THE GODS OF CHOCOLATE: MEMORIAM – A truffle of apple cider, ginger, and Heirloom HCP2 Tranquilidad cacao fruit molasses with Vietnam Lam Dong dark chocolate finished two ways. (LEFT) with cinnamon and HCP19 Heirloom chocolate from Helen de Vista farm in the Philippines, and (RIGHT) with coarse and fine sugar in HCP18 Heirloom chocolate from Vo Tanh Phuoc in Vietnam. These two Heirlooms were newly designated just a few weeks ago.
THERE ARE GODS of kakawa (cacao), but only one god of chocolate. His name was Ed Seguine and he passed away on Monday. Ed was passionate, humble, and driven. He had published papers about nearly every aspect of cacao and chocolate. He was a scientist, and he asked hard questions. Every encounter I had with Ed altered my view of chocolate in some fundamental way.
A few months ago, Ed insisted that he and I update the protocols for designating a cacao as Heirloom. He created them in 2011, and wanted them right before he departed. The work was focused, driven, and fast: he knew his time was short.
A few weeks ago I presented the new Heirloom designees; a job that’s only been done by Ed and me. The shoes are huge, but so are the shoulders.
I was a friend of Ed’s, and he was a friend and mentor to me. He’ll live on in the many, many lives that he touched.