Decadence in a jar

CAPE TOWN, 2014/04/08, Honest Chocolate - jars of chocolate, 66 Wale Street, Cape Town. Owners Michael de Klerk and Anthony Gird. Reporter: Bianca Coleman / Picture: Adrian de Kock

CAPE TOWN, 2014/04/08, Honest Chocolate - jars of chocolate, 66 Wale Street, Cape Town. Owners Michael de Klerk and Anthony Gird. Reporter: Bianca Coleman / Picture: Adrian de Kock

Published Apr 23, 2014

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Cape Town - To tell the truth, I’ve never been into this raw food lark. The very word makes me think of carrot sticks for some reason, which is just too awful to contemplate.

That’s punishment food.

So when food heroine Justine Drake pointed me in the direction of Honest Chocolate, I must confess to being somewhat dubious.

Raw. Organic. No preservatives or artificial flavourings. No sugar even.

What kind of decent chocolate could this possibly be?

Only some of the best I’ve ever had, that’s what.

The company was born out of Anthony Gird and Michael de Klerk’s desire to create a healthier chocolate as part of an overall healthier diet. It’s made from raw organic ethically sourced cacao from Ecuador and Tanzania. I asked what makes it raw, and it’s quite simple: cacao beans are usually roasted, these are not. This makes the chocolate even higher in antioxidants, which means healthier than normal dark chocolate, which is good for you anyway. Also, when hand-tempering the old-fashioned way on granite slabs, temperatures are strictly controlled and cool.

No dairy or sugar is added; the sweetness comes from agave nectar (low GI, the healthy hits just keep on coming).

The Honest Chocolate range includes slabs, spreads, drinking chocolate, and bonbons.

Bonbons – how delightful is that? I can easily picture myself on a chaise longue, wearing a feather boa and being fed these by a handsome young man.

Wait, where was I?

Oh yes. All these things are hand-made, hand-dipped, and hand-wrapped at the factory in Woodstock Exchange, and sold there, as well as the shop in Wale Street. The slabs are adorned with designs by local artists, to match the chocolate. The one with crushed coffee beans has a painting of a big-eyed bush baby, while the libido-enhancing Peruvian maca root-infused slab is illustrated with a simple outline of a heart. I am currently holding on to a bar of the Oryx Kalahari sea salt, which has a drawing of a pirate in a ship in the desert.

As for the bonbons… the centre is a soft praline made with raw organic cacao, organic virgin coconut oil (cold pressed), organic blue agave nectar, and organic vanilla pods which are dipped in couverture chocolate. There is the original bonbon, as well as mint, coffee, orange, ginger, honey, and rose geranium flavours. You can have one or you can have a whole lot boxed up.

Ooh, and then there’s the spread – a plain one, and one with macadamia nuts. Use your imagination, or just use a spoon.

Honest Chocolate has a website almost as good as its products (www.honestchocolate.co.za), which has tons of information and excellent contact details. - Weekend Argus

l Find them at Woodstock Exchange (66 Albert Road, 021 447 1438) and 66 Wale Street in the CBD, 021 423 8762, Mondays to Fridays 9am-5pm, Saturdays 10am-2pm.

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