When was the last time you ate chocolate ? Last night a couple of ounces fell –and who says two, says five–, the ice cream of the weekend, the dessert that closed Friday's meal in style... being such an essential product in our routine and that is always Very present in our cravings, it goes unnoticed in terms of its origin, quality and preparation. Do you know where it comes from? Who made it? The process that brought it to your table? No idea, right? The confectioner and chocolatier Pol Contreras does and, in fact, he is obsessed with experimenting with this product following the philosophy of bean to bar (from bean to grain).
Winner of the 2019 Best New Pastry Chef Award at Madrid Fusión, in charge of the R&D Workshop of the restaurants in Echaurren, in Ezcaray, and everything related to the field of creativity together with Francis Paniego, is now one of the independent promises of the world of chocolate.
What started little by little and with no aspiration beyond that of a hobby, became a passion for the world of chocolate.
"It was in a very organic way. I was looking for information for a chocolate dessert in Echaurren and I discovered a video on Pinterest of some French guys – one publicist and one specializing in banking – who met while traveling in Southeast Asia and set up a chocolate factory in vietnam "He says. Without giving it much thought, he decided to go visit them that same summer. "I went to meet them because I was interested in two people who have no experience in pastry or chocolate, setting up something like this punky and without academicism. I didn't go with the intention of making chocolate but on my return I bought the machine to make them at home , try and hang out. Suddenly, my roommates, their parents, friends started eating them... and from then on I started selling it to restaurants."
Personally, Pol declares himself a fan of milk chocolate and hazelnuts but his goes further with a special inclination for those chocolates that are out of the norm . "As with unroasted cocoa , those that do not have shells and are aggressive and sharp. Fun things and that when you try them you ask yourself: but is this chocolate? ", he confesses.
That is why those made by him are chocolates in which production is not massive and in which he can pay exquisite attention to each of the processes of its elaboration. According to the Club del Chocolate portal, where Pol sells his personal brand "O" , define this movement, the bean to bar , like one that starts with selection of cocoa at origin , choosing quality cocoa and genetics close to the ancient Creoles and Trinitarians, friendly to the environment in their crops and giving faces and surnames to the producers, controlling the post-harvest and with fair prices . Afterwards, it is the workshop that is in charge of ensuring that the production is in small batches , removing impurities and roasting, grinding, tempering and shaping.
pole he has been making his own chocolate for five years and now, more than a way to get economic benefits, he sees it as a project in which he is making a mark. "During the months of confinement I decided that I had to do something and I opted to invest money in the design and packaging of my chocolates "O" , now available in 100 gram format. You begin to notice that the heat is passing and people are becoming more interested in chocolate", he tells us about the product that he elaborates in Echaurren , "in the banqueting estate to take advantage of all the machinery, raw materials, packaging and to be able to manufacture them under his registration".
"O" works with three origins: Venezuela , Creole of Maracaibo, the most classic and most traditional. "I make it 75% and sweeten it with panela from Ecuador," he explains. other of Papua New Guinea , made with cane sugar from Costa Rica and lightly toasted; and one of Madagascar , –The protagonist of his collaboration with Vintae– made with a Trinitarian cocoa (85%) from the Mava plantation, in the Sambirano Valley, grown without pesticides at the small Ottage Farm on the banks of the Ramena River; also with cane sugar from Costa Rica. "It is the geekiest and out of the ordinary... It is very tasty and people are surprised, thinking that it will be more bitter and intense when, in fact, it is light, with acidity and flavors of fresh fruit".
There is a growing number of small producers who are committed to making the bean to bar a reality in Spain, even influencing restaurants and gourmet products. "I think it's going to happen with him. chocolate the same as with craft beers , that there will be a boom ", Pol advances us. One that is already beginning to be seen with those who call him to give personality to his products. Like the Celler Batlliu winery, from Sort, with which he has elaborated a came ; Hobac, from Santa Maria de Martorelles, with whom he has just launched a small production of beers or Ama Brewery, in Irun. "Is from the boys from Mugaritz and they are some cracks. We don't know much about cocoa and there are many things that until now were thrown away, such as skins, which is what we have used to make the kombucha we have worked on together. I contribute the subject of the skins and they their know-how with the kombucha to create something that is not at all obvious. We work with cocoa, yes, but the skin gives you other flavors and nuances that the fruit does not."
Pol Contreras
a century ago the chocolate bar it began to be made in England and, until now, we had only consumed what was available on the market of the industrial chocolate –which is usually over-roasted to hide flavors and achieve a linear product–. And not only because of those producers who make it in small quantities, with love and care, but also because of the machinery that allows us to make chocolate at home and make productions that are more fun, less static and experimentally interesting. In the panorama of the "bean, to the point", of imperfections the thing goes And Pol is, without a doubt, an expert in enhancing them.