Latham & Watkins
Summer Tasting Event
July 20, 2023
What a pleasure to hold a special chocolate tasting for a wonderful Women Lawyers Group, plus amazing summer associates, at esteemed Chicago law firm Latham & Watkins, especially as I am a former lawyer myself!
Click for my slides, and be sure to see the notes section under each slide for info, videos, and other links and resources.
Menu:
- Xocolatl Small-Batch Chocolate of Atlanta, wife-husband owned: Peru Pangoa 70% squares and accompanying cocoa bean from the same origin
- Askanya Chocolate of Haiti, woman-owned: Paradis 47% Dark Milk mini bars
- Askanya Chocolate of Haiti, woman-owned: Bouquet Vert 65% Dark with Lime mini bars
- 9th & Larkin Chocolate of San Francisco, woman-owned: Dominican Republic Dark Chocolate 72% disks with Candied Yuzu
- Cocoa & Co. of Chicago, woman-owned: Dark Salted Caramel bonbons in Valrhona 72% Araguani Venezuela
My “Women in Chocolate” presentation covered the history and health benefits of chocolate by tracing women’s participation and leadership in the global story and process of cacao and chocolate:
- Ancient cacao:
- Women were the chocolate makers in the ancient world of the Maya and other cultures because they knew about plant pharmacology and how to create medicinal beverages.
- European colonizers wanting to bury indigenous cultures called these native Central American experts “cacao witches,” but today the women’s knowledge of the health benefits of chocolate is coming back.
- We’ll talk about some of these health benefits and how to make sure your chocolate contains them, and we’ll taste some delicious chocolate that does!
- Cacao today:
- Women are cacao growers on many farms today, and are paid less in some parts of the world while in other places they are paid fairly and run cacao cooperatives like the Pangoa Peru collective.
- We’ll talk about how chocolate is made and what roles women play as it goes from cocoa bean to chocolate bar.
- We’ll also discuss how to know what kind of cacao is in your chocolate and whether it has an ethical provenance. (Hint: make sure you see a cacao country of origin on your chocolate.)
- We’ll taste Pangoa Peru cocoa beans and award-winning chocolate made with their cocoa beans by wife-husband owned Xocolatl Small Batch Chocolate of Atlanta.
- Women are cacao growers on many farms today, and are paid less in some parts of the world while in other places they are paid fairly and run cacao cooperatives like the Pangoa Peru collective.
- Chocolate forever:
- Who buys most of the chocolate sold? Women! Why?
- Some of it is science: chocolate reacts with a woman’s and a man’s brain chemistry differently, and we’ll discuss the chemistry of chocolate and why we love it, while we taste more of it, such as from woman-owned brands Askanya of Haiti or 9th & Larkin of San Francisco, plus bonbons made by Chef Meg Galus for woman-owned Cocoa & Co. chocolate shop in sweet home Chicago!
- What chocolate do we choose: we can vote with our dollars for the kind of chocolate we want to see more of.
- Ultimately, chocolate is about uplift!
- Who buys most of the chocolate sold? Women! Why?
Thank you to Latham attorneys and team for making the event possible. I am thrilled we had a fun, fascinating, and delicious time!
Thank you also to dear Laine DeLeo of Fast Lane to Health superfood snacks for helping at the event!
Onward and upward — keep eating real chocolate!
Your friend in chocolate,
Valerie
Earlier in the day, on Museum Campus.
Valerie Beck
Chocolate Uplift Founder
Professor Valerie Beck Tutoring and Coaching
Chocolate Uplift 