TheChocolateLife :: LIVE – with Chantal Coady

Where to begin when talking about Chantal? Usually it is suggested to start at the beginning, so that’s what I will do here.

My first introduction to Chantal occurred when I was just starting out on my ChocolateLife – in the form of her 1995 book, The Chocolate Companion. I followed my reading this with her earlier (1993) book, Chocolate : Food of the Gods, which lead to my eagerly devouring (pun intended) her 2003 book, Real Chocolate, which advocates for, among other things, a definition for “real” chocolate that rejects the use of cocoa butter equivalents (CBEs) and cocoa butter replacements (CBRs) in chocolate.

I was in London in 2008 for a meeting of the Academy of Chocolate where I was giving a presentation, and to judge in the International Chocolate Awards. While there, I took the time to stop by Rococo and meet Chantal in person for the first time.

This trip was important to me for many other reasons, two of them being meeting Robin Dand, the author of The International Cocoa Trade (link is to the current edition – an expensive book but an absolute must-own for anyone who truly wishes to understand the international cocoa trade), and Tony Lass (co-author with G.A.R. Wood) of another must-own (IMO) book: Cocoa, 4th ed., 2001.

Since then our (physical) paths have crossed many times in London at The Chocolate Show/Salon du Chocolat as well as in Amsterdam one year during Chocoa. And while Chantal was not there in person (she definitely was, in spirit), I did get a chance to visit her cocoa farm across from the Belmont Estate in Grenada in 2010 with Mott Green. (Many may not be aware that Chantal has been a huge supporter of the Grenada Chocolate Company for many years and currently sits on its board.)

This live stream is going to cover her path to becoming a badass, from before starting Rococo to her current identity as The Chocolate Detective.

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Live Stream header image original by Jason Rosewell / Unsplash