Is there such a thing as raw chocolate? I remember watching an episode on the making of chocolate.... The cocoa beans are white and slimy garlicy looking pods. They neither taste nor resemble chocolate at all. Raw or not raw, chocolate is a highly "processed" product. It kinda make you think twice what is the definition of RAW?

Rawie,

I knew I saw this subject somewhere else on these boards!:[www.rawfoodsupport.com]

It is not Raw and it is a stimulant. Don't waste your money on this garbage

Hi Tamuka,

I read the recent thread on "Put down the raw chocolate and stop eating 30 bananas a day. Read This.". People just trash chocolate in general, raw or not raw. I suppose I just want to clarify what makes a food RAW? There're a number of health food authorities emphasizing on the benefits of RAW chocolate, the key is RAW according to them. I don't know what is RAW anymore.... Can you call preserved or cured food (such as pickle) RAW?

Rawie,

I do consider a preserved food that's been naturally fermented to be "raw," as it is still alive. Um, actually, it's more alive than before it was fermented. Which reminds me--must get the Perfect Pickler already.

As for raw chocolate: because of this controversy, I am glad I am not one of that minority population that chemically responds to theobromine. I just like the taste and texture once in a while. I am really confused by raw chocolate. If it is truly somewhat cooked, then I am sorry for Vanessa Barg, et al, because they are trying to honestly purvey a raw product that isn't. On the other hand, I have eaten raw chocolate and am 100% certain it's processed differently from conventional chocolate. Since it's raw cacao and cocoa butter, there's no conching. Surprisingly, it's much smoother and more complex tasting than any really expensive cooked chocolate I've tried, which indicates to me that it's closer to raw than cooked. Short of flying down to Grenada and observing how the cacao pods are treated from harvest to shipping, I'd either just trust that a raw chocolatier is really raw or take globalresult's advice and avoid it altogether.

a healthy diet has nothing to do with if a food is raw or not.
one can have a horrible diet and be very unhealthy and be all RAW.

>There're a number of health food authorities emphasizing
>on the benefits of RAW chocolate,

There are NO Benefits to any food. Therein lies the confusion.

Food is to nourish the body and the body seeks health (benefits).
The body has inherent processes that go on regardless of food being ingested.

I define raw for my practice of eating raw as foods that look and are as nature grows them. If I can't recognize the food just as it comes from a plant then I don't want it. You define it any way you like and if your definition and practice is in sync with your goals and with nature then harmony and health will be the result.

IMO, in Nature we would eat only the fruit pulp surrounding the cocoa bean (seed).

The cocoa seed is bitter for a reason.

Hi Tamukha,

I agree with you. The flavors of raw chocolate are definitely more complex. I tried the GoRaw by Freeland foods. It contains only raw organic cacao and raw organic agave nectar. As for smoothness, I assume you had a chocolate bar instead of chocolate nibs. In that case, are you sure there's no conching. I thought conching is a neccessary part in the making of chocolate bar. When conching is done in a low temperature, the cacao beans are not cooked.

Rawie,

I've had chocolate bars and chocolate nibs, and smoothness refers to the former. Can nibs be smooth? As I recall, they're jagged and crunchy. As far as I know, conching is almost never done at a low enough temp to preserve rawness. If the chocolate bar is made by melting cacao butter and combining it with fine cacao powder and agave and mixing until emulsified, it needn't be conched the traditional way. There must be something really mysterious about the raw chocolate method, because I can't figure out the conching step, and I've made chocolate before. It was cacao nibs I ground up by hand and then cooked for a long time with cocoa butter, stirring all the while. I think the mystery may lie in how raw cacao powder is derived. My curiosity may only be satisfied by going to Gnosis, buying the supplies and making it myself to see if my result is the same: [gnosischocolate.squarespace.com]. I just might do it, by god!

Tamukha,

Yes, according to some expert chocolate makers, chocolate can never be raw because of conching. Gnosis only offers the software, not the hardware? Did I missed something obvious here?

Tamukha Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
"I do consider a preserved food that's been naturally fermented to be "raw," as it is still
alive. Um, actually, it's more alive than before it was fermented."

---just think a little deeper..., the only raw and alive thing in a fermented food product IS the bacteria feeding on a rotting food matter and producing its own toxic waste at the same time...

---i think it is a major mistake in Ann Wigmore's "living-foods" thinking and philosophy and its followers to believe that fermentation is good for anyones health...

---the less waste you put or keep in your body the better the health will be...

---IME, that is...

Oh my goodness, I'm right there with you Justin (again)! :-)

I have made raw chocolates by using raw chocolate powder (Nutiva) or raw cocoa nibs (I'm talking about what these foods are labeled as; if you want to speculate they've been heated above 118F, go ahead; I'm just saying how the products are adjectified by the people who actually made them) ground in a spice grounder, raw coconut oil (melted), raw cocoa butter (melted in dehydrator), raw agave nectar, scraped vanilla bean, and pinch of sea salt. You make sure all ingredients are about 90F and mix them together, put them in molds or whatever you want (I made Brazil nut cups), refrigerate or freeze, and they set. I think the fresh ones taste better than raw chocolate bars purchased, but you do have to keep them refrigerated for the ones I made, so not sure if the raw chocolate bars use different portions of the ingredients to make them more stable at room temp.

My boyfriend gobbled them up and we both agreed they taste better than Reese's.

Are they healthy, necessarily? Well, most of us draw comparisons, and they are HEALTHIER than cooked chocolate, non-vegan chocolate products, but they are high-sugar, high-fat, luckily have good amounts of selenium and magnesium ,and an occasional treat.

I don't care if others eat chocolate or not; I don't understand why people get upset about other people's diets.

I think it's cool if someone wants to eat 30 bananas a day and does so. They're doing what they want and they're happy; that's what matters to me, esp. if no animals are harmed!

Rawie,

What do you mean by hardware? Utopian Life's description of procedure is a good one. No real equipment but a coffee mill, or mortar and pestle, and a saucepan and some bowls and a spoon is required. I wonder if one can go on tours to raw chocolatiers and get a really good look at methods and get questions about sources answered? [sigh]

Tamukha,

That's right....
Software: cacao butter, cacao powder, agave syrup, vanilla beans
Hardware: blender, saucepan, spatula

You kinda got me interested... I have a 3hp blender. It can probably do the "conch" job.

Raw cacao powder is pretty $$$ at the local health food stores here. $20 for 10oz. I'm thinking of getting some organic raw carob powder and coconut butter/oil to experiment with...

[I don't understand why people get upset about other people's diets. ]

I don't really care what people eat if they are vegan, or even vegetarian, although I would like to see them eating healthily so that they will live longer and be freer of disease, set good examples that people want to follow, etc.

The only things that really upset me are animal eating and people who are in denial about B12.

Argula,

what about people who are deficient in Q14?

Ah. Q14. I'm in denial about that one.

I see that denial is the wrong word here.

:-) :-)

The B12 thing is such a huge area to research. I'm not supplementing right now (it's a risk I'll take), but reserve the right to change my mind when I have some time to go through all the stuff in my files on it!