Arts
Taste of chocolate from the days of her grandfather
Zeba Kohli clasps a piece of chocolate between her fingers, palm reached out, looking at it. She feels its appeal, noticing whether it is reddish, dark brown, light brown, black or white. She rubs the piece with her fingers, coaxing the texture, feeling the coco butter melting. It is the way to identify real coco butter chocolate from compound chocolate.
Good enough to eat: Creations by Zeba Kohli India’s ‘Willy Wonki’. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
Smelling the chocolate, inhaling the aroma and fragrance veiled around the piece, Zeba tries to catch the notes of wood, grass, ash, smoke or blackberry even tobacco. When the piece goes into the mouth….it brings out all the sensations of the chocolate. Zeba lets the piece swivel around the mouth as chewing immediately is just not the way to taste chocolate. She holds her nose with her thumb and forefinger, swallowing the subtle tastes, exhaling into the chocolate, noticing its texture- creamy, smooth, dry or grainy.
“Chocolate can be eaten and must be eaten with all the five senses,” Zeba says, finishing the chocolate tasting.
#IndulgePerM2 is an innovative chocolate range created by none other than India’s most renowned chocolatier Zeba Kohli, who calls herself ‘Willy Wonki’(the female version of Roald Dahl’s fictional character Willy Wonka who owns a chocolate factory).
Hafele Sri Lanka, a premier kitchenware brand, hosted a collection of chocolate installations and artworks exclusively created by Zeba on August 3 at Hafele Design Studio, Colombo. The showroom’s counter tops were filled with designer chocolates in dark, brown and white, turning the place into a chocolate haven.
Philanthropist and entrepreneur, Zeba heads Fantasie Fine Chocolates, her family business started in 1946 from Mumbai. As a passionate chocolatier Zeba reinvented and revamped the brand by creating an eclectic range of flavours and chocolate inventions.
Recalling her first memories of chocolate, Zeba relates how she woud run to the chocolate store from school as any other child would do. “For me chocolate is something made and packed with love as my grandmother used to do,” Zeba says. The family business, Fantasie Fine Chocolates started by Zeba’s grandfather was one of her most favourite things in the world. “As a child and a young girl, I loved to hang around with my family and naturally felt responsible towards the family business,” she says. Zeba would spend her time at the store ‘learning the ropes’ at each of the departments ‘trying to understand more and to be better at it.’
As her grandfather used to hire the less privileged men and women as employees, Zeba to this day follows his vision involving them in the art of chocolate-making providing a high standard of training. “In simple terms I became a chocolatier through trial and error,” Zeba says humbly.
India is famous for its unique range of sweets – laddu, barfi, halwa, jalebi and many more. As Zeba says Indians by and large adore sweets and they make the Indian sweets at home. “Chocolate is something that people do not make in the house, and are keen on buying the finest,” she remarks as she has a clientele in India who always comes for her outstanding chocolates.
Inventing chocolate stilettos, edible chocolate paint, chess boards to fashion accessories, Zeba draws inspiration from her life and experiences, different cultures, cuisines, fusions, fashion and people. “My chocolate experiments are a let go of traditional chocolate making and exploring new dimensions,” Zeba says.
Taking the guests through a journey of chocolate indulgence, Zeba explained the history of cocoa and chocolate. The delicate cocoa tree grows only 20 degrees south and north of the equator. A cocoa pod has 25-50 coca nuts which are covered in a white pulp. Pure hard liquor is extracted from roasted cocoa beans and it is the basic ingredient of chocolate. Zeba’s Mexican chocolate range is nothing but pure cocoa tasted with chilli and black pepper, just the way the ancient Mayans had it.
Featuring marzipan, mint, caramel nougat, candi white kiwi and dark orange chocolate, Zeba’s collection was outstanding.
Today’s chocolates are more sweet and milky. And she foresees that the future of chocolate will be focused on healthy bites. Zeba’s future collection contained 70% pure dark chocolate combined with goji berry, blueberry and cranberry.
Her special Sri Lankan collection of chocolate ganache, coconut, cinnamon, ginger, lunumiris, Chinese chilli paste, vanilla and strawberry- flavoured Sri Lankan tea were much popular delicacies of the evening.
Zeba’s exclusive chocolates can be ordered online on fantasiechocolate.com
Array of flavours: White kiwi, caramel, nougat, mint, marzipan and dark orange
Zeba’s delicious creations with cinnamon and nuts