Lifestyle
Going nuts for chocolate with unique local twist
Lifestyle – Judy Murphy meets the team behind a cottage industry based on top cocoa beans
We Irish are a nation of chocoholics. Survey after survey has shown us to be among the top consumers in the world – 24.7 pounds per person a year, according to a 2013 report. And, increasingly, our tastes are moving away from mass-produced bars to high-quality, high-cocoa treats.
“Chocolate is like wine or coffee,” says Kilcolgan man Darragh Conboy, the manager and chief roaster at Hazel Mountain Chocolate, based in Oughtmama in the Burren, just south of Kinvara.
“A few years ago people didn’t know much about coffee – they thought it was all the same, but there’s a whole world of flavour to it,” explains Darragh, who trained as a coffee-roaster with the London School of Coffee Roasting.
Darragh then got involved in walking tours of the Burren, which were set up by John Connolly on his family farm at Oughtmama. John and his wife Kasha subsequently expanded this business, opening tea-rooms in his grandparents’ old home on the farm.
Polish-born Kasha is a talented baker, and some years ago, she decided to go one step further and train as a chocolatier. Darragh, with his experience in coffee, was an obvious choice for the business, as “the rules for roasting coffee beans are applicable to chocolate”, he says.
Like the Connollys, Darragh now lives in Galway city from where he travels to Oughtmama daily.
Hazel Mountain Chocolate is a cottage industry, albeit a unique one in an Irish context. This small producer imports fairly traded cocoa beans and roasts them onsite to produce small batches of what is known as bean-to-bar chocolate. Hazel Mountain Chocolate is one of only a couple of places in Ireland doing this, and its factory and shop in the shadow of the Burren have become a tourist attraction in their own right, according to Darragh. Certainly, on a Friday morning in early May, the tearooms are full of chatter and the clink of china, as tourists sample Kasha’s gluten-free home-baking.
Other visitors have come especially for the chocolate shop, located behind a small professionally equipped kitchen.
However everything begins in the roasting area once the beans arrive from countries including Madagascar, Ecuador, Cuba and Venezuela, explains Darragh. And all told, it takes about a month to convert the beans into finished bars.
Darragh explains what’s involved on a tour of this small space – a timber structure with a grass roof – in keeping with their environmental ethos.
The simply designed room has several machines at one end and an exhibition from a local artist at the other. In between are hessian sacks, with a variety of cocoa beans. These have already fermented in their country of origin by being left to dry in the sun.
The fermented beans are sorted by hand to ensure that only those of sufficient quality go through to be roasted – sorting is the most labour-intensive part of the process, says Darragh.
Roasting helps to develop a rich flavour and caramelises the beans, helping to get rid of bitterness, he explains.
It’s done in a Giessen Roaster, a converted coffee-roasting machine with a drum rotator which “gives a nice, even roast”. As the moisture evaporates the beans give off a crackling sound, somewhat similar to corn when it’s being popped, The roasted beans then roll out onto a tray, where a fan underneath cools and dries them to stop the cooking process.
Another machine separates the cocoa shell from the nib, in what is a time-consuming process. At the end of this, the redundant shells come out on one side and the nibs on the other. Nothing is wasted and the shells are dispatched to a woman in Kilfenora who feeds them to her pigs.
The cocoa nibs are then put into a mill, which looks like a large stainless steel churn. Here they are milled over the course of a couple of days to produce fine smooth particles. Sugar is added, and milk powder for milk chocolate. The milled chocolate is put into steel containers, wrapped up and left to age for three weeks. There are shelves full of containers, each marked to identify the origin of the chocolate and its cocoa percentage.
The chocolate needs to be aged, explains Darragh, as new chocolate is very astringent and mellows over time.
The whole process takes over a month from when Hazel Mountains import the beans to when the completed chocolate bars go on sale.
Read the ingredient list on a bar of mass-produced chocolate and you’ll find cocoa way down the list of ingredients, with sugar and bulking ingredients well ahead. Here it’s top. And there is very little else included, except for unrefined sugar or milk powder. Darragh stresses that they use no soya, no emulsifiers and no palm oil. When their bar says 72 per cent cocoa, it’s purely 72 per cent of the bean, he says.
Darragh, Kasha and her fellow chocolatier Anna Murphy use Trinitario beans for their bars and truffles. Trinitario is a low-yielding bean, which represents just three per cent of the cocoa produced worldwide, says Darragh.
This species and its subspecies provide chocolate that is a lot more flavoursome than high-yielding beans, he explains.
Concerns have been raised recently about potential cocoa shortages, because people’s demand for cocoa is increasing, while the world’s supply is declining. While Darragh agrees that a potential chocolate shortage looms, this should not affect Hazel Mountain as they use Trinitario beans, rather than high yield crops.
“The shortage applies more to chocolate growers in West Africa who are affected by bad trading conditions and are moving away from cocoa growing,” he says.
Hazel Mountain trade directly with growers, via trade fairs and co-operatives and events such as the World Chocolate Exhibition, which took place in London last year.
From the roasting area we move into the shop, which has a glass window allowing visitors to see into the small industrial kitchen where the chocolate is tempered – this means the sugar melts totally to give a smooth texture. Here too, ingredients such as rhubarb and pink pepper, seaweed, elderberries and roasted caramelised hazelnuts are added to the bars – these sit on top and in addition to looking pretty, they ensure that the tastes don’t get blurred. The fruit used in the chocolate is freeze-dried and that’s the only process it goes through, says Kasha.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.
Health, Beauty and Lifestyle with Denise McNamara
A native of Ballinasloe has expanded his baby clothing business and created a range of unique tableware and cutlery – all made from bamboo. Entrepreneur Enda Barton, who set up BambooBaby during the lockdown when he lost his job, has recently taken the huge leap of leaving his job in a computer company to work full-time in the business.
While there are some companies that sell baby tableware made from bamboo, this is the first Irish company to produce tableware themselves.
“I started BambooBaby with clothing, and the idea of having a tableware range made from 100% bamboo came to me when I was thinking about what our customers would want,” explains Enda.
“This makes it particular attractive for those who are gifting because now they can order a bundle of clothes, and add a beautiful sustainable feeding set to go in with the clothes which makes a really unique gift.”
Each item has smooth edges that are gentle on little gums and easy for babies to hold, facilitating their seamless transition from liquids to solids. The plates are divided into sections to encouraging them to eat varied foods and develop healthy eating habits from an early age.
An FDA approved silicone suction base is attached to secure the tableware in place, minimising spills and messes. Though silicone is a synthetic material, it outshines its plastic counterparts in terms of durability, temperature tolerance, and environmental impact. Unlike plastic, silicone does not degrade into harmful microplastics, which means it’s better for the environment.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
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Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
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Positivity, empowerment, encouragement and hope will be the focus in schools this Thursday, when children will get to celebrate National Confidence Day in classrooms right across the country.
A host of Irish celebrities have come together to participate in an inspirational and motivational half hour show, produced by STARCAMP with Gala Retail for the children of Ireland, with contributions from An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, Alisha Weir (Matilda in the movie by the same name), Rory’s Stories and Cillian O’ Connor, an Irish favourite in this year’s Britain’s Got Talent. “If children watch only one thing this year, let it be this”, stated Principal Sean Cummins.
Earlier this week, ahead of National Confidence Day on Thursday, STARCAMP with Gala Retail carried out a national survey about confidence and children’s well-being in children. Just under 2,000 parents from all 26 counties across Ireland with primary school aged children took part. The research uncovered that:
- 66% of parents said that they would like their children to be more confident.
- 97% believe that it is very important that life skills such as handshakes, resilience and the importance of losing be taught to children.
- When asked if parents would like the school environment to be changed in any way, (they were allowed to choose up to 2 options), only 6% believe that the it is fine as is. 64% believing more life skills should be taught in school. 52% would like to see more creativity, 32% would like to see more emphasis on their holistic development, 10% would like to see more sport.
- 75% of those whose children use devices believe that it has a negative effect on their confidence.
- 42% of parents admit that they problem solve for their children too much.
- Out of 7 traits that were listed that parents would wish for their child going forward, including academic excellence, sociability, creativity, confidence, resilience, sporting ability and street smartness, 40% chose resilience, 35% chose confidence, 13% chose being sociable, 5% chose street smart, 3% rated creativity as the most important trait, 2% chose academic excellence and 1% chose being sporty.
- Further analysis from the survey showed a concern that the majority of parents share for their children. When asked about their children’s anxieties and worries, a concerning 13% of parents said that their primary school child suffered from anxiety. A further 38% said that their child worries too much, with less than half, 46%, stating that their child had normal worries in life and a further 2% that don’t seem to worry about anything.
- 43% would like if their child’s social skills were better.
- 85% believe that group activities (such as performance and sport) are extremely important in their child’s development, a further 14% find it important. Less than 1% state that it is of no importance.
Commenting on the findings, Aideen O’Grady, Founder of Starcamp says:
“Research clearly shows that parents across all 32 counties of Ireland desire a more holistic lifestyle for their children. An overwhelming 97% would like to see more emphasis on life skills, with a strong desire for more balance in the classroom and not for the main emphasis to be on academia. As always, excessive technology is playing a negative role in our children’s lives and sadly, the majority of parents feel that their child is not confident enough. The fact that the majority are genuinely concerned with their children’s anxiety and stress levels is quite disturbing, particularly with a group of children so young and innocent. I always appreciate these findings, whatever the outcome, because it gives us the opportunity to make changes.”
STARCAMP recently decided to take baby steps towards encouraging positivity, confidence and growth in children outside of their camp environment. This Thursday, for National Confidence Day, they have produced a special half hour show which will be available to watch in all classrooms and homes across Ireland. Over 300,000 are expected to tune in on Thursday. Over 270 STARCAMP with Gala Retail camps will take place this summer across Ireland, with almost 30,000 children attending. The theme is resilience and there is a new section on life skills. “From small acorns grow mighty oaks. If we can start with a positive little seedling like this show in the classroom or home, and build on it little by little, focus on the positive and laugh, dance and rejoice more – just imagine how our children could feel about themselves. And then, just imagine what they could achieve!”
The “I BELIEVE IN ME” Confidence Show for Children will be available for all to watch and can be streamed on Thursday, May 25th, from the Starcamp website www.starcamp.ie for a limited time.
Country Living with Francis Farragher
Sometimes, I’m taken aback a bit, by some of the younger acquaintances that I enjoy a few scoops with. They’re kind of surprised that I’m not a fan of Donald Trump; that I’ve no problem with gay rights; and that I have sympathy for the plight of the Ukrainians who have come to Ireland to avoid being slaughtered by the Russians.
There is, I feel, some lingering gene from famine times which clicks in with me – and a lot of other Irish people too – where a little alarm bell of the mind rings and transports me back to a time of only a few generations back when the Great Hunger ravished our land, killing around one million people with at least as many more, taking the emigrant boats, mainly to America, to try and survive.
At times, it’s worthwhile to have a little historical reflection, on the greatest catastrophe to have ever hit our island when we were a colony of the United Kingdom following the 1801 Act of Union. We were a largely tenant population – the poorest of the poor – relying almost exclusively on the potato crop to feed the general masses.
Although the penal laws had largely been repealed during the Daniel O’Connell era, there were only two classes of people in Ireland during those days of the 1800s: the English and Anglo-Irish families and landlords who owned practically all of the land and then at the other end of the ladder, the far greater majority of the population, the native Irish, who had to pay rent and eke out a living from two or three acres of often poor quality land.
As bad as things were up until 1845, at least the potato crop managed to keep the people fed. Potatoes ironically had been introduced by the landed gentry about a century before that as a garden crop, with one main variety grown, known as the Irish Lumper. Disaster though was to strike through 1845 in the form of potato disease with the name of Phytophrthora infestans, which in simple wordage translated into a word that’s now part of the Irish psyche – the blight.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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