We've never cared so much before where our food comes from . It is what it takes to be responsible, not only with ourselves, but also with our planet and those who inhabit it. And it is now when the chocolate begins to discover itself as an abused product (another one) that finds salvation in producers and brands that are committed to their highest quality : from the moment of its cultivation until its collection, treatment and elaboration. Sold wholesale and at extremely low prices in large stores, it is now when it takes a new direction in Spain: becoming a cult product , of short runs and at prices that value their quality.
It happened with the coffee, it happened with the bread, the beer happened... and now, it happens with the chocolate.
LA SONORA: SPECIALTY COFFEE AND SIGNATURE CHOCOLATE
If there is someone in Madrid who knows about coffee, it is Drink coffee , and therefore, also chocolate. "Everything we do we approach it as we have done so far with the specialty coffee , covering the need that we see in Madrid to have a reference of chocolates with traceability , or what is now known as the bean to bar (from grain to tablet) "he explains to us Santiago Rigoni , one of the creators of Toma Café, why embark on a new business. With La Sonora, they seek not to adulterate the original flavors of chocolate, playing with the profile of roast and respecting the source.
The project was started by Rigoni together with his partners Patri (also from Toma Café) and Fran. "Taking advantage of the internal growth of an employee who is a fan of chocolate, like Fran, we decided to set up the company: small and eager to grow. As we toast very little –his roaster is in the Madrid neighborhood of Chamberí– we developed just enough so as not to flatten the type of flavor that the origin chocolates ", he continues.
That means they respect the features of origin with cocoa whose traceability is transparent and fair trade . "This is an industry with more slaughter than coffee, the product is treated very badly and farmers do not receive the compensation they deserve for what they sell," Rigoni points out.
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And why call a chocolate the sound ? "Because when we thought of chocolate the music to the body. where there is chocolate there is music , that's why La Sonora, which is the name of the old orchestras of cumbia and sauce in several Latin American countries," they tell us. Venezuela and Peru are two of the chocolate origins they have, added to African countries such as Madagascar and Tanzania . And you will find all these tablets wrapped in colorful and designer packaging (and with organic and recycled paper).
"We want to be one of those chocolates that excite , that when you see them they remind you of that feeling of happiness that arose when your mother opened the bag and you thought 'let's see what falls today'. A wrap that returns you to the childhood and not that of an adult pleasure. We want to get closer to the sensation that invaded us when seeing a candy and, obviously, that it be attractive to the little ones but, finally, giving them a product that is far from what they have known until now. A good product," concludes Rigoni.
"The engine of change it has to start somewhere so that the new generations eat well and know what they consume. The sooner we start it, the better."
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In terms of taste, chocolates from the sound –which in addition to tablets are also found in Toma's stores in brownies, biscuits, truffles with garam masala or with oat milk, a touch of mustard and coriander seeds; among other proposals of the season– rise through the acidity and his blunt notes fruity.
"There are no large amounts of cocoa butter , we use very little and only in those that require it. At the end of the day the sugar it's not the devil, it can be used and if consumed in moderation it is acceptable ", he tells us. The chocolate 'from the grain to the bar' has a completely different flavor than what we are used to and helps to understand what real chocolate is like. Something that La Sonora knows how to defend.
24 OUNCES: CHOCOLATE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF SALAMANCA
Further east of where La Sonora is made and in the heart of the Neighborhood of salamanca , it is carmen capote which is positioned as the reference of chocolate and signature chocolates in 24 Ounces. Although chocolate was not written in his destiny until after he carved out a prominent career in the world of finance. "I worked in national companies, one German and one Japanese, but in the end I decided to leave everything to study patisserie in Le Cordon Bleu ", he tells us." There I was lucky that they sent me to work in the brigade of the president of France, a place where we made, above all, chocolate and chocolates . That's when he started my chocolate intensive ", he recalls.
Realizing that there was no one in Madrid who was working with chocolate like in France, he decided to launch his own project. In it, Capote also works with cocoa brands with the fair trade seal , an international certificate that guarantees rigorous social, economic and environmental values that guarantee the safety and protection of producers and their workers. Just what makes the price of chocolate increase its quality, but also its price.
have a competitive price with commercial chocolates it is complicated, something that sometimes the public finds it difficult to understand and it is projects like 24 Ounces that help change the established mentality towards the consumer. Capote does it with creative tablets Y cocoa to make in the cup –with spicy Korean pepper, tonka bean, green anise and cardamom–. "Now we are going to make one with mole and spices," he tells us.
Even so, the kings of his house are the chocolates and the ganaches : filled with fruit gels, marzipan, fresh aromatic herbs, spices, natural fruit pulp or dried fruit; all decorated with different creative techniques and colors. because for her, The canvas (like life) is a delicate and precious chocolate.