Raw Cacao

[rawtalk]

I've been making raw chocolate with raw cacao for months now and I love it. But I heard it's difficult (impossible?) to get good quality raw cacao. I heard it's processed improperly and contaminated with non-food stuff. I also heard that the quality is low compared to the finest dark chocolate (cooked) available. This is coming from a friend of mine who travelled the world to find the best cacao. He's currently in Africa on another cacao trek. Does anyone have any insights into raw cacao quality? Where to get the best raw cacao?

[herb_gardner]

sunfood.com has good cacao, so does naturalzing.com

[Bampot]

I'm in the UK and I buy my raw cacao from www.detoxyourworld.com - I think it's pretty good quality. it's the UK's only raw, organically certified antioxidant-rich cacao powder. Tastes great anyway!

There's a message on the page saying the following:

"Recently, there has been an influx of inferior superfoods into the UK. When buying superfoods on the Internet or in shops, ensure you are buying organically certified (if it says organic, it should be accompanied by the details of the certifying body (OF&G or Soil Association, for example). If it doesn't say who's certified it, ask the seller for their certificate. For your protection, it's illegal to sell uncertified products as organic."

So maybe you should look out for labels as above when looking for your raw cacao.

And there's a bit about how they make it:

"It's created by cold-pressing our cacao beans into a cake separating the oil from the protein and fibre. The temperature is never allowed to exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit and is usually 104 degrees F (all other cocoa powders are exposed to temperatures as high as 300 degrees Fahrenheit!). A high-accuracy thermometre monitors the process. Slowly, the pure, liquid cacao butter begins to sift off down a stainless steel valve. The remaining dry 'cake-like' material is then cold-ground, fine-milled and sifted so that only the finest, most bio-available raw cacao particles filter through into the finished product. This allows for maximum digestion and antioxidant absorption. It has a delightful, full, antioxidant-rich chocolate flavour."

;)

[rawtalk]

Thanks for the recommendations! I'm getting the cacao in bulk in my health food store in Santa Monica and it says it's organic. I assume it's realtively high quality. Here's the recipe for chocolate that I've been making. I usually triple it (at least). It makes one chocolate bar. I haven't used mesquite pod meal...yet. But the maca is heavenly...like a malt.

Real Raw Chocolate with Goji Berries
o 2 tablespoon ground raw cacao beans or nibs
o 2 tablespoon goji berries
o 1/2 tsp raw cacao powder (optional)
o 1 tablespoon mesquite pod meal (optional)
o 1 tablespoon maca meal
o 1 tablespoon hemp seeds ground (optional)
o 1 tablespoon non-gmo lecithin powder
o 1/2 tsp cinnamon
o dash of ginseng, bee pollen, herbs (optional)
o pinch of salt
o dash vanilla extract
o 1 tablespoon cashew or macadamia butter
o 1 tablespoon raw agave nectar
o a little flax (optional)
o enough coconut oil to bind together

Grind dry ingredients, hand mix with wet ingredients, put into plastic bags, shape into flat squares and freeze.

Variations:
o pinch of cayenne
o crushed walnuts
o coconut flakes

[Veganforlife]

I get it from Alissa's store. I figure she is going to get high quality, raw, organic cacao powder.

[CaliRaw]

Are carob and raw cacao the same? I bought raw organic cacao from the local store and it's made by sunfoods. I noticed alissa's recipes say carob. I made the mousse using the cacoa. It was very rich.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

[Veganforlife]

No they are not the same. The carob is an evergreen that grows around the Mediterranean. Cacao powder is made from cacao beans.