Monthly Flavors for February – It Must Be Love!

February is here already! And of course, that means Valentine’s Day. Whether or not you have a significant other, I think it is a perfectly good time to treat yourself to a box or three of chocolates. Not that anyone needs an excuse to pamper themselves! And, February is also Black History Month. The flavors this month are inspired by traditional spice blends throughout Africa and the Caribbean. All the names this month mean “love,” translated into various languages spoken throughout Africa and the Caribbean.

I will be giving 15% of all profits this month to National Black Food and Justice Alliance (https://www.blackfoodjustice.org/). “National Black Food and Justice Alliance (NBFJA) organizes for black food and land by increasing the visibility of visionary Black leadership, advancing Black people’s struggle for just and sustainable communities, and building power in our food systems and land stewardship.”

I recognize that I may have made mistakes here, and I would like to hear your feedback! Let me know if my research was off, or if you would like more information on anything I have written.

Chocolate Flavors:

Ife (Yoruba): Grains of Paradise and Peanut Milk Chocolate Ganache

Peanut powder is used in kan kan kan, a spice blend from Burkina Faso normally used to spice grilled meats. Grains of paradise come from West Africa, and has been a major part of the spice trade since Pliny the Elder. The Yoruba people live throughout West Africa, and their language has the largest native speaker population of all Niger-Congo languages.

Tasting notes: Grains of paradise give a pungent, peppery flavor with hints of citrus and some floral notes at the front. Paired with peanuts and milk chocolate, it rounds out the sweetness with a nice hit of peppery goodness!

Fik’iri (Amharic): Bird’s Eye Pepper, Cardamom, and Lemon White Chocolate Ganache

African bird’s eye pepper is also known as Thai chili, but is found in Ethiopia and throughout Southeast Asia. Mitmita is a traditional Ethiopian spice blend with bird’s eye pepper, cumin, cardamom, clove, and other spices, and is used mostly as a dip for meat dishes. Amharic (also known as Amarinya or Kuchumba) is one of the two main languages in Ethiopia, and is an Afro-Semitic language that has been used since at least the 14^th century.

Tasting notes: This chocolate will hit sweet and lemony at first, the floral of the cardamom will be in the middle, and the fruity and spicy notes from the bird’s eye pepper will hit in the back of the throat at the end.

Hubb (Arabic): Rose and Preserved Lemon Caramel

Rose and preserved lemon make up a huge part of the flavor profile of North African food. Dried rose is often part of the spice mix ras el-hanout, used in Morocco, along with up to 100 other spices. There is no definitive recipe, as each family has their own blend. Preserved lemon is also often added into tagines and other stews. Arabic and French are the official languages in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

Tasting notes: This caramel starts with the saltiness from the preserved lemon, with a hit of the citrus, and finishes with the sweet floral from rose

Amour (French): Allspice, Lime, and Rum Dark Chocolate Ganache

Allspice, also called pimento in Jamaica, is considered one of the most important spices in Caribbean cuisines. It is used for rubs, jerk seasoning, and even liquor. Rum is made from sugar cane, which was a huge part of the Caribbean trade in the 18^th to 20^th centuries. About 80-90% of Western Europe’s sugar came from sugar plantations in the Caribbean. French and French Creole are spoken in Guadeloupe, Haiti, French Guiana, Saint-Martin, and St Berthélemy.

Tasting notes: This chocolate will start heavy on the bitterness of dark chocolate and allspice, brighten with the lime, and finish with the vanilla spice of Negrita rum.

Upendo (Swahili): Tamarind and Jaggery White Chocolate Ganache

Tamarind is native to tropical Africa. It is used in Ghana to make poisonous yams edible, and is believed to have many other health benefits. Jaggery is an unrefined cane sugar from the toddy palm tree. It is used in Kenya, called sukari nguru in Swahili, and throughout South and Southeast Asia. Swahili, or its native name Kiswahili, is a Bantu language and native to the Swahili people. It is spoken throughout East and Southern Africa, as well as the African Great Lakes region.

Tasting notes: The first notes are the sweetness of white chocolate, developing into the caramel sweetness of jaggery, and finishes with the sourness of tamarind.

Kuzola (Kimbundu): Calabash Nutmeg, Crystallized Ginger, and Nettle Milk Chocolate Ganache

Nettles are a staple in Kenyan cuisine, grown in the Molo highlands in the Mau forest. Calabash nutmeg is popular in West African cuisine, and is native to Western and Central Africa. Kimbundu, also known as Mbundu, is spoken throughout Angola. The Mbundu people trace their roots back to the Ndongo Kingdom. The chief was called Ngola, which is where Angola derives its name.

Tasting notes: The woody, caramel flavor of the calabash nutmeg starts out this chocolate, which is rounded with the grassy floral of the nettle, and throughout it all is the top spicy sweet note of the crystallized ginger

Cookie Flavors:

Caribbean Sugar Cookies

Mixed essence is used throughout the Caribbean, much like how Americans use vanilla extract. It is a mix of spices, pear essence, dark rum, almond extract, and orange blossom water.

South African Chocolate Pepper Cookies

This recipe comes from Andreas Viestad’s book Where Flavor was Born. Viestad travelled around the Indian Ocean, tracing old spice routes. While in Cape Town, South Africa, Viestad came across these cookies, and he quickly grew addicted to them. Maybe you will too!