Several years ago, I remember someone telling me how my favourite thing in the world, the chocolate comes from an extremely bitter fruit that grows on trees. Being a child at the time, I found it difficult to comprehend how the sweetest thing in the world can originate from something so bitter and I found my answers in my most trusted friend, the Britannica Encyclopaedia. It was then I was introduced to the Theobroma Cacao, the ‘food of the gods’, its diverse and eclectic use, and its entire process from fresh fruit to chocolate. While reading about it is fascinating, here is now an opportunity that lets you experience the cacao in all its forms and glory. A journey from the pod to plate in a 10-course meal, being organised by the Danda Food Project and Mason & Co.
Triggered by Mason & Co’s artisan techniques and long-term work with cacao farmers in India, Danda Food Project has developed a most unique sit down dining experience. Each course of this meal will feature a different interpretation of the glorious and versatile cacao plant, right from the sweet fruity pulp to the creamy cacao butter, the rich chocolate and the earthy beans used to create it. There will be 7 courses of savory food and 3 courses of desserts.
Each course will be paired with premium sparkling or red wine from the house of Casablanca & Good Earth Wines as well as a unique Chocolate Stout style ale crafted especially for this meal by Bombay Duck Brewing,an independently owned and operated nano-brewery producing different styles of small-batch craft beer from across the globe. This elaborate dinner is a result of multiple visits to the Mason & Co chocolate factory and cacao farms, engaging first hand with the artisans and farmers behind their fine chocolate products.
“We want to take the diners through an amazing journey, from fresh fruit to chocolate and how this came to be. The process still mesmerizes me,” says head chef Aditya Raghavan from Danda Food Project. The dishes to look forward to are the chocolate Mole, used widely in Mexican cuisine, or vegetables roasted with cocoa butter. “These vegetables will have only a hint of chocolate and will have our diners yearning for that more. The flavour of chocolate in the meal will increase with every course,” chef Aditya adds. Vegans, don’t fret! There are enough options that cater to your dietary specifications.
The dining experience will take place on the 7th and the 9th of September at Mag Street Kitchen, Mumbai. The cost of the dinner is INR 5000-5500 per head. Register for this unique dining experience here. What’s more? You can take a little bit of this experience home with you, in a bar of chocolate.
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