Yes, “cacao” and not “cocoa.” There is a difference, a big difference. Cacao or cocoa are often described as the “food of the Gods.” A steaming cup of hot chocolate topped with marshmallows or whipped cream is ample proof for that claim.
Cacao and cocoa both come from the cocoa bean. The difference is the amount of processing. Cacao is made by cold-pressing unroasted cacao beans. It is as “close to nature” you can be and still be edible. Cocoa is raw cacao that has been roasted at high temperature, then often sweetened with sugar. That’s why some cans are labeled “unsweetened.” Both cacao and cocoa have wonderful nutrients, particularly anti-oxidants, but cocoa has less because of the heat during processing.
The fifty recipes in this book use cacao and cacao nibs, which you can find in many stores. You’ll want to do that. Yes, the first chapter here is Beverages and the very first recipe is Hot Cacao. But there is more, so much more.
In Breakfast, you can feast on Oatmeal of the Gods, made with pumpkin puree, maple syrup, cloves, yogurt and cacao powder. Topped with mango slices! Other breakfast treats include:
Cacao Brazil Nut Butter
Melted Cheese Sandwich with Cacao Relish
Homemade Baked Beans [onion, carrots, celery, tomato paste, mustard, cloves and lots more!]
Oh, this book is from Great Britain and in Great Britain they have good breakfasts, like breakfasts with spicy baked beans.
Soup & Sides offers these ideas:
Squash, Cashew Nut and Cacao Soup
Cauliflower Soup with Cacao Buckwheat
Roasted Cauliflower with Cacao and Paprika Butter
Main Dishes will give you a grand new perspective on cacao/cocoa. Consider this gloriously beautiful dish:
That’s Avocado Shrimp Tortillas with Blood Orange Cacao Vinaigrette. You will also find:
Dublin Pay Prawns with Cacao Butter
Cacao-Crusted Cod
Venison with Cacao Yogurt
Duck with Cacao Risotto
There must be, of course, a Sweets chapter. It’s here and it begins with a Cacao Chia Pan Brownie but then come:
Deep-Fried Cacao Ravioli
Portuguese Rocky Road [almonds, pistachio, gingersnaps, dried cherries]
Cacao Beet Cake
You can do more than eat cacao. You can use it. The Beauty chapter has ideas for face masks, body butter, body scrub, and foot cream.
Chocolate is central to my life. Now, chocolate and cauliflower or cacao risotto are further down the road than I have ever traveled. But travel I shall. My wife Suzi is already considering that cauliflower. I’m not a veggie guy but I’ll go along. If, if, she pairs it with the Cacao Ravioli. Life is about compromise. And chocolate. And now cacao.
The Cacao Cookbook will be in stores on November 6. I suggest you invest in the futures market. Order the book, orders some cacao nibs. Salivate.