Ingredient Spotlight Newsletter '26

Over the past months, we’ve explored cocoa from many angles. Its origins, its transformation, its chemistry, and the evolution of chocolate as we know it today. This month, we take a different step. Beyond flavour and structure, cocoa carries a human story, one shaped by history, labour, land, and change. Understanding cocoa fully means looking not only at how it behaves in baking, but also at how it exists in the world.

The Evolution of Chocolate From Sacred Drink to Refined Craft Chocolate, as we know it today, is the result of centuries of transformation. What began as a bitter, ceremonial drink has become one of the most versatile ingredients in baking, shaped by culture, science, and innovation. This month, we step beyond the bean and into the evolution of chocolate itself. 🍶 From Ritual to Cup: The First Chocolate Drinks Long before chocolate bars existed, cacao was consumed as a drin

Chocolate feels simple. It melts. It snaps. It tastes sweet, bitter, creamy, and deep. But chocolate is not simple. It is the result of decisions, agricultural, chemical and structural that begin long before it reaches a mixing bowl. And once you understand how chocolate is built, you begin to understand how it behaves. This month, we move from cocoa to chocolate and from ingredient to material. Chocolate feels simple. Why chocolate tastes the way it does and why that matt

In December, we explored the cocoa bean in its raw, humble form. This month, we follow its transformation a journey shaped by craft, timing, and science. If cocoa is the seed, fermentation is the spark that awakens everything it can become.