LOCO ABOUT COCOA
On an airless day in raub, pahang, we learn the first rule of fermentation: to always follow your nose. “Pay attention when visiting any fermenting farm, especially if things smell foul,” warns Ong Ning Geng. The chocolatier scrunches his face ever so slightly. “If it doesn’t evoke food, it’s not good.” Fruity or vegetal aromas are a positive thing, it would seem. Rot is not.
The moment of truth arrives: pausing before one of 20 whisky barrels in his fermentation shack, Ning lifts a corner of the burlap sack. A sticky-sweet scent spills forth, drifting towards us in wafts and tendrils, penetrating our nostrils.
Inside each barrel is neither sauerkraut nor soy sauce, but cocoa beans, some still coated in placenta. Closing his eyes momentarily, Ning waves one hand in a circular motion as if to flex his wrist. “I’m getting banana, pandan, and a lot of leafy qualities,” or is my shout-out, whereas someone else in our party proposes batter.
