For the Mayan and Aztec cultures, cocoa was a treasure and an essential element of rituals to connect with their gods. It was so valuable that, in addition, cocoa beans served as unitary currency. Now cocoa is considered a natural antidepressant for activating dopamine and endorphin receptors, and it is increasingly valued from a nutritional point of view. Faced with cheap tablets and chocolates full of sugar and artificial aromas, the bean to bar movement (from the bean to the tablet) arises, whose objective is to return to the origins of cocoa and enjoy a quality product. This is how we discovered the world of cocoa in Barcelona, beyond specialty chocolate.
Barcelona's newest family project, whose name combines the words cocoa and water, opened its doors in early November 2023. Diving into the history of cocoa, the Alegre family discovered that the port of Barcelona was the first in Spain to receive this food after the discovery of America. Very soon the Catalan capital became the first and the only city in Europe that roasted it by hand and exported it to other countries. However, after the Civil War, the tradition of cocoa fell into oblivion due to an obsession with a cheaper drink, coffee.
This story inspired the Alegre family as well as their parents' experience of living in London, where they enjoyed several cafes with this specialty. “In Spain, chocolate is a sugar bomb with churros, and we want to change the concept, make cocoa healthy,” explains Sandra Alegre, co-founder of Caua Cacao.
Thus, collecting inspiration drop by drop, they created Caua Cacao. There one can choose a hot or cold drink, and the percentage of cocoa it will contain varies according to preference (from 32% for those with a sweet tooth to 100%), mixed with water or milk (lactose-free, gluten-free oatmeal or cow from local farms).
For now, they bring cocoa from Ecuador, Peru, Tanzania and the Philippines, from small producers who make an authentic genre and, as Sandra Alegre states, they are experimenting to see what type their customers like best. In addition, they collaborate with Ivan Pascual, the winner of the World Chocolate Master 2018, who roasts the cocoa artisanally in his workshop and helps them with their high-quality proposal. And if a cup of cocoa is not enough to give you energy, Caua Cacao also offers specialty coffee in the same location.
Do you remember an elephant almost three meters high made of chocolate? It was created by Lluc Crusellas, the Catalan chocolatier who won the World Chocolate Master award in Paris in 2022. Now he aims to win hearts with two new stores for his Eukarya brand, a pop-up in Barcelona and a store in Vic.
His passion for chocolate began at the age of 17 and, ten years later, it has become a line of varied products; nougats, caramelized spheres, music desserts with nuts and, of course, chocolate bars. “Chocolate is an ingredient that gives a lot of versatility, that's why in my products I want to take advantage of all its nuances and not just stick to the flavor,” explains Lluc Crusellas, showing the varieties of chocolate in his temporary pop-up, at the Yurbban Hotel. Trafalgar in Barcelona, open until December 21.
Papua New Guinea and Peru are two main destinations where Lluc Crusellas traveled to find the perfect cocoa for Eukarya. It doesn't matter if you like milder, milk or dark chocolate, specialty chocolate offers something for every taste. To enjoy it to the fullest and feel all the flavors, it is recommended to let it melt in your mouth without chewing.
Last year, after 90 years of experience in Florence, one of the oldest ice cream parlors in the world, Badiani, landed in Spain, opening its first location in Barcelona. There are many who choose to have hot drinks with a sweet, such as traditional churros, and while at CAUA Cacao they intend to move away from this tradition, at Badiani they want to preserve it while presenting a new product: hot chocolate with cream, chocolate shavings and sauce pistachio
In 2015 Paolo Pomposi, co-founder of Badiani, won the award for best artisanal ice cream flavor in the world at the Gelato Festival in London. The new version of cocoa, created by Pomposi himself, combines perfectly with churros or with an artisan ice cream that is made in front of the public in his establishments in Barcelona (clle del Rosselló, 232) and Sant Cugat (Plaça d'Octavià, 2 ). In addition, you can try the traditional unadorned version to give yourself a boost before going for Christmas gifts, a wide range of Italian espressos with sweet syrups and sauces.
