolate's history
is hardcore.

Today, it's the confectionary
equivalent of a pop star,

that racks up
millions of streams
and sells out stadiums,

but it actually got its start
as an indie sensation.

Its bitter taste
was appreciated

only by the most
discerning audiences,

and it was totally ignored
by mainstream tastemakers.

Hard to believe, right?

The Mayans and Aztecs
of Mesoamerica were the OGs

of the chocolate game,
they were into it
before it was cool.

As far back as 4000 years ago,
they harvested and processed

the cacao beans,
combining them with corn

and chili peppers to create
a drink we'd probably

find totally
unrecognizable today.

Then the European colonizers
enter the picture,

they're kind of like
the strait-laced

music industry executive
who walks into the packed club

and doesn't really get it.

One Italian merchant wrote
that the cacao drink enjoyed

by indigenous people
was, and I quote,

"more like a drink for pigs
than humans," what a snob.

However, after years
of cultural integration,

the squares did catch on
and chocolate started slowly

climbing up the global charts,
but not without having

to significantly alter
its flavor.

This is the part of the story
where the execs
tell the chocolate,

it's got to make
some major changes if it wants

to capture
a mainstream audience.

And change it has,
over the past 200 years.

In 1828, we got the Cocoa
Press allowing the cacao beans

to be ground
into a fine powder
and mixed with liquid.

The biggest innovation
came in 1876,

when Swiss chocolatier
Daniel Peter added

dry milk to the concoction,
and voila,

milk chocolate was born.

Its transformation
from indie darling

to global superstar
was complete.

These days,
chocolate is big business,

and just like the murky side
of the music business,

exploitation is rampant
in the chocolate game, too.

The global
chocolate industry rakes in

more than $130 billion a year,

but the people who actually
grow and harvest our cacao,

many of whom are
female farmers
in West African countries,

earn less than $1 per day,
according to the World
Economic Forum.

The simplest way to make sure
chocolate farmers are getting

the cut they deserve
for their labor is to look

for the Fairtrade label.

When you do, farmers earn
a better living,

engage in practices
that are better

for the planet and keep making
the delicious chocolate
we love.

Talk about a sweet deal.

The good news is,
there are already companies

out there who are doing
this for us.

Sophia Roe is heading to Tcho,
an award-winning

bean-to-bar chocolate factory
to do the legwork and find out

if it's possible to feed
our inner chocoholic

and feel good about ourselves
while doing it.

I know that a lot of consumers
really want to feel good about
their purchases.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Me included.

Sure, sure.

We're all becoming
a lot more conscious

and a lot more aware
of how the world works.

- So...
- It's great.

...do you have
a recommendation for someone

who wants to feel good about
buying chocolate?

It can be a little tricky,
like, you know,

an organic label doesn't mean
that it's, you know,

sustainably grown necessarily.

Right.

You know, for us,
there's a couple
of different categories,

there is the... the ethical
standards for, you know,

how... how
is the farmer treated?

How is it the,
you know, producers,
are they paid well enough.

That's that certified B Corp?

B Corp is a...
is a certification that really

looks at holistic take
on your whole company.

[Zooey] The B in B Corp means
it's beneficial,

it measures how a company
treats employees,

the community,
and the environment.

This info is public
so we can use it

to find the most
ethical chocolate.

We're making chocolate here
in the US or Europe

or wherever it is,
and then many

of these farmers have never
even tasted chocolate
in their whole life, right?

- It's... people don't
even know that.
- Yeah.

Yeah, about 70%
of all the world's cocoa
is grown in...

in West Africa,
specifically Ghana,

the Ivory Coast,
also some in Nigeria.

Most of these cocoa farmers
are... are making a couple
of dollars a day,

the most sometimes. Paying
a dollar for a chocolate bar,

you know, somebody is getting
shorted there, right?

And so oftentimes it's...
it's the farmers and...

- The person doing
the most work...
- [Brad] Exactly.

...is usually the person
that's getting paid the least.

That's usually how it works,
but all of our cocoa beans

are fair trade,
all of our cocoa beans
are also direct trade.

Fair trade means the people
growing and harvesting cacao

have safer working conditions
and fair pay.

Direct trade is when chocolate
makers buy their cacao

directly from farmers.

Both can help keep
quality, sustainability,
and fairness high.

To work directly
with farmers,

we can communicate about
what we're looking for
as a company

and what they can provide
as farming producers.

Addressing that
huge geographic, cultural,

socioeconomic gap that exists
between ourselves

as chocolate makers
and the people

that are producing
our most important ingredient.

Whoo, it is warm in here.

- I know, it's warm, right?
- I love it.

So, this is the chocolate
making room.

This is after the beans have
been grown, fermented, dried,

and then roasted,
and then we bring those...
that cacao here.

It's at this stage that
we actually take that

roasted cacao, we melt it down
in these two big tanks.

It typically takes about
24 hours to melt.

We'll then pass it over
to this machine,
which is the refiner.

Even though it's melted,
it's not very fine
in particles,

so that's what
we're really going for.

We're going
to add sugar in here.

- [Sophia] Okay.
- We're going to add vanilla.

Okay, so this is
where we add more ingredients.

This is... this is actually
where the chocolate is born.

I think people think you just
have cacao,

you melt it down
and then it's a bar.

Yeah, well, you can do that,
but it's not going to taste
as great as it could.

They always get a flavor check
once they come through
the line.

Who does
the flavor check, is it me?

Let's do it, yeah.

[laughing]

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God, it's creamy.

Also love this temperature,
this is like the perfect

temperature for chocolate.

[Brad] Yeah, yeah.

It's creamy,
it's not too sweet.

As it's in my mouth,
I can taste so many
different things.

Yeah. Yeah.

Something like a baking disc
is the perfect

little small size,
this bakes beautifully,

it's great to eat
just like this.

- Brad.
- [Brad] Yes?

This has been iconic.

This is the best, having you
here, getting you to see it.

- So, thanks for coming in.
- It's so cool.

- Yeah.
- I'm going to eat
more of my chocolate.

That's all yours.

As our friend Will Lydgate
told us earlier,

chocolate
is best enjoyed slowly.

But that doesn't mean
you want to spend all day

making a chocolate dessert.

Today I'm hanging with baker
and author Jessie Sheehan,

who's going to whip up
some fast

and easy chocolate confections
with ingredients

you can definitely find
at your grocery store.

And spoiler alert,
we're using those

chocolate chips all wrong.

- [Zooey] Hey.
- Hi, Zoe.

- How are you?
- I'm good, how you doing?

- Good.
- Good, good.

So, we're going
to make a giant
chocolate peanut butter cup?

[Jessie] You got it.

[Zooey] Do you have any
advice for people shopping

for chocolate to bake with?

100%.

In a lot of my recipes,
I kind of am just

recommending chips to people
because I do find that
those are the easiest to...

to track down.

In general, I like
a semi-sweet chocolate chip,

I feel like that's a super
versatile chocolate.

Yeah, it is.

It's kind of
in between milk and dark.

But in this recipe,
which is super cool,

we're going to use
these chocolate discs.

Discs.
When I tasted these discs...

[Jessie] Yeah, yeah.

- ...they're delicious.
- Right.

So, I knew that...

- This would be yummy.
- Yeah.

What would you say
is the main difference

between chocolate discs and...

- Chips.
- ...chocolate chips.

Chips are kind of
manufactured and made
to keep their shape.

They will melt 100%,
but they don't melt quite

as smoothly
and easily as discs.

Perfect, so chocolate in here.

[Zooey] This is just
vegetable oil.

Correct, it's going
to give the chocolate

a little bit of a shine
and it's just going to make

for kind of a prettier melted
chocolate base and top.

And you wouldn't use
like a coconut oil.

You totally could.

I'm going to put this
in the microwave

and I'm only going to do it
for like about 30 seconds,

then we're going to stir
and then I'll put it in again

because you don't want
to overdo it.

So, for melting chocolate
in the microwave,

you want to kind of
do it in stages.

It's always a good idea
to take it off and stir...

[Zooey] Yeah.

...because those little chunks
will melt on their own...

- Yeah.
- ...with your stirring.

[Zooey] Yeah. When would
you use cocoa powder versus...

So, in some ways, I feel like
it's going to be
a personal choice.

Cocoa powder will give
you a stronger,
like chocolate flavor.

- All right, I'm gonna
stick it in the freezer...
- Okay.

- ...and then we're gonna
make the filling.
- Okay.

Okay, so the filling is gonna
be confectioners' sugar,

it's gonna be peanut butter.

[Zooey] Okay.

Oh, that looks amazing.

- Amazing right, nice and cold.
- Yeah.

Why do you think
peanut butter and chocolate
go so well together?

[Jessie] So, I love chocolate
and peanut butter,

I think because I love
salt and sweet.

[Zooey] Why do we love
the combination of chocolate

and peanut butter so much?

Well, you can think
what scientists call

dynamic sensory contrast.

You see, our taste buds
love contrasting

textures and flavors.

So, when peanut butter
and chocolate are warmed
and chewed,

they change texture
and flavor,

making them a dynamic duo
for our brains.

[Jessie] Now what we're going
to do is,

I'm gonna walk over
to the microwave

and I'm going to microwave
up our chocolate
so we can put it on top.

It's not a tart
because it doesn't
have a crust.

It's a peanut butter cup
that you can eat like a tart.

[Jessie] 100%.

So, I'm gonna put
this into the freezer...

- [Zooey] Okay, great.
- ...for about 45 minutes.

Okay, so we took it
out of the freezer.

[Zooey] Mm-hm.

You can see, I think,
how perfect
and beautiful it looks.

It doesn't have
to look perfect.

No, but it's close to perfect.

Pies especially often look
messy when you cut them,

but they taste great.

I completely agree.

[Zooey] We're gonna
try this.

Simultaneous bites.

This is very good,
I would use dark chocolate.

It's a bit sweet for me,
but very tasty.

Do you want to know
the absolute best reason
to bake with chocolate?

Well, if we learned
anything today,

it's that no two
chocolate bars are the same.

The percentage of cacao,
the sugar content,

even extra flavors added
by the chocolate maker,

you control all that stuff
when you put on
the baking mitts.

Don't get me wrong,
I'm not opposed to hitting

the chocolate aisle
and letting somebody else
do all the work.

But every once in a while,
we deserve to control

our own destiny and density.

Now, if you're not a huge fan
of dark chocolate,

or as I like to call it,
real chocolate,

but you wish you were
for all the health benefits,

here's a simple little trick
to get your taste buds
on board.

Start with a medium
percentage milk chocolate,

say 30% cacao,
that's like something

from the checkout aisle,
eat just one square every day.

Okay, fine, eat a couple,
we're all adults here,
do this for the whole week.

The following week,
increase to around
45% cacao.

Eat a little every day,
and the next week

push yourself across
the 50% line.

Once you're over 60%,
you're into legit
dark chocolate territory.

Keep pushing until you hit
your bitterness threshold,

mine's around 70%.

Then, and this is the most
important step,

you take one hand,
reach over your shoulder,

and you pat yourself
on the back.

Congrats, you're officially
a chocolate connoisseur.

Your friends and your doctor
will be so impressed.