We're not sure what it is about art and chocolate that go so well together but when we wrote about this operation in Austria last year, little did we know at the time that something similar (albeit on a much smaller scale but no less special) was taking place closer to home.
Cocobel chocolates are the artisanal creations of Isabel Brash, an architect who has turned her passion for chocolate-making into a fully-fledged business. The chocolates are manufactured in the kitchen of a beautifully restored gingerbread house which she designed and built in Port of Spain, Trinidad, part of which is used as an art gallery and performance space.
The cocoa beans she uses come exclusively from the Rancho Quemado Estate in the southern part of the island and are transformed into chocolate by hand. The flavours have a distinctly West Indian flair and are inspired by the unique Trinidadian palate and include seasonal fruits (consisting mostly of local produce) without artificial flavours or preservatives. Some of the unique combinations include Expresso Shot - Trinidadian coffee infused dark chocolate covered in delicate chocolate curls, Gingerbread Spice - dark chocolate over a buttery ganache of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger and Guavas and Cream - dark chocolate wrapped around guava cheese and vanilla infused white chocolate.
The cocoa beans she uses come exclusively from the Rancho Quemado Estate in the southern part of the island and are transformed into chocolate by hand. The flavours have a distinctly West Indian flair and are inspired by the unique Trinidadian palate and include seasonal fruits (consisting mostly of local produce) without artificial flavours or preservatives. Some of the unique combinations include Expresso Shot - Trinidadian coffee infused dark chocolate covered in delicate chocolate curls, Gingerbread Spice - dark chocolate over a buttery ganache of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and ginger and Guavas and Cream - dark chocolate wrapped around guava cheese and vanilla infused white chocolate.
Brash's initial interest in making chocolate was born out of curiosity but she claims the experience transformed her. She hopes her chocolates will help people to tap into something wild and raw and that by consuming the chocolate, they too will experience something of a mystical transformation.
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| Images: Cocobel |
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