Chocolate galore this week! On Monday, we headed up to Belmont Estate Plantation for a day full of chocolate. Little did we know how much chocolate there would be! Since we had a rental car, we drove ourselves to the plantation rather than take the van that was provided. We arrived at 9:55am for the 10:00am tour. No one else had arrived so we asked the front desk person if we were in the correct area. She looked at her watch and said, “You are really early. They should arrive in a bit.” I asked, “Doesn’t it start at 10:00?” and she responded, “Yes.” Given that five minutes ahead of start time was ‘really early’, we settled in for what we figured would be a long wait. Around 10:30 (not too bad for Caribbean time), the rest of the tour group arrived. The organizer of the chocolate festival announced that it was going to be a special day because they had several unveilings and honors to present. The first was for a previous prime minister of Grenada who had worked to bring chocolate production back to life in Grenada. The second was for a man who formed the Chocolate Guild in Grenada and the final reveal was a painting of the estate that had been done by the plantation foreman back in the day when slaves still worked the plantation. The painting had passed through many hands over the years and the last owner was in California. Earlier in the year, someone called Belmont to alert them the painting was up for auction on Ebay. Belmont won the day and the painting returned to hang in their museum. A tribute to their history and culture had finally come home. Bill and I teased that after our tour, they probably recovered all the plaques so that they could do the reveals when the next tour came through on a “special” day!
We learned about how the cocoa trees are planted and the care they need. Then, they showed us how they harvest the cocoa and the process to make it into chocolate. It reminded me a lot of wine making because of the many steps and the aging processes. One of the steps even involved mashing the cocoa beans with feet in a large tub just like grapes. Of course, the islanders added a little pizzazz by having the bongo drum guy drop a beat for the stomping. We made our way into the kitchen where the chef showed us how to use chocolate in many different ways including cake, candies and smoothies. We had at least a dozen samples and then the guide announced it was time to head to the sampling shop. The sampling shop had over a dozen choices of chocolate including ginger, sea salt, spice, oil down (a traditional stew in Grenada) and so many more. After the sampling, the lunch bell rang. Needless to say, none of us were hungry by this time! Lunch consisted of six courses made with different kinds of chocolate and chocolate sauces. We had hummus, bread, salad, soup, crostini, fish, chicken, rice, beans, potatoes, jackfruit (not my favorite) and an amazing dessert with two flavors of ice cream and a torte. After this feast, I literally thought I was going to throw up because I was so full. To digest, Bill and I went for a short walk up the hill to visit the talking parrot and the monkeys. The parrot had quite a vocabulary that included Happy Birthday, Hello, meow and several curse words. Evidently our tour guide was accused of teaching the bird his vocabulary and we teased that we would know the truth when the parrot learned to say, “Kelley did it!” The monkeys were in cages and when asked why they did not let the monkeys roam free, Kelley’s answer did not help my digestion….”The monkeys are safer in the cage. If they are out free, they usually end up in a local stew pot.” I waited expectantly for an “I’m just kidding” but it never came. The parrot just let out a long laugh and I got the feeling he knew the truth and was quite happy in his aviary. After the walk, it was time for….you guessed it….more food. It was goat cheese and chocolate pairing time. For those of you who know me well, you know that goats are my arch nemesis. They are devil’s spawn. Luckily, the goats were not in the area of the tasting but I still did not eat any more samples. Not because of the goats but because not one more ounce of food would fit into my stomach! Overall, it was a wonderful day at the plantation. When we headed out, we decided to take a different route on Google to see if the roads were a little less curvy. At first, the roads were in much better condition than the main road. Then, slowly, one by one, the road went from paved to gravel to dirt to a field. An actual field. At this point, we decided that our little car was not going to four wheel through a field so we turned around and made our way back to the main road with its’ curves and potholes. The road less travelled was definitely a dead end on this day and I truly believe if we had continued, we would have been tossed into the monkey stew. The following afternoon was chocolate and rum pairing time (because we obviously did not have enough chocolate the day before!). I have decided that they do not do anything small on the island of Grenada. We were once again the first people to arrive. As we waited, we watched the presenters set up the tastings. The tastes of rum were full shot glasses and I knew if I had even two of them, I would not be able to walk. Bill gallantly stepped up to say he would drink my leftover rum so no need for me to worry. Then, out came the gin girl to join in the festivities. I was having dejavu but this time with alcohol instead of food courses. The lead taster had us use all our senses to eat the chocolate and taste the rum. She talked about spice flavors, floral flavors, smoke flavors and a lot of other things I never tasted. I tasted chocolate. Bill tasted rum. I am guessing that even the best connoisseur could not turn Bill and me into classy folks, no matter how hard they tried. All in all, it was a fun event and we actually had a little room left for dinner afterwards. The rest of the week was spent working on projects and swimming to burn off the calories from the festival. I have been doing fiberglass repairs on the helm station and Bill has been running wires for the new autohelm. We are hoping that the first fuel tank will be ready for installation next week but we will have to wait and see if Caribbean Maybe Time gets in the way or not. I hope you have a wonderful week and remember the lesson we learned this week….chocolate goes well anything and everything, rum is tasty and mystery meat in Grenada needs to remain a mystery.
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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