Category Archives: Caribbean
when travelling, the little things can mean a lot
In this post we talked about our most memorable travel moments. It got me thinking about how it can be the smallest things about a trip that bring a smile to our lips and define that trip in our memory banks. For example, as much as I loved everything about the wonderful resorts we stayed at in St. Lucia– and certainly standing in that infinity pool in our sanctuary at Jade Mountain was a high I’ll never forget– it was being out in the jungle with a naturalist who told us all about the local plants, the history of the island’s cocoa plantations, and introduced us to “Peppa” that really stands out in my mind. No matter where my travels take me, I find it’s always the moments in which I’m closest to nature that really stand out in my memory banks. Or the moments that I connect with someone who is totally unique and epitomizes the essence of the place I am visiting. Such is the case of our adventure in the jungles of St. Lucia with “Peppa,” a rastafarian who was chillin’ among the palms. Our guide, Tyson, seemed to have a good level of comfort with Peppa (which I’m sure is a mutation of ‘Pepper’) so we quickly felt in the spirit of the discourse and welcomed Peppa’s comments from among the trees. The next thing we knew, Peppa came running out of the bush with a possum for us to see! It seems Peppa had awakened the possum from his afternoon siesta, and the possum was in no mood to meet a couple of chocolate lovers from Canada. So after a bit of prodding, he hustled back into the bush. Peppa chose to inspire us with more of his survival skills, and decided to show us how …
Chocolatouring: enjoying the chocolate tours at Hotel Chocolat Boucan
Our time on St. Lucia was a week of utter chocolate bliss. As mentioned in the previous post, we had three glorious days at Hotel Chocolat Boucan, a boutique property owned by British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat and situated on the 140-acre Rabot Estate, the island’s longest-producing cacao plantation, operational since 1745. We toured the estate with cocoa production manager, Cuthbert Monroque, who explained that unlike nearby South America, the biggest problem his cacao-growing team has to deal with is rats. Yes, there are so many rats trying to bite into the sweet pulp of the ripening cocoa pods that Monroque has had to establish a rat-drowning regiment to keep things under control. This photo shows how a rat chewed his way into a pod and ate the flesh and cocoa beans from within. Another challenge for St. Lucian cocoa growers are mushroom spores, which spread the fungus that has been destroying some of the crop. As Rabot Estate is an organic property, no pesticides or fungicides are used. The resort offers a “Tree to Bean” tour as well as a “Bean to Bar” tour to help chocolate lovers understand how cacao is grown and how the beans are harvested, cleaned, fermented, dried, and processed to make chocolate. We grafted seedlings and put our name on them so that we could return in future and see the cacao tree that we helped create. Cuthbert makes a special tea that he uses to fertilize the seedlings, and that, combined with a special manure mixture help make the cacao trees strong and healthy. Grafting the seedlings helps reduce the time it takes for them to bear fruit. Without grafting it may take up to three years for a cacao tree to produce pods. With grafting, that period may be reduced to as little …
cacao cuisine is king at Hotel Chocolat Boucan
If you truly want to become immersed in the world of chocolate while visiting St. Lucia, there is no better place to be than Hotel Chocolat Boucan, a small resort of 14 deluxe rooms overlooking the mesmerizing Petit Piton on the southern end of this delicious Caribbean island. Whether it’s “Cacao Cuisine” (a full menu created around the wonders of cocoa), the “Cocoa Juvenate” spa treatments that wrap and pamper you with cocoa-based products, or the “Tree to Bean” and “Bean to Bar” tours of the Rabot Estate plantation where cacao is grown and harvested, British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat makes sure all your chocolate dreams come true when you visit their Boucan Hotel & Restaurant. Boucan is a boutique property built on the historic 140-acre Rabot Estate, where cacao has been grown since 1745, making it the island’s longest-producing cacao plantation. For the past 260 years, cacao has been grown and exported to various countries, who have been making delicious chocolate from it and selling it abroad. All that will change in 2014, as Hotel Chocolat is building a chocolate production plant on its Rabot Estate, where chocolate can be made right from the fermented, dried, and roasted beans in the Hotel Chocolat tradition. I had the pleasure of visiting the British chocolatier’s Rabot Estate Bistro in Borough Market in London, met company co-founder and CEO Angus Thirlwell, and tasted a wide selection of Hotel Chocolat chocolate as well as a selection of its cacao cuisine. I knew I had to visit the St. Lucian property to complete the experience. I was not disappointed. “Cacao Cuisine” is a fusion-style of cooking into which cacao/cocoa is used as a seasoning or flavour enhancement. It is never over-bearing, and provides a cocoa/chocolate essence to the menu as opposed to the more in-your-face …
The Chocolate Festival at Jade Mountain
a chocolate lover’s dream come true There are many chocolate festivals and events around the world that are merely comprised of chocolate tastings and demonstrations. The Chocolate Festival at Jade Mountain is unique in that you actually get to visit the plantation where the cacao is grown, learn about the harvest, fermenting, and drying of the cocoa beans, and then eat the chocolate made from those beans — in addition to tastings, demonstrations, and a decadent menu sprinkled with delicious creations made using the cocoa and other fresh ingredients grown right on the resort’s own Emerald Estate plantation. Being immersed in the world of chocolate on one of the world’s most beautiful islands? At one of the world’s most outstanding resorts? What could be better? I’d been invited to the Chocolate Festival at Jade Mountain back in February of 2012 and after months of anticipation, was thrilled to have the opportunity to visit the mesmerizing island of St. Lucia, stay at a multi-award winning resort, experience the culinary creations of award-winning Consulting Chef Allen Susser and Executive Chef Jonathan Dearden, and eat sumptuous chocolate locally grown and made. Last month I finally experienced the festival and it did not disappoint. The previous post introduced you to Jade Mountain as a sensory place to stay. This post will introduce you to Jade Mountain as a place to celebrate chocolate, for afterall, the purpose of this blog is to encourage you to experience the world with chocolate travel in mind. The Chocolate Festival at Jade Mountain kicked off with a cocktail party celebrating the dreamy choco-tini, a delicious vodka martini made with Bailey’s Irish Cream liquer and Emerald Estate liquid chocolate. The next morning we toured the plantation owned by Nick Troubetzkoy architect/resort owner/aspiring chocolate mogul, where the cacao (primarily the Trinitario varietal) and 32,000 …
Chocolatour goes Zen at Jade Mountain
As a travel writer, I’ve had the tremendous privilege of being invited to stay at some amazing places. But none, like Jade Mountain. What made this St. Lucian destination resort stand out from the rest? This series of pictures should answer that. Walking into Sanctuary JE2, our home for four days, I succumbed to tears of joy. The anticipation of seeing this view in person was exciting enough, but living it every moment during our stay as part of the decor in our open-concept room was overwhelming to the point that I was brought to tears. And it’s not just a view outside of a window. There are no windows at Jade Mountain. The sanctuaries are built into the side of a hill overlooking the twin Pitons. Every public and private room at the resort has a stunning view of these captivating volcanic peaks. But Canadian-born architect-owner Nick Troubetzkoy didn’t stop there. That incredible view wasn’t enough for Nick, rightly called a visionary by many. He included infinity pools with colourful tiles made from recycled glass in the sanctuaries. And an abundance of greenery as part of the decor inside the walls of the room in addition to all the lush greenery that surrounds and is part of the setting of Jade Mountain. How did I get so lucky as to have been invited to have three butlers at my beck and call and the opportunity to enjoy the creative cuisine and enticing activities available at this award-winning property? Jade Mountain hosts a Chocolate Festival each year, during which time participants and guests can visit the Emerald Estate, where cocoa in addition to 32,000 pounds of produce is grown to satisfy the cravings of guests at Jade Mountain and its big sister beachfront resort, Anse Chastanet. Having tried St. Lucian …
the launch of my chocolate journey of exploration
Hello chocolate lovers! We’re in the midst of a cold snap here in sunny, Manitoba, so it is no surprise that my thoughts are turning to warmer climates and my next big chocolate research trip. In less than two months, I’ll be in South America, visiting cacao plantations and chocolate makers who are making chocolate right at the source where the cacao is grown. But this post isn’t about that. It is about the trip that launched my interest and curiosity about where and how cocoa becomes chocolate. My first education in this process occurred in January, 2009, when I had the good fortune to spend a week in the Dominican Republic on the fabulous beach at Punta Cana. Lord, I love the Caribbean for its beautiful beaches and luxurious resorts. During our stay, we enjoyed a fabulous full-day tour with the Bavaro Runners which took us to a sugar cane plantation where we drank the rum made from the sugar cane, a tobacco plantation where we puffed on cigars rolled right before our eyes, a coffee plantation where we drank the dark delicious elixir made from locally grown coffee beans, and a cacao plantation where we learned that our precious chocolate originates in odd looking melon-like pods filled with very large seeds encased in an icky white goop. That is where it all began for me! I didn’t realize it at the time, but the seed for Chocolatour had been planted! So just how does cacao grow? I will get into that in detail when I visit Ecuador and  Peru, and actually talk to the farmers who grow the cacao. But let it be known that I will be forever grateful to that glorious day in the Dominican Republic, when I realized that the origins of chocolate have a …
