Ocelot Lemon Olive Oil Dark Chocolate
The crew at Ocelot Chocolate is doing some truly wonderful work on the east coast of Scotland in the small city of Dundee. The three bars we began stocking last spring are delicious. And this new arrival took me by delightful surprise!
Like my friend Shawn Askinosie, founder of the amazing Askinosie Chocolate, all of Ocelot’s products are “bean-to-bar”—they work directly with farmers to facilitate the growing and fermenting of better-quality cacao, along with higher quality of life for the growers and their families. Farmers earn a living, you and I get chocolate we love, the land is cared for, and everyone comes out ahead. In the context of what I’ve written about apricots as the symbol for dignity and democracy, Ocelot’s work is a lovely “bowl of apricots” we can appreciate and admire! The folks at Ocelot work to advance the cause of women farmers, protect the native rainforest, and craft compelling, delicious, high-quality dark chocolate. And their packaging is all sustainable, non-toxic, and compostable—including the clear cellophane.
Unlike most of our other craft producers, Ocelot is bringing beans from the country of Congo, more specifically, from Virunga National Park. The majority of cacao from the region that gets to chocolate makers today is made for the mass market, but the Congolese cacao here is anything but. It’s exceptional at every level. Great flavor and also a great story. Part of the National Park’s mission is to provide safety for some of the world’s last Mountain Gorillas. It’s also to offer a safe space for farmers: the Park “seeks to build cacao supply chains in eastern Congo that protect farmers from the effects of armed conflict, helping them get their cacao to market without the fear of violence.”
The story of cacao in the Congo is, in a sense, a good example of turning the terrible into something far more positive. It was brought there in the latter years of the 19th century by the exceedingly cruel Belgian King Leopold. It is an example of what can go wrong when an unchecked autocrat takes control of a country. Leopold never even went to Congo, but throughout his life, he created extractive and abusive working conditions for Congolese people, all used to enhance his own wealth. The primary 19th-century colonial crop was rubber, and Congolese people were forced to work on the plantations solely for the benefit of Leopold’s bank account. When slavery was banned by Brussels in 1889 and 1890, Leopold worked around the restriction by requiring Native peoples to sell their harvests only to the state, i.e., his own business.
In the process, Leopold amassed a huge personal fortune. Atrocities committed in his commercial interest were beyond my ability to imagine. Roughly half the Native population was killed during Leopold’s rule. Since Leopold was given the land personally, it was not controlled by the state at the time. Work practices and treatment of the Indigenous people were terrible. Over time, the Belgian state managed to buy back the land from its own corrupt and greedy king in order to restrict the worst practices. Finally, in 1908, he was forced to sell the land back to the Belgian state.
When the Congo gained independence back in 1960, things began to go in more positive directions, and the quality of the cacao and the coffee both have continually gotten better. Today, the Virunga National Park’s farmers are an uplifting regenerative success story.
The Lemon Oil Chocolate, as I wrote about, is surprisingly delicious! Creamy from the olive oil in a way that sort of resembles dark milk chocolate, but instead of dairy, the Ocelot Lemon Oil bar has the beauty of really great dark chocolate, with aroma and flavor of the lemon olive oil to back into the mix. Part of what makes it special is the quality of the lemon olive oil. It comes from the De Carlo family in Puglia. The family has been working with olive trees on the land for over five centuries. Their oil comes from especially old trees, which means lower yield but more complex flavors! In this case, the combo is wonderful!
Swing by the Candy Store soon and score a taste of this terrific new arrival!
Score your square
P.S. We currently have 7 other flavors from Ocelot as well: Cinnamon Swirl, Sea Salt, Buckwheat, Black Cherry, Blood Orange, Femme/Milk Chocolate, and Olive Oil.
