By: Yesibeth Rincón / @yesirincon
Photos: Courtesy of Emma Torrealba
“Tierra de gracia (Land of grace)“ is her pride, her creation, her masterpiece. It is as magnanimous as it is the land that saw her been born 50 years ago. Its flavour is similar to the country, with a mixture of fruits, flowers as well as the love given to temperate and moulding it.
“It’s the same chocolate in different percentages, depending on the cocoa since there is cocoa to which cannot be added too much sugar as it would kill its flavour. For instance, I made one at 62.5% of cocoa and also have another at 70% that is being used by many chocolatiers who are delighted because it is a chocolate with all its cocoa flavour without any chemical additive. It tastes of Venezuela. It has some impressive flavours, rich, not absolutely bitter, given that our cacao has tones that allow us play with it, thus, we can reach those flowery and fruity tastes, “says the Caracas native Emma Torrealba about her square Tierra de gracia.
Emma is one of many women who havehad the opportunity to move forward thanks to being a beneficiary of the Civil Association Work and Person. She started in the chocolate world in 2014, when she attended the workshop of Entrepreneurship of chocolate.
“A working day for me involves choosing the grains, separating them by size, toasting, then peeling off, starting to formulate, grinding, pre-grinding, formulate”.
She used to be a trader and also worked in some hotels in Margarita, but the cocoa world took her by surprise and successhas not stopped since then.
“I have been delighted ever since I made a bonbon“. She describes her experience in the art of chocolate. In Work and Person, that she considers her “guardian angels”, she learned how to make bonbons, but in the course of time she fell in love with the process of producing chocolate. “I give bonbon making workshops and also make them. However, what I love the most is making chocolate”.
She was trained at the Escuela de Chocolatería del Alba and also did internships at Cacao de Origen with María Fernanda Di Giacobbe, where she really fell in love with chocolate.
Bombok2 led her to success
“I had been in the chocolate world for almost a year without daring to make the decision to do it, to create it by myself. After I made the decision Iattended a workshop in agronomic management of cocoa at the National Institute of Agricultural Research, then I did the internship at Cacao de Origen and studied at the School of Chocolatería de la Alba”. One thing after another, until she decided to start her own business Bombok2, the creators of her “Tierra de Gracia“, sharing credit with her two cousins: Ilda Piñate and Osmary Medina, whom she passed on her passion and love for this art.
“Bombok2 is a dessert from the Paria region. I was fascinated with that name, together with the fact that the dessert is very rich, I am in love with Venezuelan things, a great country which we have to show the respect that it deserves. That’s why everything I producewith chocolate has to do with this beautiful and wonderful land”, she exclaimed from her workplace in Caracas, excited and proud of what she has achieved so far.
Emma is so devoted to her work that she even forgets to eat while creating her squares, she declares. “A day of work for me involves choosing the grains, separating them by size, toasting, peeling them off, starting to formulate, grinding, pre-grinding and formulate. That is hard work, but it is unique and beautiful. When you see people’s faces convey that they like the chocolate you have made, the fatigue you mightfeelwill be over”. It is a task that can even draw you into Saturdays and Sundays, depending on the customers’ demands.
“We are growing a little more. There are people who come to us and help us sell because we alone cannot cope with everything,” she explains.
The business has expanded. Among its projects it is the creation of the K2, another variety of chocolate to be launchedsoon.
Emma admits to being a great chocolate consumer, although, now what she likes is ordinary cocoa, which she consumes to find out. “What flavours she gets. How much needs to be toasted. What percentage of cocoa to be added to get all its flavour”.
To work, is the advice she gives to her compatriots. The cocoa world has opened that door to her. “One works without the proper tools but with good attitude and will. We have everything in this country. The only thing we have to do is to love it. Stop thinking about politics and start working”.
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