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Hi, everyone. Welcome to your favorite segment, Global Village,【小酒馆·大世界】.

When it comes to food we like, I’m sure people have very different preferences, but certain food types always seem to rank very high on the list of our favorites, regardless of where we come from.

And one of these food super stars has got to be chocolate. Being a confirmed chocoholic myself, I’m super excited to have in our studio today a very special guest, Maria Carolina, a truly world class master chocolatier, and founder of the premium food brand Lök Foods.

Welcome to the show, Maria.

Hi, Lulu. Thanks for having me here. I’m so glad.

Okay. So first of all, Maria, could you say hi to our audience in your native language Spanish, and then give us a brief introduction about yourself.

Yeah, of course. (…Speaking Spanish…)

Hi, my name is Maria. I’m a maître chocolatier and co-founder of Lök Foods. I am from Colombia. I am from a town called Cartagena near to the Caribbean. Welcome to the show.

OK. I noticed that you've introduced yourself as a maître chocolatier, did you say, is that just French word for master chocolatier?

That's correct.

I think a lot of our audience would be very curious to know what exactly is a master chocolatier.

OK. So a master chocolatier is a professional chocolatier. And also, in my case, I have a master degree in food science from the University of Ghent in Belgium. And to be a master chocolatier, you have obviously to obtain your professional chocolatier degree, then have a master degree, and being in the chocolate industry for at least 10 years.

Wow. 10 years.

Yeah.

But what is it like being a master chocolatier? What is a typical workday like?

Because every time I think about people who work with food, I always imagine it’s such an exciting thing, you know, you would never hate your job.

Never.

What is a typical workday like?

Okay, being a master chocolatier is challenging, because every day I have to be updated, you know, I must develop new formulas, I have to try new ingredients, and be my best version.

I try every new formula until it gets perfect to the customers. And I selected very seriously the cocoa beans from each region to obtain the best raw materials for the chocolate that we develop.

But trying all sorts of formula for chocolate, it sounds like an ideal job.

It is, it is, you know. Of course. But you have lots of challenges because you have to develop the best combinations of flavors and aroma to combine sophisticated flavors further to be truly authentic.

I love talking to guests from food industry, food experts, because they have such a passion. I’m sure you have the similar passion for chocolate. So when and how did your love affair with chocolate begin?

OK. That's a great question. I decided to be a chocolatier in my best begins. Professionally speaking Lulu, according to my father, I needed to be great doing something. So I chose chocolate 15 years ago.

And I’m going to choose to be chocolatier for the rest of my life because when I started to know and when I started to develop this kind of professional and technical knowledge, I wanted to be deeper.

And then with my master degree, I started to know lots of people in the chocolate world. I started to be related to great professional chocolatiers; and I just decided that chocolate, it's not only my passion, it's also my work, but every day, I choose chocolate, every day for the rest of my life, I’m going to choose chocolate.

So chocolate is your calling, basically your life's calling.

Exactly.

Obviously you started wanting to be a professional chocolatier quite early, and you got the training, and you went to a very special institute called Ecole Chocolat, so that's the French for chocolate school?

Yeah, it is.

That's a specialized school for training master chocolatiers, right?

Yeah, right, Ecole Chocolat, it's one of the most prestigious academies in the world. Only the best are included, and only the best pass the exam to enter to Ecole.

For me, it's such an honor to be a professional from Ecole. I’m one of the few ones in America also, because…

Oh, they are mostly Europeans?

Exactly, mostly Europeans, exactly. I’m one of the few ones from America, and obviously I’m so glad, you know, and I’m so honored to have this kind of professional title.

I’m so curious what is the curriculum like in the chocolate school, like in Ecole Chocolat, what do you learn every day?

OK. At the Ecole Chocolat, you have to know first the techniques, the correct way to do chocolate. They will train you to get recipes and unique formulas. Ok, so you have to be trained in order to select cocoa beans from very specific regions, and they challenge you every day to be your best version; and also, at Ecole Chocolat you have to train to be a chocolatier every country in the world.

So you have to know the ingredients worldwide, and you have to adapt the formulas for each country because for example, in Europe, the roasting point is different from the American’s, and obviously from China or Japan.

So the flavors that you develop as a chocolatier at Ecole Chocolat are very unique, because they train you to be a professional chocolatier everywhere in the world.

Wow, it sounds really tough. The curriculum sounds really challenging. On top of that, you just said that is a school for the best of the best in the chocolatier community. That means you're facing a lot of competitors, right? Like you faced a lot of competitors.

As we're recording today is actually International Women's Day, I would like to get your perspective as a female chocolatier. Like what's the gender racial in your field because a lot of the food fields they are pretty much dominated by men, especially at the top. What about chocolate industry?

Lulu, it's the same, you know, the chocolate field is very masculine. You can find a few woman chocolatiers, and they are great professionals.

But the classic stereotype is an old guy, very serious. You know. Yeah, but if you look at me or any other woman in the chocolate professional side, we are easy, we are very female, and people can relate to us because we are kind of accessible in a very good way. And we as a woman in the chocolate field, we just want to educate, we just want to spread the knowledge for everyone.

To share the love of chocolate.

Exactly to share the love and the passion for chocolate, exactly.

You actually answered my next question. I was gonna ask about the unique competitive edge or special element that a female master chocolatier can bring, but you just answer my question perfectly.

So it's that relatability that people can relate to you, and you're easier to talk to, you are more about sharing the love for chocolate, not really showing just how expert you are. That idea I really like.

Yeah. Lulu.

We just covered a bit about your professional background, now let's focus on this superstar food, chocolate.

You know, all across the globe, it's very difficult to find people who say I hate chocolate, I really don't like chocolate. Most people love chocolate. But why is it in your expert’s opinion, why is chocolate so widely popular across all cultures?

Yeah, Lulu. Chocolate, it's widely popular because it's delicious, it's healthy, it's a super food. And it could be the finest and easy way to express love and gratitude to you and to your loved ones.

Chocolate is also related to a luxury good. So when you buy chocolate for you or for your loved ones, you are expressing love. So chocolate is very popular because you can spoil yourself …

And your loved ones.

In the best way possible. And you can express love to your loved ones.

Yeah.

One of the most important things of chocolate also, is that you can eat chocolate every minute every day, if it's raining or sunny, if you are sad or happy, if you need energy, or if you want to be calm, every day, every minute of your life, chocolate is your best friend.

So that's for me, in my professional and personal opinion, chocolate is so widely popular around the world.

I can really hear that passion for chocolate, that love of chocolate in your voice in how you express yourself.

But I think for most of us who are not experts, we have this concern that chocolate can make you put on weight. But you mentioned chocolate is a super food, so it must have a lot of health benefits, right?

Yeah, Lulu, lots of health benefits. Chocolate is good for you in many many ways. Not only physically also mentally, because if you eat chocolate with high cocoa percentages, and that's what you have to look for, high cocoa percentages. You don't want lots of milk in your chocolate; you don't want lots of sugar in your chocolate. You have to look for high cocoa percentages in that order.

So chocolate is a super food because it's good for your mind because if you are sad and if you eat chocolate, your brain is going to explode with lots of serotonin and phenylethylamine, which are the love…

Happy chemical.

Exactly, love and happy molecules.

So when you eat chocolate, in your system, in your brain, you are going to be happy; also chocolate, it's anti-aging. When you eat chocolate with high cocoa percentage, Lulu, you are going to age in a slow way.

So because chocolate is high antioxidant, exactly. So you are going to age in a slow way in a slow mode. And also it's gonna be good for your heart and for some brain disease like Parkinson or Alzheimer.

If you do lots of gym or if you go to do some sports, to work out, chocolate is good for your metabolism because it's gonna make your metabolism fast. It's going to be good for your diet.

I never knew chocolate has so many benefits. But like you said, the most important thing is to look for the ones with higher content of cocoa, instead of sugar or milk. The thing is added sugar, the milk that actually makes you fat.

Yeah, Lulu, you are right. Chocolate in fact it's a worldwide super food; and it’s going to improve lots of good things in your system.

Sounds fantastic, truly a super food.

Yeah, and obviously it's a delicious food.

It's a delicious food.

Obviously. So meanwhile you are enjoying, it's easy to eat and you can enjoy this super food.

Excellent.

In today’s Global Village, we have talked to Maria, a master chocolatier from Columbia about her passion for chocolate.

In the next episode, we’re gonna continue with this delicious topic.