We are in full-on Christmas mode around here as “Baby It’s Cold Outside” is starting to play, and we've begun to crave something warm and soothing. As far as we are concerned, it's hot chocolate season.

As any chef knows, a recipe is only as good as its creator. Many people have bad feelings towards white chocolate whether one thinks it's not healthy or just dislike the taste outright. We feel as an ingredient in a recipe, white chocolate has a place in your kitchen.

There is a range in quality of chocolates out there, and this recipe calls for using one of the best, Valrhona's Blonde Dulcey. If you substitute with a different white chocolate, expect a different taste.

Whether or not you consider white chocolate is real chocolate, we hope you consider this recipe a real winner. To really get the flavor of the orange, you must let the peels steep for at least 15 minutes. Simple to make and well worth the wait. We hope you agree. Happy holidays.

Holiday Inspired Orange Spiced Hot Chocolate Recipe

6 oz. milk

2.25 oz. VALRHONA BLONDE DULCEY**

orange peel from half an orange

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

half cap vanilla extract

1. Using a sharp paring knife, cut long peels of half an orange, avoiding the white part of the peel.

2. Heat milk over stovetop and drop in orange peels, cinnamon and nutmeg.

3. Get milk hot, almost to boiling, then turn off heat and cover for at least 15 minutes.

4. Uncover, add chocolate, and reheat. Stir until all the chocolate has melted. The milk should thicken slightly.

5. Turn off heat, add vanilla and stir.

6. Use a sieve and pour into cup and enjoy

**Whatever you do, never substitute a different type of white chocolate for this recipe. If you do, expect a vast difference in taste.

As a kid, every summer I’d look forward to playtime around the neighborhood. Riding my bike to the beach, meeting new friends at the playground and endless hours of sitting in front of the television. Those were the days. But there’s still something I look forward to during the summer as an adult. That's eating summer peaches. The fuzziness of the skin, the juicy meat of the fruit and especially how the taste lingers on your lips long after you’ve finish eating a peach are my reasons for my love of this summer fruit.

When I was growing up, we had two Chinese statues in the house that contained peaches.

One was an over grown peach being carried off by several jovial looking children dressed in mismatched looking loose clothing. The other was of an old man with an elongated bald head, an extra long beard with a peach in one hand and a long staff in the other similar to the one pictured below. I never knew the symbolism of peaches in Chinese culture until I began research for this post.

The Chinese god of longevity, known as Sau, is a symbol of the easy life, smooth living, and victory over strife. Attached to the end of his staff is a gourd, said to hold the elixir of life, or immortality. Sau is usually depicted holding a peach, the divine fruit of the gods.

The peach tree and all it’s components–the wood, fruit, blossoms and petals all carry different symbolic meanings in Chinese culture. The peach tree symbolizes longevity. The wood from the tree is said to ward off evil, and ancient warriors crafted weapons from it. The petals of peach blossoms have a history of use by Taoist magicians, and are known to put men into an intense trance of love. The peach tree blossoms during spring and is considered the ideal season for young couples to marry. The peach fruit, similar to the tree as a whole, symbolizes a long and healthy life. The fruit also bears associations of perpetual vitality. It is said that the Peach plant of immortality, located in the Kun Lun mountains, would produce fruit only once every 3,000 years. When this happened, the Eight Immortals (a legendary group of enlightened ancient beings) would gather and eat of the magic fruit, assuring their immortality.

The peach is often depicted in Chinese paintings, sculpture, pottery, clothing and food. To honor such a lucky symbol, we created our Lucky Peach truffle. A soft flavor of chocolate blended with white peach puree. But the best part of our truffle is that is it available year round. No need to wait for the summer harvest, drop by our shop or if you’re not in the area, our website is just a click away.

Earlier this year, I went on a search to a small Indian market in Berkeley for some platters for truffles. From a previous trip there, I remembered there were beautiful copper plates and pots. To my surprise on my trip back to the market, I found a copper plate decorated with a Swastika. Seeing the Swastika used for it’s original purpose put a smile on my face. Then, I had a sudden realization that using these platters at the chocolate shop would require a lot of explaining.

The Swastika symbol has been used for thousands of years (in almost all human civilizations) as a sign for good luck, protection, as a materialization of life, and the changing seasons of the year. Especially common in India, the word itself stems from the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit. The term Swastika, or Svastika, as it’s written in Sanskrit, means “all is well,” or alternatively, “being happy.” The root word, svasti (sv = well; asti = is), is another term implying good fortune, luck, and well-being.

Needless to say, the various symbolic meanings listed above are heavily inconsistent with how the Western world perceives the Swastika. The symbol was adopted by the Nazi Party during World War II, as they held the belief that the symbol was Aryan, and signified racial purity and superiority. The appearance of the symbol was altered by Adolf Hitler, in order to suit the needs of the Nazi movement. This resulted in two basic variations of the Swastika image, to which far different values are attached.

The traditional Swastika is a cross with four arms of equal length, with the end of each arm bent at a right angle (clockwise or counterclockwise). It sometimes features four dots, in the spaces between the arms. But the main feature separating the traditional and Nazi variations is that the traditional Swastika rests flat on one side, never on a single point.

The Nazi Swastika also has four arms bent at right angles, but rests on a single point, like a diamond. So, instead of somewhat resembling a cross, the Nazi variation instead forms a central “X” shape. Nazi representations also seem to feature thicker lines, on the whole.

Hitler’s alterations to the Swastika were made painstakingly, or perhaps even obsessively. Many different drafts of the Nazi Flag are chronicled in his manifesto, Mein Kampf.

Despite it’s complicated history within the past century, the Swastika still is considered sacred in a number of traditions. As stated above, Hindu usage of the Swastika is still prevalent and wide-ranging. In addition to being a traditional emblem of good luck and wellness, it can also represent Brahma, the god of creation. Furthermore, the Swastika can represent rebirth, seasonal change, and the cyclical nature of the universe. The very shape of the Swastika elicits thoughts of circular movement and constancy, representing the turning of the earth on its axis, to the planets’ rotation around the sun, and everything in between.

In a Buddhist context , the swastika means resignation, or acceptance. For that reason, the symbol is often present in images of Buddha, on his hands, feet, or chest.

Within the context of Jainism, the swastika’s four arms represent the four possible outcomes of rebirth: to be a demigod, a human, a non-human animal or plant, or, least desirable, a hell-dweller of any variety. Each of the four arms leads to a different outcome, but all outcomes include some form of reincarnation.

The Thai word for ‘Hello’ is S̄wạs̄dī (sa-wat-dee). Clickhere and then click on the ‘listen icon’ to hear the Thai word for hello, which sounds quite similar to ‘Swastika’ when pronounced aloud. Breaking down the meaning of hello in Thai, ‘sa-wat’ means blessings or good fortune and ‘dee’ means [is] good.

Furthermore, you can see the symbol in art and architecture the world over, and from many different eras. Here are a few examples below:

The swastika is often featured on exteriors of homes and temples in countries like India and Indonesia.

In ancient Greece, a single Swastika was commonly used on pottery.

At the end of my chocolate platter search, I opted not to purchase the swastika platter. Instead I bought an om platter. It’s a safer bet not to offend anyone and an auspicious symbol just the same. Even though the platter I found is one of good luck and well-being, the thought of offending a customer or eliciting negative emotions in what should be a happy experience of buying and eating chocolate, cannot be ignored. A chocolate shop is not a place for a swastika conversation piece, at least not yet. But perhaps this post can foster a bit of healing and education.

When I was scrolling through listings for summer jobs and internships, Jade Chocolates jumped out at me as I read Mindy Fong’s bio on the company’s web page. Mindy frequently cites her grandfather as essential to her success: “For me, it all starts with my grandfather. If he could immigrate here and become a successful businessman, I can become successful in anything I do.” Though her grandfather immigrated to California in 1918 and my grandparents reached American soil in 1963, they share a story, a struggle, and a success–all of which began on Old Gold Mountain.

The Chinese name for San Francisco and its surrounding counties, Old Gold Mountain or Jiu Jin Shan in Mandarin, stems from the gold rush era. Beginning with the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1848, northern California rapidly became a mecca for fortune-seeking migrants, some coming from as far away as China. Rumors of a readily prosperous Gold Mountain reached impoverished Chinese workers. Political turmoil had destroyed the livelihoods of southern Chinese, many of whom became sojourning workers in America with hopes of returning to a life of ease in China, able to support the traditional extended family structure. Thousands sailed for America, dreaming of striking it rich in mining country. So many Chinese workers flooded northern California that a mere four years after the first nugget of gold was found, 25,000 Chinese immigrants resided in the state-comprising 10% of the non-Native American population and over 35% of the foreign-born population. However, despite dreams of gold, many of these early immigrants had their hopes dashed by the reality of a rapidly industrializing world and a deeply anti-immigrant environment.

In the beginning, mining was done by sheer individual will and labor: land to mine, dirt, water, and a pan were the only necessary tools for the industry. Poor and driven Chinese immigrants matched perfectly with this work. As gold mining developed, it became industrialized, meaning a much higher buy-in price and a need for cheap labor forces rather than independent miners. White miners quickly realized the economic power of the Chinese immigrants, willing or compelled by indentured servitude to work harder for lower wages. First counties passed taxes on foreign miners; this racially-driven taxation is credited with keeping northern California out of bankruptcy in its early years of statehood. These policies were soon followed by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882–the greatest restriction on free immigration this country has ever seen. Legislators relied on racialized depictions of Chinese disease, opiate use, and heathenism to justify Exclusion of this “yellow peril.”

Far from being subdued, as anti-Chinese riots and laws alike intended, many Chinese workers overcame these additional obstacles. Working in the dying mining industry, the transcontinental railroad construction (which thrived due to inhumane, slave-like conditions of Chinese workers among others), and the rapidly growing service industry, Chinese immigrants set down their roots on Old Gold Mountain. These immigrants’ lives tell stories of arriving in a foreign country with little money or shared language, of bitter struggle and hardship in the name of family well-being, of finally tasting sweet success–stories that repeat across generations of Chinese Americans.

Mindy’s grandfather arrived in Napa, California at age 16 with twenty dollars and no connections. He worked as a houseboy, filling various odd jobs before becoming an entrepreneur; over his lifetime he owned and ran two restaurants and three liquor stores. My own grandparents moved from a poor village in central China, to Hong Kong, to Houston Texas (by way of San Francisco Bay, as pictured at left). Both our families reached American soil during Exclusion, both filled the service roles allotted to Asian immigrants, and both succeeded in spite of unimaginable obstacles. By tackling Old Gold Mountain, our grandparents gave us both the opportunity to find our own success in the same city where they first began their American lives.

Fast forwarding nearly 100 years since her grandfather arrived in California, in her San Francisco shop, Mindy Fong is paying tribute to her own family as well as the countless other Chinese immigrants who struggled and thrived on Old Gold Mountain. Her carefully crafted “Gold Mountain Salted Caramel Truffles” are not only deliciously salty-sweet, but a playful nod to the deep and often solemn history of immigration that runs through this city: a big task for a small chocolate.

Growing up hapa (of partial Asian or Pacific Islander descent) in San Francisco, many of my earliest memories are of my grandparents’ pristine home, including my first encounters with chocolate. My popo and dede-grandmother and grandfather in Chinese-came to the US in the 60’s, working as live-in help for a wealthy family. This photo is of them celebrating their 50th anniversary of immigrating to the United States. Both wonderful cooks, my grandparents’ food quickly became popular among the affluent households of the Houston neighborhood. The dinner parties they catered were coveted events, and my grandfather even began offering cooking lessons to Texan housewives. With my grandparents now living in San Francisco, my childhood was often spent reaching up to their high granite counters to sample the same expertly made traditional dishes my mom grew up with in Texas. I happily munched away on foods with names my American mouth has never quite mastered.

In this house full of plastic-wrapped tv remotes and surfaces so white you’d go snow blind if it weren’t for the dim lighting (to save money on electricity), my mom struggled to keep my toddler messes contained; the biggest challenge was my undying love of chocolate. At the end of every healthy, beautifully prepared feast of Chinese food, I would beg my mom for a jumbo chocolate-covered ice-cream bar. Happily biting into it, I would promptly shatter the chocolate coating,melting it all over my face, hands, hair, and tummy.

This all-American dessert was sharply at odds with the preceding meal. Traditionally, Chinese desserts are practical and only lightly sweetened compared to sugary American treats. My relatives often prefer a bowl of grain-based desert soup or a light fruit pastry. While I now love many Chinese desserts, I was never satisfied with these lighter options as a child; maybe my dad’s upbringing in Mexico was passed on to me. Sunday morning spiced Mexican hot chocolate was a special treat for me and my sister. Wherever my sweet tooth comes from, there is no denying that chocolate has always been my first dessert-love.

Every meal at my popo and dede’s came with a full body clean up. Before I was allowed to leave the table, my mother would preform a “rice check,” picking off the tiny grains of rice I had somehow stuck everywhere, and most importantly, she would wipe chocolate off my grinning face.

It looks like I’ve come full circle. My early years were spent in my grandparent’s jade-decorated home, perpetually a chocolate-coated toddler mess. Now, after my first year away at college, I’m back in San Francisco getting to work with my favorite dessert at Jade Chocolates through the Business Pathways internship program, albeit a bit less messily than my earlier chocolate encounters.

Jade Chocolates has officially opened the doors of our new chocolate and tea shop! Just shy of our 8th year in business, we’ve finally realized our biggest milestone-a home to call our own. Our shop is the only place where you can find our entire product line, including products not on our website.

We’d love to personalize your chocolate experience. Ask us anything—what flavors of tea and hot

chocolate to try, or what truffle to get for the chocolate lover in your life. We’re here to help.If tea is what you’re looking for, we offer a variety of flavors from The Aroma Tea Shop, and The Tea Smiths of San Francisco. All flavors are available hot, or over ice. And if one cup of tea isn’t enough, we offer it in bulk as well.

Blue People Oolong (flavored with sweet licorice root) and Tumeric (tumerice, ginger, lemongrass, etc.) has been our most popular flavors. Peach Momo (white tea sweetly scented with peaches) is still the staff pick. No matter how much tea you need, or what temperature you want it to be, we first recommend exploring our ‘Tea Aroma Buffet.’ Each of the round tins on the buffet contains a different flavor of tea, and you’re welcome to sample each scent. Take your time getting a nose for what you might like. We’d like to ensure that every cup is thoroughly enjoyed, without any guesswork.

On the hot chocolate front, there are quite a few unique flavors to choose from. Jasmine and Cardamom are the two top sellers, and Creamsicle is the reigning favorite with our staff. But let’s itemize the whole list, shall we? Currently, we offer made-to-order hot chocolate in the following flavors: Bittersweet, Mint, Ginger, Turmeric & Black Pepper, Thai Red Curry, Cinnamon, Passion Fruit, and China Red (with a blend of cinnamon, New Mexico Chili, and red peppers). Hot chocolate will never be the same again.

Tea and hot chocolate are only part of what the shop has to offer. For those who are looking to literally sink their teeth into a confection, we have you covered. Tasting Tiles (our take on the French Mendiant) are a great option if you’re just looking for a little something sweet—these squares of delicious chocolate are embedded with things like fruit, nuts, and spices.

We also offer a range of truffles. Kalamansi Lime won staff pick. Some other popular flavors are Lychee Rose Green Tea, and Gold Mountain Salted Caramel. Come into the shop to try more original truffles, not available on our website. One of our more recent additions is a Sunflower truffle, filled with sweet and salty sun-butter (the subtle crunch comes from the occasional whole sunflower seed). Also available right now, we have Banana Walnut, Mint Meltaway, and Lilikoi (Passion Fruit).

If you’ve been a fan of Jade Chocolates and haven’t stopped by, we encourage you to come in. There’s bound to be something you haven’t tried.

4207 Geary Blvd in San Francisco. Shop hours are Monday through Saturday, 11 am – 6 pm. Sundays at the Clement street Farmer’s Market in front of Giorgio’s Pizzeria from 9 am – 2 pm.

It’s 2015, and a lot has changed since my time in Puerto Rico. I’m still reflecting on dining experiences from the trip, and one place in particular comes to mind as the most inspiring. Chocobar de Casa Cortés.

The entire restaurant (located inside La Casa Cortés art museum and gallery) is centered thematically around chocolate. In 1929, when Pedro Cortés Forteza founded Cortés Hermanos in the Dominican Republic, he set out to capitalize on Caribbean cocoa. I’m sure he could scarcely have imagined his chocolate exporting business would become parent company to an art museum and a restaurant. But the company did just that, and opened its first chocolate restaurant and museum 84 years later, in the heart of Old San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Chocobar de Casa Cortés is any chocolate lover’s dream. Along with sweet items, the restaurant offers chocolate inspired liquors, breakfast, tapas and a line of hot chocolate. Waiting 8 decades to open up a retail location won’t work for Jade Chocolates, but I certainly need to scale down my plans. A full service chocolate restaurant would be a dream, but for now, I’ll have to start small. Maybe a quaint retail shop.

Casa Cortes, I’m told, was primarily known for its hot chocolate. Order one and you’ll get a small piece of chocolate accompanied with cheese. It is customary to eat them together.

The wall behind me is decorated with Casa Cortes vintage metal chocolate bar molds.

My trip to Chocobar certainly has my thoughts in motion, as far as the future of Jade Chocolates. In the world of desserts and fine dining, a restaurant like Chocobar is something to strive for. My visit helped me decide what will be most practical for Jade Chocolates. Start out with a retail location.

This year, I’ve been thinking more and more about the idea of opening up a retail location for Jade Chocolates. Thoughts have run through my head on how to get funding and where the ideal location in San Francisco would be. I’ve estimated start up costs, spoke to others who have already taken the leap, and so forth. I have imagined what the space would look like if I had an endless pool of money to draw from.

And as I can never seem to take a complete break from work, all I could think about while on vacation was getting a physical location for Jade Chocolates and whether the possibility of a chocolate inspired restaurant would be a dream turned into reality. We were told by a several locals that the food at Jose Enrique was not to be missed. During this dining experience, I couldn’t help but to wonder……..What makes this a great restaurant? Here’s my take on the reasons for it.

This pink building was included as CondeNast Traveler Magazine’s list of 105 best new restaurants.

1. No Curb Appeal. It took us two nights to find this place as the exterior doesn’t look like a restaurant at all. Instead Jose Enrique’s facade resembles a modest home where a never ending house party is being thrown. We’re not sure if this was done purposefully, but once you find this place you feel like you’re in the in-crowd. As a tourist, you feel like you found a hidden gem.

2. Skip the Paper Menus. Jose Enrique uses white boards as menus and props it on a chair near your table. At first thought, it may appear rather unusual but the white board method certainly has its benefits. The waiter took his time to explain, in detail, every dish on the menu. He shared how they were prepared, where the ingredients came from and even a story or two on how some of the dishes got their names. By the time he was done explaining, you almost felt obligated to order something from the three menus (appetizers, main entree and dessert). INGENIOUS. And since the waiter was there to quickly answer any questions we had, it made it easier to make a decision. Also, I’m told, it allows for the chef to add and delete plates during service.

3. Great Food. All three plates that we ordered were delicious and beautiful and definitely worth the two hour wait.

As it turns out for this restaurant, fancy things like a marquee on its exterior and fancy menus and decor just isn't necessary.

I’ll be taking a cue from this experience and try to curb my day dreaming of posh-like images for my restaurant. Now, I’m dreaming of delicious recipes and eye catching plating designs.

Jade Chocolates is proud to participate in the internship program, which is a joint venture of SFMade and Juma Ventures to create Youthmade. Youthmade gives low income youths the opportunity for a paid six-week experience to work with a San Francisco manufacturer. This time around, we chose Theresa to join the Jade Chocolates’ team. Here she is in the foreground, with me, my daughter and sister in the background.

One of our earliest conversations we had with her was about Theresa’s first encounter with the cacao tree. We decided to capture it in a blog interview, so here it goes.

Where did you grow up in Samoa? Pago Pago. It’s a village and also the capital of American Samoa.

I asked you if you knew if Theobroma cacao, the tree that grows chocolate, grew in Samoa and you said you didn’t know. So I showed you the dried up fruit from the cacao tree and that brought back memories. I recognized the dried up fruit because it’s everywhere on my grandfather’s property in Samoa. My grandfather’s property is huge and has a lot of trees with those fruit that you showed me, and also guava, mango, lemon, banana, tons of taro, avocado and other fruit trees that I don’t know the name in English. There’s also a lot of flowers. I had to ask my mom what the name of the tree is, it’s called Koko Samoa, which is also the name of a drink.

So tell us about your experience with Koko Samoa tree. When I was a kid, me and my cousins and brothers would play house in the back of the property. From about kindergarten to 4th grade, we’d play back there after feeding the pigs.

How did you incorporate the Koko Samoa tree into playing house? We’d use the pods as our food and twist the fruit off of the tree, crack it open and pick the fruit segments and throw away the seed onto the forest floor.

Throw away the seeds? That’s what people make chocolate with! Oh, we didn’t know. There was so many of the pods and they’d just fall off the tree. Also, we’d take two of those pods and wrap it up in a pillow case and make a fake baby out of it. Yeah, I would always be the mom and hold the baby. And sometimes we’d use them as pillows or even use them as footballs and threw them at each other. They’re very useful to play with as a kid.

So how did the fruit taste? It tasted real real good! I haven’t thought about those trees and playing in the backyard in years. It brings back happy memories.

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A few years back, I took a trip off the beaten path and found myself in the Canary Islands off the coast of North Africa in the Atlantic. The islands belong to Spain so there were lots of tourists from England, Germany and other European countries. I dug these photos up from my scrapbook to share with you here on my blog. I’m pretty sure that these wouldn’t make it in the American markets. What do you think of these wrappers?

I was floored when I found these ‘Filipinos’ sitting on the shelf. On the back it says, ‘Try Filipinos after one hour in the fridge’!

I was more upset with this wrapper, Choco Conquitos, which I actually bought. I don’t remember if I liked the chocolate. That’s besides the point. What’s with this cartooned mascot? No, this would never work in America!

These baby bottles filled with liquor, although not chocolate bar wrappers, were strange as well. Travelling has always been a passion for me. I love to experience local foods and culture. Even a trip to a small supermarket can be a memorable experience.

DRAGON’S BREATH

Strong yet Gentle

The Dragon’s Breath Bar has the most sophisticated flavor profile of all our bars with a distinctively different start, middle and finish. Your first bite into the chocolate releases the crunch of the toasted sesame and is immediately followed by the smokiness of the lapsang souchang tea. The finish ends with a gentle punch of the red chili in the back of your throat. It usually catches first-timers off guard. The flavor profile of this bar are all warm flavors, which matches the name and the color of the wrapper.

Country of Inspiration: China

The Label: I was immediately drawn to the red lokta paper as it reminded me of chinese fire crackers. If I wrapped a bar in this red lokta paper, it would have to be a bar with some heat to it. Red also is an auspicious color for Chinese people. It is used in joyous occasions like marriage and parties for newborn babies. The mythical and benevolent Eastern dragon is much revered in Asian culture and should not be confused with Western dragons of medieval times. It is a divine animal and also an auspicious symbol like the color red. Dragons symbolizes power, strength, and good luck. It is strong, yet gentle. The image of the dragon below is used on the front and back of the label. This dragon is flying in the clouds.

Update: We entered the Dragon's Breath bar in the first Good Food Awards. It's an organization that awards American food producers who create and responsibly produce food products. The bar became a finalist in 2011.

GENMAI BAR

Tea and Chocolate

This is the first chocolate bar created in our line and continues to be the most popular. When I first started the company, my mind with clouded with ingredients that I could blend with chocolate. I had no focus. So I went down to my local neighborhood Asian market and slowly walked down every aisle until I spotted a bag on Genmai–roasted brown rice. I little lightbulb flashed above my head. “Genmai (roasted brown rice) Cha (tea) and chocolate. That’s gotta be a winner!” Genmai Cha is the staple tea that is often served at Japanese restaurants. The translation of this tea flavor into a chocolate bar has made this our signature bar. Of the seven bars we have created, this one is the one people most talk about.

Our Genmai bar, balanced by the deep nuttiness and crunchiness of the brown rice, is followed by a pleasant floral tea aftertaste. People have often described this chocolate bar as being a high-end or adult version of a Nestle Crunch bar. The flavor profile of this bar is complimentary. The sweetness and smoothness of the milk chocolate is contrasted and balanced with the deep nutty flavor and the crunchiness of the brown rice.

Country of Inspiration: Japan

The Label: The artwork on the front of the label is inspired by traditional Japanese woodblock printmaking coupled with the long tradition of family crests or mon used on clothes which distinguished individuals or signify membership in a specific clan. The pattern of tea leaves wrap from front to back of the label.

Update: We entered the Genmai bar in the 2013International Chocolate Awards, a world wide chocolate competition for fine chocolate makers and chocolatiers. We earned a double gold, winning for the United States and for the Americas! Awesome!

Orient Espresso Bar

Showing some Hospitality

Here’s the second of my posts that describes how chocolate and culture come together. The Orient Espresso bar is scented with my favorite spice-cardamom. It’s mouthfeel is extremely smooth and creamy with strong caramel notes but still high in cacao.

Country of Inspiration: Vietnam and Turkey

Turkish and Vietnamese coffee are the inspirations for this bar. Vietnamese coffee is extremely sweet with heaps of condensed milk added to the beverage. Turkish coffee is generally very dark with little or no sugar and usually an aromatic spice like cardamom is added while the coffee is being ground. The Orient Espresso bar is a 50% cacao chocolate with milk chocolate blended into this bittersweet bar. A perfect blend of these two coffees.

The Label: The name of this bar is a play on words of the famed train, The Orient

Express. The front of the label depicts a man in a blue uniform holding a cup of steaming coffee, a symbol of hospitality in Turkey and other cultures. Behind him is The Orient Express. The blue uniform is an actual uniform of one of the Orient Express lines and the cup and saucer depicts the train’s logo.

If you look at the front label where the Jade Chocolate’s logo is, you can see the pattern of the background begin here and wrap around the backside of the label. This is a pattern for a Turkish rug. The image below shows the illustration of the rug.

Mahal Bar

Sharing love through chocolate

Here’s the first of my posts that describes how chocolate and culture have come together. The Mahal Bar, just in time for Valentine’s Day, is light, floral and full of delicious chocolate.

Country of Inspiration: Philippines

Meaning of Name: In the Tagalog language of the Philippines, there are two meanings to the word mahal. Most people initially associate it meaning ‘expensive’. But in this context, mahal means ‘love’. ‘Mahal Kita’ means the same as ‘I love you’. There are three aphrodisiacs in the bar: ylang ylang, cinnamon and dark chocolate. Besides the 72% dark chocolate, the main identifying ingredient in this bar is ylang ylang, a fragrant flower native to the Philippines. Of the current chocolate bars in our line, Mahal is the lightest, most sensuous, and I often describe it as being the most feminine of flavors.

The label: You’ll find that symbolism, much like there is in Asian art and architecture, runs

through many of my labels. The illustration shown on the right is the black and white verison of the ylang ylang flower used on the front of the label. The pattern you see illustrated below is the back label which has one pattern on top of another. If you look closely, you’ll see gentle waves symbolizing renewal. Behind the waves, are very faint interlocking rings with the ylang ylang flower inside each ring. I chose to wrap this bar in white lokta paper, a nod to the Western notion of purity, while the front red label symbolizes love.

There is a clear and definate method to the development of my chocolate bars. Enjoy the bars and learn a little about culture as an added value.

My College Days

I tend to do things in pairs. In college, I majored in Environmental Design but had a strong interest and love for culture and social issues. So I took plenty of classes in African-American, Native American, Asian Art History and so on. In fact, my senior architectural project reflected my dual interests as I chose to do my project on the Sunnydale Housing Development, the largest inner city community in San Francisco. My project certainly was just more than creating updated spaces for the people. My senior project thoughtfully emphasized the psychological effects of architecture on low-income residents.

I revamped the entire neighborhood, from the individual family’s private apartments, their ‘defensible space’ or semi-private spaces (front and backyards), to the shared spaces that included courtyards, laundry mats and other adjacent areas. To understand that the culture of people can be negatively affected by the layout and space planning of their neighborhood is to understand a better solution for the community at large. The photo above was taken in 1941 and the layout of Sunnydale presently is much the same. My senior project called for the necessary visual barriers, enclosures and tighter-knit community within the community type of architecture. The San Francisco Housing Authority, owners of the Sunnydale Housing Development, was so impressed with my project, they offered me a job right out of college. I took it.

You may think that the above photo is of the same era, taken in the 1940's, when in fact the year was 1997. The lack of any architectural details and the unsegmented plots of land suggests to the inhabitants that they are not worthy of what other city residents in other parts of the city may call a home as 'home sweet home'.

My Professional Career

Sadly, as time passed, I decided to get out of the architectural/social activism field and start up a business in chocolate. I brought along my love for culture and created Jade Chocolates. The company's uniqueness stems from specializing in artisan chocolate bars blended with teas and spices from Asia and the Pacific Islands. All of the bars are uniquely flavored and reflect my cultural heritage. The look of the packaging and the flavor of the bars are all a direct extension of me.

When I sample out my products and customers give praise to my packaging, what they are really saying to me is, ‘I like you’. Or when they taste the chocolate and have a moment of chocolate bliss, what they are also saying to me is, ‘I like you’. And in those rare cases where people just don’t understand my concept….well I probably wouldn’t want to be your friend anyways. Just kidding.

My Chocolate Bars

I’m writing this post as an introduction to my future posts–the Development of Genmai, Orient Espresso, Dragon’s Breath and Mahal. Now that you see my duality, hopefully you can understand how I express myself through my products. Stay tuned for these future posts.

If it’s one thing that I took away from all my drawing, drafting and design classes is that color is a useful tool.

Color can affect mood. Red is an intense color which can stimulate your senses causing a faster hearbeat and breathing. The effects of blue is opposite of red. Blue is a calming color, causing a relaxing sensation to the viewer. Color is a cultural phenomenon. For many, it is the symbolizes love. Many Asian brides wear red for this reason and in China, it also symbolizes good luck. In western cultures, white is worn to symbolize purity. Yellow is a mourning color in Egypt while yellow symbolizes courage in Japan.

In other words, color is powerful.

There are two people in the architectural field have been an influence in my career: The first is my ex-professor from UCDavis where I studied Environmental Design. The other is a world renowned architect from Mexico.

Richard Berteaux: He is a Professor Emeritus at UCDavis and the first to introduce me to the use of color as a main design element. Below is a photo of a swimming pool and a singular wall of clean color. The wall is eye catching, and calms the viewer with it’s blue hue. From this vantage point, the clear blue sky is dotted with green flora. Those colors are repeated in the wall. This also happens to be my ex-professor’s backyard.

“Color has been exploited as an underlying theme and often a major design element in nearly all our work: Bold or more modest color, but often applied in subtle ways. We have always utilized color to give a desired aesthetic “punch” to a part or whole of a building, to create a “look” or “feel” to an interior space, a building or a complex.” Richard Berteaux

Ricardo Leggoretta: Ricardo Leggoretta is a world renowned architect from Mexico with structures in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa….just to name a few. He uses color as a main ingredient in all of his structures. It is his signature design element.

These great architects use bold color similarly to the way my little bars are wrapped; clean and modern, striking and begging for attention. In an endless sea of chocolate bars on the chocolate shelf, my bars stand out. The bold simplicity of color catches the consumer’s eye. If it’s a bar they have never seen before, it is often picked up, observed and studied, and hopefully makes it into the shopping cart.

I wish I could tell you the usual story. The kind of story where I could tell you I had full family support when I decided to step away from the design world and into the sweet world of chocolate. I’d be lying if I did.

My father, especially, was not at all happy with my departure from my previous architectural profession. The beginning of forming my company was the worst of the comments…. “Five years of college and you want to throw it away and play with chocolate!” Or sometimes, I’d hear this, “You gave away three weeks paid vacation, health and retirement benefits to start this! “. The comment was made even more poignant with a disappointed look towards the floor and the negative head shake. It bothered me, but I had to do it.

I can’t blame my Dad. He knew nothing about ‘fancy chocolates’. Say the word chocolate, and he’d think See’s Candies or Hershey’s. It wasn’t until my mom and dad came to last year’s San Francisco Chocolate Salon did they begin to understand my new profession. They stood there, waiting to talk to me, waiting for the customers to leave. They were standing there for many many minutes. The shift in their perspective was forming. “Wow, so expensive! People pay five dollars for a candy bar! That’s fancy chocolate!”.

And that’s about the best compliment from my Dad yet.

Transferring skill sets. What my Dad had failed to see is how I have applied my past experiences and skills into my new profession. I see art everywhere. There is art in making the chocolates. I am continually streamlining our handmade approach so that nothing is wasted. The rhythm of piping chocolate into the molds; the dance between my assistant and I when we produce the bars. It’s nearly flawless. There is art in the taste of the chocolates. How does the taste of my chocolates stand out from the rest? My answer: the color/flavor wheel. I relate flavors like I relate colors on the color wheel. Flavors can be complimentary (opposing flavors/colors) or flavors can be analogous (similar colors/flavors).

The Genmai bar is an example of complimentary flavors. The creamy and smooth milk chocolate is complimented by the nutty, crunchy, and roasted flavor of the brown rice. The initial taste of the milky chocolate and the nutty crunch of the rice is a great contrast. The Dragon’s Breath bar is an example of analogous flavors. The smokey tea, the roasted sesame seeds, and the spicy red chili all are flavors belonging on the same side of the flavor wheel. These are all warm flavors.

Above is an image of a color wheel. Colors opposite each other are known as complimentary colors. Red is opposite to green and therefore complimentary. Analogous colors are colors close to each other, such as orange is to yellow.

The design of my chocolate bar packaging is the most obvious sign of my past background. As you will read from my next posting, large bold, vivid colors from my main architectural inspirations are translated into my tiny chocolate bar packaging.

Nowadays, I get not a single peep from my father. His previous comments have stopped altogether and I he’s warming up to the idea that chocolate can be just as lucrative a career as my past cushy office job. One day, he’ll see what I’ve known all along, that all of my hard work will have it’s own set of rewards.

Watch for my next posting: Chocolate and Architecture: Drawing from Inspirations.

As we approached the Regusci winery, passing the line of walnut and olive trees and tasting room, we came across the farm animals.

Immediately, we were approached by Isabella, the donkey. A very friendly animal. I could have stayed a few more hours just petting the animals, but we came to see the donkey’s namesake, Mrs. Regusci.

We went into a humble home and straight into the kitchen where Isabella Regusci was waiting for her honey buns to rise. She says she’s been cooking since she was 11. Mrs. Regusci welcomed us as if we were family, warm and kind hearted. But she swore like a sailor, which made for an entertaining morning. She’s a great lady, with a strong personality, full of humor and an attitude like no other grandma I know.

It wasn’t even noon and Isabella offered us wine. ‘When in Rome, you can’t say no to a glass of wine on a winery.” I had two glasses of wine along with those homemade honey buns that she made from scratch, and in a wood burning stove! She didn’t even use a timer to time the cooking. That’s what I call getting back to basics.

The Regusci winery was not always a winery. They raised cattle for consumption, pressed olive oil, and had a dairy farm. The Regusci business went through many stages in it’s lifetime. Below is a photo of the vintage glass bottles that they delivered to the doorsteps of their customers. (Notice the phone number on the bottle, 4Fi5.)

Translating my new experience into my own life…

I appreciated the time spent with Isabella Regusci and the time in Napa. It’s giving me some thought into how I would like my own life to be and the direction I want for Jade Chocolates. Jade Chocolates is approaching our 1st year anniversary and I’m grateful for how far I’ve taken the company. I have though, at times, complained about not getting bigger, farther and more well known to chocolate consumers. I live in a modern world where the norm is to the things done at a fast paced. I’m learning that it’s alright to go through a few stages in a business. It’s all a learning experience.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, Danna and I each did simultaneous demos at two local markets. It wasn’t meant to be a weekend long trek, but we decided to pop into one of Dann'a' relatives’ house as we made our way back to San Francisco. Turned out that someone was home, and with genuine concern and care, we were offered to stay the night. I didn’t really have the time, with this weekend being the start of the Holiday rush, but we decided to stay and take it easy.

Danna’s family lives in the famed Stag’s Leap area in the back roads of Napa. The house is surrounded by 360 degrees of Cabernet grapes. We decided to stay and get a taste of country life, California style. We stayed up, drinking a bottle (or two) of Clos Du Val Chardonnay–from grapes that grow in the region and had freshly picked fruits and walnuts from the neighbor’s fields. We used a mortar and pestle to crack the nuts and as I was standing there in the kitchen cracking nuts, a feeling of excitement came over me. In a world where everything is packaged and ready-to-eat food products are the norm, it was kind of cool to actually crack the nuts myself. I was fascinated that the nuts came from someone’s yard. “Free food”, I thought. I just paid a whopping $10 for a small bag of walnuts from the grocery store. And here the walnuts were falling off of the trees. Very interesting. But it didn’t stop with just walnuts. In the kitchen were pomegranates, persimmons, huge lemons, and table grapes all from the surrounding area. Pick and eat. From harvest to table. This city girl was fascinated by country life. “Tomorrow, we’ll go walk to see my neighbor, she’s the one with all the fruits and nuts.” exclaimed our gracious hostess. I couldn’t wait, but the wine was making me sleepy. As I retired to sleep, I opened up the balcony and was welcomed to a blanket of a million stars blinking in the sky. Just then, I began a mental note of why city life is so overrated.

When I awoke the next morning, I immediately opened up the balcony door to see the morning view, and what a wonderful sight to see. A thin layer of fog was hugging the vines but was still thick enough to mask the mountains from my view. I couldn’t wait to meet the neighbor. We’ve been told she was quite the character. We had to walk though the vineyard about 1/2 mile to get to the neighbor’s house. Awesome–we walked through the vineyard! The photo on thebelow are Cabernet grapes belonging to the Regusci Winery.

Read more about Isabella Regusci, the neighbor, in the next post.

When I initially meet people, every so often, they end the conversation with, ‘It’s nice meeting you Jade', or 'See you later, Jade.' If I’m doing a demo and it’s just too busy, they often slip away without me getting a chance to correct their error. Ah, better they remember ‘Jade’ than not, I suppose. If one were to type in ‘Mindy Chocolate’s’ in a google search, all is lost.

So why the name Jade Chocolates? There’s a few reasons. One, it sounds pretty cool. Two, it doesn’t sound trendy or new age like ‘Zen Chocolates’ or ‘Good Karma Confections’. There is an elegance to the name. Third, a jade necklace or bracelet is just about the first piece of jewerly given to a chinese baby girl. I remember my first piece of jewelry, given to me by my grandmother. It was a heart shaped green jade stone on a gold chain.

Here’s a photo of me in my Sunday best, proudly wearing my jade necklace. I’m probably about a year old in this ancient photo.

Jade has a very long tradition in the Chinese culture and is prized higher than gold or silver. It’s not just for ornamental purposes, it’s worn for good luck and is believed to have healing properties. In the Han Dynasty, emperors were buried in jade gowns. So pretty much jade is auspicious. Something everyone needs every now and then.

I thinks it’s fitting for my company to be named Jade, a reflection of my culture, with a little bit of good luck.

A Yale University study of 2291 pregnant women who delivered a single baby between 1996 to 2000 suggests that eating chocolate during pregnancy may reduce the risk of the mother developing pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is a condition in which a pregnant woman develops high-blood pressure that causes swelling and/or high concentration of protein in the urine. It also puts the fetus at risk as it is also associated with reduced blood flow to the placenta. Pre-eclampsia can turn into eclampsia in the mother which causes comas, convulsions, and possible death.

In this study, women were checked for theobromine in their umbilical cord blood. Theobromine, a chemical found in chocolate, crosses the placental barrier which means that the consumption of chocolate can be checked here. The potential role of this chemical is that is may improve placental circulation.

Compared to women who ate less than 1 serving of chocolate weekly, this group of women were more likely to develop pre-eclampsia (5.5% in this group) than women who ate 5 or more servings of chocolate (2.9% in this group) during their first and third trimesters.

If you’ve read the ‘Our Story’ page on the Jade Chocolates website, you already know that I got into the chocolate business partially due to the new craving for dark chocolate I acquired while I was pregnant.

If I only knew this when I was pregnant! During my second trimester, I was diagnosed with this condition. I was told to rest a lot. By the end of my pregnancy, I was going to the hospital for check-ups three times a week. At my last appointment, my blood pressure must have been pretty high so they decided to induce labor. Giving birth is the only cure for pre-eclampsia. Apparently, I wasn’t eating enough chocolate! I would have gladly gained a few extra chocolate pounds if it would have prevented my condition. Luckily, there were no complications afterbirth.

This photo is me at 21 weeks pregnant.

The original article was published in Epidemiology, May 2008 issue.

Roy’s of Hawaii, which has several locations across the United States, gets my vote for best dessert of the year. Roy’s famous Chocolate Souffle is so extraordinary, I refuse to share. It comes hot to your table, fresh from the oven. If you can’t wait like me, you’ll most likely to burn your tongue on the gooey sweet lava interior. You’re forewarned on the dinner menu to order this dessert ahead of time as it’s made to order. I orginally came here for this past Mother’s Day dinner and was just craving to get another bite of this souffle. This dessert comes with a side of ice cream and a stream of raspberry sauce, which balances out the richness of the souffle.

As luck would have it, the recipe for the souffle are on little flyers at the front of the restaurant. Here it is:

8 oz. semi sweet dark chocolate (I suggest trying Valrhona or E.Guittard) 12 tbsp. butter 1 cup sugar 3 tbsp. cornstarch 4 eggs plus 4 egg yolks

In a mixing bowl combine sugar and cornstarch. Have the eggs and yolks mixed together in a separate bowl. In a saucepan bring butter to a simmer. Add chocolate and mix until smooth. Continue to mix until chocolate begins to simmer along the edges. Mix until combined. Add eggs and mix at low speed until mixture is smooth and sugar is dissolved. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate overnight.

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line each metal ring with a strip of parchment paper and spray with pan release. Place ring on a square of parchment paper then onto a baking sheet. Fill the ring 2/3rds with the filling. Bake for 28-30 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and while holding each mold with tongs, slide a metal spatula underneath and transfer to a plate. Gently lift off the mold and remove the parchment paper.

Serve immediately with ice cream. Serves 4

UPDATE 08/16/08. I had the pleasure of visiting Roy’s of Hawaii in Anaheim and I asked the waiter if he could tell me what chocolate the chef uses for the souffle. He came back in 5 minutes and told me that they use Guittard. Also, if you’ve tried the molten lava cake at Morton’s Steakhouse, Roy’s is the better bet. There’s a slight crunchy ‘skin’ on Roy’s dessert whereas Morton’s dessert has a more cakey texture and less chocolate flavor–they use Callebaut, I asked.

UPDATE 06/06/09. I met Roy Yamagichi! A few nights ago, I attended the Five Star Aloha Gala Affair honoring Roy Yamaguchi who received the Kuli I Ka Nu’u award which recognizes the actions and accomplishments of individuals who have added to the richness and diversity of Northern California and become leaders and role models for kama`aina (people with ties to Hawai’i) and Bay Area communities. I don't get star struck, but this night was an exception.