A few of the thoughts from my head in no particular order

Venezuelan Black Chocolate

March 7th, 2008 Posted in entertainment, web

Any TV addict out there will probably be suffering from an intense chocolate craving right about now thanks to one Wonky Willie and his slightly crazy mission to bring the ultimate cacao to the UK.

I’m not convinced that chocolate as an ingredient is right for most meals although anyone that’s watched an episode of the Channel 4 series Willies Wonky Chocolate Factory will testify, most of the show revolves around Willie Harcourt-Cooze adding helpings of his Venezuelan Black chocolate stuff into just about every meal of the day.

But is he just adding chocolate for the sake of adding chocolate? With a strap line of “From bean to bar”, the series shows the Harcourt-Coozes travelling from the UK to Venezuela, to their Hacienda farm.
Update!!  Chocolate Factory cookbook now available!

Since originally writing this article, I’ve discovered Willie’s released his own cookery book titled Willie’s Chocolate Factory Cookbook.  Combining biographical content with recipes and such, the book will battle for a place on both your coffee table and in the kitchen!  My personal favourite is the Chicken Mole recipe which reminds me of when the Hairy Bikers visited Mexico.  Lets hope Willie will put his name to more books and start a series on cooking with his chocolate.

I know from being a fan of all things chile (the hot pepper, not the country although I’m sure it’s a lovely place) I’ve been guilty in the past of adding seeds, sauces and anything else with a bit of a kick into every food going. Whilst it compliments some foods perfectly, others it’s definitely an acquired taste - although coincidentally, chillies are great with chocolate!

willies_wonky_chocolate_factory.gifSo Willie has managed to get his Venezuelan cacao harvested, roasted and on it’s way to the UK to a unit in Devon. The shonky gleaming 1920’s machinery he’s got has been put through it’s paces and he’s finally churning out a saleable product. But are we as a nation of food and chocolate lovers ready for it?
Our mainstream chocolate is the fatty mess from the likes of Mars, Nestle and Cadbury. Not that it’s a bad fatty mess, but it’s not gourmet by any sense of the word. For what I and probably you and most of the population would class as “decent” chocolate is found in places like Thorntons and Hotel Chocolat, both of whom produce some fantastic stuff and put a healthy amount of effort into making sure their product is good chocolate.

Then you get all the supermarket and small manufacturers offering their own “special”, “finest” ranges and of course, all the fairtrade stuff (ethical, but does it taste any good?). I’ve tried the Hotel Chocolat 75% Wild Cocoa slab which is so dark it’s downright naughty. Who’d have thought that naughty chocolate is also very good chocolate?

So we like chocolates but this cacao stuff is something else. It’s raw. There’s no sugar so it’s intensely bitter (so I’m lead to believe). I think people just want chocolate to be comfort food, but fair play to Willie, his family and all the Venezuelan Cacao farm workers - it’s quite possible that he’s tapped into a bit of a niche market with his dream.

So keep an eye out for Venezuelan Black Hacienda El Toroso, Rio Caribe Superior and Carenero Superior 100% cacao bars in your local High Street Selfridges or maybe a search on the Internet’s junkshop (eBay) will bring up a few results.  Other unofficial retailers are out there but their website reports that they’ve sold out.  That’s the price you pay for such a fantastic advertising tool - a TV series!!

  1. 46 Responses to “Venezuelan Black Chocolate”

  2. By Tony on Mar 11, 2008

    I read your article with interest, and thought you may want to know:

    The website you mention (Venezuelan Black online shop,)for buying the cacao is not affiliated in any way to Willie Harcourt-Cooze.

    The correct website is http://www.venezuelanblack.com however it is not selling the cacao online yet.

    Currently the only place you can buy the cacao is at Selfridges for £7.

    Best regards,

    Tony

  3. By Joff on Mar 11, 2008

    Eeek! Thanks for the tip Tony, I’ve now updated the article.

  4. By tim mackey on Mar 12, 2008

    you can buy these over the phone from selfridges, +44 113 369 8040, select a store > london oxford street > ask for the food hall > order away!! just ordered 3 bars :) cost £10 to post to dublin, not bad.

  5. By rob kelly on Mar 14, 2008

    I have just made some of Willie’s truffles with a bar bought from ebay, just waiting for them to set…..

  6. By Joff on Mar 14, 2008

    Rob - Please let me know how they turn out!

  7. By marie on Mar 14, 2008

    Hi does anyone know where you can find the recipies for Willies Hot Chocolate and Truffles
    Thanks

  8. By Harold Miller on Mar 15, 2008

    Found this website that has loads of recipes and useful info:
    http://www.squidoo.com/VenezuelanBlack

  9. By kerry on Mar 15, 2008

    hello i just tryed to order some from selfridges oxford street store they dont have it in till tuesday :(

  10. By Joff on Mar 15, 2008

    I’ve now added the recipes from the Channel 4 website which I’m guessing are also on the inside of the bar label.
    http://blog.jofftastic.co.uk/2008/03/venezuelan-black-chocolate-recipes/

  11. By MIL on Mar 16, 2008

    Stay away from the venezuelan-black.co.uk website and associated ebay seller (a parisiscool). They are selling the product at double their RRP (£12!). Complete rip off. Shame.

  12. By Joff on Mar 16, 2008

    MIL, I don’t agree with it either but it is all down to supply and demand. If people are desperate to buy some of Willie’s Cacao then they will have to pay.

  13. By MIL on Mar 17, 2008

    Joff, £12 will only be sustainable in the short run. Only a selected few setting the price at such high level will scare off everyone else from using the product.

  14. By Julie on Mar 17, 2008

    Hi ,

    Does anyone know if you can just eat this chocolate ? Or do you have to cook with it ? as its 100% and no sugar It should be great to eat ?

    Julie

  15. By Joff on Mar 17, 2008

    Julie, you can absolutely eat this straight out of the wrapper although it’s not going to taste like any other chocolate bar because of it’s “raw ingredient” nature.

    It will be fairly bitter so you won’t want to eat large pieces at a time. I’ve had high cocoa dark chocolates in the past and they’re so intense, so I’d imagine Venezuela Black would be that and then some!

  16. By mr b on Mar 17, 2008

    ..have the rules on product placement been abandoned.. this series was nothing more than a puff piece for someone with influential friends in the media to help hawk the product to a mass audience… disgrace

  17. By brian on Mar 17, 2008

    ebay sharks are selling this for £30 a pop!! wait til it all dies down in a few months. im dying to try it as a pastry chef and love the tv series but im not paying over the odds. just for his brownie recipe youll need almost 2 bars so work it out!!

  18. By sandra on Mar 17, 2008

    I managed to get two bars today,just had the hot chocolate….fantastic.

  19. By mimi on Mar 18, 2008

    Does anyone know the recipe for the chocolate pudding Willie made in the second episode for the farmers market (in white ramekins)? It is not included in the C4 recipes and in the programme he does not mention how much chocolate, butter or sugar he uses. Any idea?

    Thanks!

  20. By Jane on Mar 19, 2008

    I popped into Selfridges yesterday while in London for the day only to be disappointed. The cacao was still out of stock and they said they were hopeful to have some by this Friday. Yes I could have placed an order but the £10 delivery is ridiculous for me… I only live a couple of hours from London. I shall wait until after Easter and then try and get some… am very much looking forward to trying the hot chocolate recipe.

  21. By MIL on Mar 19, 2008

    £30 en ebay now??? That’s how to kill a product…. I did buy from ebay but left a negative review for pushing the price too high… the muppet gave me a negative review back. Need to get a life. Still worth staying away from speculators like that.

  22. By Caitlin Murray on Mar 20, 2008

    I agree that some of the prices on ebay are mental but if you don’t like the price don’t pay it!! Feedback is supposed to be a reflection of the speed of delivery etc, not of your opinion of what a fair price is! TBH I don’t blame the seller for leaving you neg feedback. Anyway, rant over. Have placed my order with selfridges, so will just have to wait till stock comes in - I’m dying to taste the cloud forest cake but £60 via ebay is a bit too much!

  23. By Darren on Mar 24, 2008

    £7 is probably fair considering the small production runs and his modest facilities but (providing you’re not too stuffy about Venezuelan over Ecuadorian chocolate) Hotel Chocolat sell an organic 100% slab for £4.50.

    I bought some before I watched the CH4 programme so am wondering what the big hype is all about as Hotel Chocolat have been at this for some time now. Okay so Hotel Chocolat aren’t winning Chocolatier awards but for most their chocolate is of a high enough quality.

    Personally I don’t like eating dark chocolate on it’s own but it is incredibly smooth. I bought it purely for cooking and it went extremely well with the cloud forest cake.

    A personal thing but I made mine without the ground almonds and believe it was all the better for it. I’ve now made the cake with and without almonds and to be honest feel the almonds draw the pallet away from the chocolate (tut, tut) toward the almonds and naturally gives the cake a grainy texture. IMHO it’s far better, if you’re going to use expensive chocolate in the first place, to concentrate on the main ingredient. As a plus point the cake also ends up with a melt-in-the mouth smoothness that is beautiful.

  24. By Joff on Mar 24, 2008

    Darren - I thought I’d have another look at the Hotel Chocolat purist range of 72% chocolate slabs and I found they now do an Organic 100% bar! Remember that Hotel Chocolat products are mainly for eating straight out of the pack rather than as an ingredient (all the 72% bars include cane sugar and other ingredients to make them a bit more palatable), but this 100% bar looks like it could be a direct rival to the Venezuelan Black range.

    Cunningly titled
    Hacienda Iara Organic Dark 100%    , I’m not sure if this was available prior to Willie’s show being aired but it will definitely be getting sales on the back of it!

  25. By Lins on Mar 24, 2008

    Hi, having watched Willies Wonky Chocolate Factory with interest, I wondered how much it would be, so went onto selfridges website to find out, I was pleasantly surprised, although had I not seen the programme ,I would not have realised how much time, effort and dedication Wilie and his family have had to put in. Good luck to him!! I’m hoping to find my purpose in life soon, Also although I’m a fan of ebay I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole as far as this is concerned, at £7 it’s not worth risking getting a fake product,( I do however feel the postage is over the top!

  26. By Lins on Mar 24, 2008

    …..Just to add, I’ve looked on ebay and it’s mad!!! What will this do to all Willies hard work, not to mention his profits!!!

  27. By Paul on Mar 24, 2008

    For those desperate to get their hands on Venezuelan Black, your wait may well be over.

    Apparently Waitrose are meant to be stocking the chocolate in 120 stores from the 23rd March.

    Or you may also want to try Willies local organic store where they also stock it. The store is called ‘Reapers Health Food Store’ in Tiverton, Devon.

    Contact details: 01884 255310 or reaperswholefoods@tiscali.co.uk

  28. By london-master on Mar 24, 2008

    ive met Willie Harcourt-Cooze myself. My uncles a business man and he made an inquiry regarding the Venezuelan black chocolate. hopefully they should have a partnerhsip going soon.

    however i have tried all of the flavors, they are all excellent chocolates, however they are better off not being eaten raw.

  29. By Foodiefreak on Mar 24, 2008

    It will be in Waitrose stores soon… I checked with my local today and they don’t know when

  30. By Natalia on Mar 25, 2008

    Two varieties on sale in Waitrose Chandler’s Ford (Hampshire) this morning for £5.99.

  31. By Nikki on Mar 25, 2008

    Does anyone know the difference between the three types. What do you use for what recipe etc

  32. By jenny on Mar 25, 2008

    Hi, we went looking for Willies chocolate today at Selfridges in Manchester but they no longer have it, we got a bar of Lindt 99% cocoa just £2,25 for a 50g bar.

  33. By charlie on Mar 26, 2008

    Ladies & Gents

    Selfridges are all sold out at £7 …. however, Waitrose are in stock at £5.99 : just phone Waitrose customer services and ask which branch is in stock.

  34. By IC on Mar 30, 2008

    I bought a load of blocks of Cocoa liquor (for that is the technical name for ground and set cacao beans) with me when I came back from Bolivia, which is about the furthest south cacao can grow, so I’m told.I used to break off chunks to have with a cup of tea in the morning and it was great.Criollo like the stuff grown by Harcourt-Cooze, so it had an almost Cadbury’s like aroma to it.By comparison, I got a bag of Forastero beans down from someone in one of the amazonian regions and they were, frankly, inedibly bitter.It was like eating coffee beans.The criollo cacao, I found, was more sour than bitter.
    Additionally, one of the main reasons I can think of for eating this stuff as opposed to ‘normal’ chocolate, is that whilst it does also give you a definite chocolate hit, it is also more or less a super powered health food - something I sensed Mr. H-C trying to get across at points in his series. I found, for instance, that I ran better of a morning if I’d eaten some of the chocolate beforehand.(Usually with a cup of black tea).It’s crammed with stimulants, feelgood chemicals and antioxidants in a way that processed chocolate simply isn’t.
    Good on him.I suspect he will succeed in changing the way a significant section of us approach the very idea of how chocolate should be eaten over the next few years.
    Oh, and as for the Bolivian blocks i brought back with me - I scoffed them.

  35. By Tim on Apr 1, 2008

    MIL. It’s possible to get negative feedback removed (as well as the seller that gave it, if you’re lucky) if you can prove it is unwarranted. “Revenge” negative feedback is against e-bay’s terms and conditions. It’s worth reporting any infraction of the rules as it makes e-bay safer for everyone.

  36. By shaun on Apr 3, 2008

    you can buy willies chocolate from waitrose for 5.99, have used it to make chocolate tart turned out very well

  37. By Grumpy on Apr 8, 2008

    Willy has done nothing more than re-invent the wheel .Chef’s have been using chocolate as an ingredient for years. He was just very fortunate to get a shedfull of free advertising with a TV series. Good chocolate can be obtained at a much cheaper price if you search around. All of you that have gone rushing off to buy the latest must have ingredient only to leave it lying in the cupboard have done nothing more than fuel the fire of the latest craze.

  38. By thedog on Apr 29, 2008

    Willy made a big mistake doing his investments in Venezuela and saying to the whole world about his success.

    On sunday fullday show (Hello President) Chavez talks about expropiate Mr Willys bussines because more or less he said the colony is still in Venezuela and we had to investigate what this guy is doing and …he is selling his chocolate bars to expensive and a lot of sputips excuses. The minister of defense, believe or not, is part of the invetigation comitte.

    Im very interesting to know the opinion of Mr Livingstone (london major I believe) who is fan N 1 of Chavez and his politics.

    And this is nothing about what is happenning in the country.

    Venezuelan worried for is country.

  39. By hayley on Jul 8, 2008

    JUst got choc from Waitrose £5.99 Bargain love the stuff

  40. By Chris on Aug 4, 2008

    Hotel Chocolat have produced a 100% bar long before Willy hit this market. I think origin of their cocoa is Educador.

    They also grow their own cocoa from the own estate in St Lucia and have a very well established engaged ethics programme.

    Very very similar to Willy.

  41. By Joff on Aug 4, 2008

    Hi Chris, I’ve already mentioned the Hotel Chocolat version: http://blog.jofftastic.co.uk/2008/03/hacienda-iara-organic-dark-100/ :)

  42. By Chris on Aug 4, 2008

    Sorry, never read the review first. Just simply came across this page through a google search!

    For anyone looking to buy the 100% chocolate, I advise them to ask a sales assistant if they have a small sample of it. Willy does make the chocolate sound devine, although it can be bitter and has NO sugar and cocoa butter so is quite a shock to some people (particularly those who indulge on overloaded sugar supermarket chocolate!). It’s best used in cooking in my opinion.

    I know they more than happy to let you try the 100% cocoa at Hotel Chocolat stores if you are friendly enough to the sales assistant.

  43. By simon on Jan 6, 2009

    TO EVERY ONE WHO LOVES CHOCOLATE
    TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING

    UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES BUY THE CHOCOLATE FROM VENEZUELAN-BLACK.CO.UK WEB SITE, THEY ARE NOT SUPPLIED BY WILLIES COMPANY,
    THEY OVER CHARGE ON THE BARS
    THEY OVER CHARGE ON POSTAGE
    AT CHECK OUT ANOTEHR £2.50 IS ADDED ON WITH NO EXPLANATION,BREACH OF TRADING STANDARDS
    ON ARRIVAL THE POSTAGE IS FAR LESS THAN WHAT YOU HAVE PAID
    THEY HAVE NO TERMS AND CONDITIONS ON THEIR SITE,TRADING STANDARD BREACH
    THEY HAVE NO CONTACT NUMBER OR ADDRESS
    ANOTHER TRADING STANDARD BREACH
    AFTER CONTACTING THEM THROUGH THEIR SITE PAGE ONLY,I FIND OUT THAT THE EXTRA £2.50 THATS ADDED ON THE POSTAGE IS TO COVER PAYPAL FEES, HOWEVER IF YOU ARE PAYING BY CHEQUE THIS FEE IS STILL ADDED[DONT FIGURE]
    THEY OVER CHARGE FOR THE PACKAGING
    AND THEY HAVE NOW BEEN REPORTED TO TRADING STANDARD WHO WITH ANY LUCK WILL SHUT THEM DOWN.
    IF YOU WANT THIS GREAT CHOCOLATE AT THE PROPER PRICES GO TO VENEZUELAN-BLACK.COM AND FIND THE NEAREST SUPPLIER TO YOU
    CHEARS

  44. By Duncan on Jan 27, 2009

    Willie stresses that his cacao is not chocolate to be eaten but a raw ingredient to make chocolate recipes with. In that respect, it is not comparable with bars of high cocoa-solid% chocolate adn will taste very dry in the mouth. It also explains why it is sold in stubby cylinders which are not particularly convenient for direct eating.

  45. By Dorothy Peat on Apr 1, 2009

    Looking for more recipts to use the chocolate

  1. 2 Trackback(s)

  2. Mar 15, 2008: Venezuelan Black Chocolate Recipes
  3. Mar 24, 2008: Hacienda Iara Organic Dark 100%

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