For 134 years, Maison Bonnat has been passed on from generation to generation, from father to son, practicing a skill few artisans master today -- the art of making chocolate.
Chocolate, perhaps, has been misunderstood by many, if not most.
"The Mayans were making something close to chocolate, but not chocolate. They were grinding cacao and ground cacao is still only cacao. They had no refined sugar to make chocolate, hence it was not chocolate," explains Stéphane Bonnat, who was in town towards the end of last year for So Sofitel Bangkok's "So Amazing Chefs" week.
Bonnat would know, he has been working with chocolate since he was 14 and is the maître-chocolatier and heir to the world's oldest chocolate manufacturers -- Bonnat confectioners, established in 1884 in Voiron, France. Bonnat's great grandfather was one of the first people in 1880 who decided to turn cacao into chocolate and perfected the recipe for it.
"Chocolate as the way we eat is new. It was only discovered in 1880. Before that it was used as an ingredient, not as a final product. So technically our business is not only old, it is also one of the first chocolatiers in the world," says Bonnat.
Since the 80s, Chocolat Bonnat has been making single origin bars, which now number 50: "We began with seven, 30 years ago." They are available either as milk or dark chocolate. "Because white chocolate is not chocolate. Food regulations force us to call it white chocolate but it's not. It's coco butter. In terms of consumption, white chocolate is very far away from milk or dark chocolate.
"We make white chocolate bars two times a year, as most of the world prefers milk, compared to dark. The lowest percentage of cacao in our milk chocolate is 55%. We work with several families, a combined plantation size of 10-15 hectares, and help them develop the growing of cacao in a reasonable way, highlighting quality not quantity, and this is known as 'origin'.
Stéphane Bonnat. Photo: Sylvain Frappat
"We work with 70 plantations around the world. The average size of each plantation is just a hectare-and-a-half, so it's mainly the association of cacao growers that is big, not the individual plantations. There are very, very few big plantations."
The technology for the chocolate-making process has evolved, but Bonnat remarkably still uses the same process they did in the old days.
"Transforming cacao into chocolate takes a long time and you need the roasters, it can't be done by hand so you need the machines. There are not 1,000 ways to make chocolate. It takes three full days, non-stop, to transform roasted cacao to chocolate. In commercial businesses, this process takes an hour but the quality is really far way. It's just more economical," says Bonnat.
"At Chocolat Bonnat, we still stick to the ancient ways, in terms of control, preservation, and use ecological ways, like cold streams instead of using air conditioning, and it works the same way. In 1880, there were no refrigerators, but they were able to preserve milk and cream better. They are as good as the modern ways, except you have to pay more attention to things. You cannot just throw gas into the air."
To further master his skill and expertise, Bonnat worked at other companies to get better at this job.
"I worked in other companies to learn how they function, but it's a big advantage to be a chocolatier.
"Some of the families we work with have been with us for 160 years. In Asia, we only work with families in Indonesia, the rest are spread across the Equatorial belt -- Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Cuba, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, and Mexico.
"One of the types of cacao we use is the same as the one found 5,000 years ago in Mexico. So we did a genetic analysis on our cacao and found that it is more than 5,000 years old, which wasn't even the time during the Mayan Empire as they were dominant in the 17th century.
"But we never talk about genetic kinds because it's vague. There are no three kinds of cacao, there are more like 2,000. Scientifically, we've known that for more than 100-200 years. After World War II, a book was written about three types of cacao, which is incorrect. When you look at 20 cacao pods, you'll notice that no pod is the same, so how can there be only three types of cacao?" questions Bonnat.
Being one of five of France's dominant chocolatiers doesn't bother Bonnat.
"Our vision makes us different. We are all friends, we not only work together but also holiday together. Because our visions are different, our chocolate is different. It doesn't mean my chocolate is better than theirs, it just means there is a difference. It's what people prefer.
"Chocolate fascination -- it is an artisanal point of view when it comes to chocolate, one just has to know what one likes and what one doesn't. I like plain chocolate and like sweet dark chocolate that is full of perfume. Chocolate can evoke emotions because of the scent and one has to taste that."
At Bonnat, chocolate is only called chocolate if used in the natural way, like with coffee. If dried strawberries, cherries, chillies or carbonated gas is added to it, it is confectionery. They also make chocolate bon bons, ice creams and pastries.
"I don't think chocolate will ever go through a shortage. The biggest producer of cacao is the Ivory Coast, the biggest production per hectare; there is less than 200kg per hectare. The production in South or Central America is 600kg. So in the Ivory Coast, as soon as they try to follow a number of very easy routes, they can double, triple or quadruple the production, without increasing the area, just by using their heads.
"The Ivory Coast produces 42-50% of the world's harvest, so if one country represents the annual harvest and if they can increase their production by five in half-a-year, how can the world run short of chocolate?" says Bonnat, addressing reports on the chocolate shortage.
"Demand for chocolate hasn't grown, that's a lie. If the demand was growing the cacao market wouldn't be at its lowest for two years now. I don't believe in it."
Like the motto of Maison Bonnat says: "What is good for the palate is good for the soul." So eat up!
