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World's rarest chocolate heading to Australia

A strain of cacao long thought to be extinct has been found in Peru. Meet the chocolatier bringing it to Oz.

Carla Grossetti

Welcome import ... Anvers' Fortunato No.4 chocolate.
Welcome import ... Anvers' Fortunato No.4 chocolate.Steven Siewert

As chocolatier Igor Van Gerwen brings a square of the world's rarest chocolate to his lips, he ceremoniously inhales its aroma and his face melts with pleasure, as if he, himself, has a soft, fondant centre.

Belgian-born Van Gerwen has exclusive rights to introduce the most sought-after chocolate on the planet, Fortunato No.4, to the Australian market.

In fact, he's bought a whopping two tonnes of the same stuff New York's Anthony Bourdain and his mates in the US use to produce the Good & Evil bar, which has a hefty price tag of $US230 ($256) a kilogram.

Bringing home the treats ... Igor Van Gerwen.
Bringing home the treats ... Igor Van Gerwen.Steven Siewert
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''This is a very complex, powerful chocolate … it's like no other,'' says Van Gerwen, owner and chief chocolatier at the House of Anvers, in Latrobe, Tasmania.

''I'm from Belgium and I've tasted the world's greatest chocolate and this is the most rich, the most exquisite by far. This is what chocolate would have tasted like when it was being enjoyed by European royalty.''

Here's the backstory: in 2007, Americans Dan Pearson and his stepson Brian Horsley were working in Peru, sourcing food for mining companies, when they rediscovered the prized cacao trees - Pure Nacional - long thought to be extinct.

Curious about the beans, the pair sent leaf samples to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for genetic testing.

Lyndel Meinhardt, research leader at USDA's sustainable-crops lab, told Good Food the Fortunato (the name coined to honour the farmer whose trees were tested) find was unexpected in a high mountain valley - about 300 metres - at some of the highest altitudes reported for cacao trees.

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Meinhardt says when diseases struck the plantations in Ecuador in the 1920s, yields were reduced and there was a push to introduce resistant cacao.

''So over time the old Nacional types were replaced with the modern Nacional cacao,'' Meinhardt says.

''Prior to the Fortunato find, there were only a few genetically identical Nacional trees known. The find has helped us narrow down and localise the centre of origin for Nacional; it's an unprecedented discovery.''

Fans of Bourdain's CNN series Parts Unknown may have seen the episode in which the intrepid chef-turned-TV-host-and-now-chocolatier huffed and puffed his way through the canyon in search of the prized trees.

While one of the 3000 bars Van Gerwen has produced retails for $8-$13, Bourdain demands about $US18 ($20) a bar.

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In March next year Van Gerwen plans to follow in Bourdain's footsteps to see the trees, which grow football-size pods and are filled with a rare mix of 40 per cent white beans and 60 per cent purple beans in the same pods - a ratio that translates to a subtle flavour and less bitterness.

Other Nacional trees bear pods filled with 100 per cent white beans or 100 per cent purple beans.

Van Gerwen says he felt it was his duty to secure the rights to distribute the chocolate in Australia, the only continent in the world that didn't have a seller.

''When I found out about the discovery of this unique cacao, I was so excited,'' he says. ''The rarity of the ingredient and importance of the discovery made me feel like it was my responsibility to give the Australian public the opportunity to try it,'' says Van Gerwen, who opened his Latrobe shop 23 years ago.

''This is not chocolate you bring to a picnic. It's chocolate to be enjoyed after a good meal, with a glass of cognac and some coffee.''

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Before Van Gerwen gets his hands on the chocolate, the beans must be dried, fermented and roasted and then sent to Switzerland. There, a pre-eminent Swiss chocolatier processes it, utilising the 1879 machines required to extract the chocolate without compromising its delicate nature. The chocolate is then sent in 500-gram blocks to Tasmania, where Van Gerwen must again temper it to form into consumer-friendly blocks. He says the packaging of the product reflects the raw, earthy nature of the bean and honours Don Fortunato, who owns the farm where the mother tree was found.

As well as educating consumers about the chocolate's ''intense aroma and persistent richness'', Van Gerwen says chefs are excited about using the product because it contains 68 per cent dark chocolate and a whopping 30 per cent cocoa butter.

''The properties of the chocolate means it stays liquid to very low temperatures and is very easy to work with,'' he says.

As for its application in the kitchen, Van Gerwen advocates the chocolate remain in its purest form. He says he is ''not remotely tempted'' to experiment with it or convert it into the award-winning fudges the House of Anvers specialises in.

''In my 30 years of searching for different varieties of single-origin chocolate, I have never tasted a chocolate this intense,'' he says.

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''The floral aromas and exotic fruit flavours are so comprehensive, this chocolate does not need the otherwise obligatory vanillin to be added. You don't need to do anything to it. You might grate it over an anglaise or panna cotta but that's it.

''It's best enjoyed as is. It has a pleasant taste that is not sour, more savoury … it's well balanced; it has umami.''

Driving up demand for the dark, decadent chocolate is the fact there are only two harvests a year; Bourdain has sold 7000 bars and is out of stock until October.

Speaking to Good Food from the US, Pearson says his chance discovery has enriched the lives of a lot of people.

''We have seen the pride and determination of the farmers, matched by the pride and determination of pastry chefs all over the world, determined to bring this rare chocolate to their countries,'' he says.

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''Igor found us! It is his determination and grit that has brought this rare chocolate from the jungles of Peru to Australia.''

Fortunato No.4 Single Origin Anvers is available online at anvers-chocolate .com.au; at Port D'Anvers, 25-29 Dixon Street, Chinatown, city; or at Salt Meats Cheese, 41 Bourke Road, Alexandria, saltmeatscheese.com.au.

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