Chocolate 101

Different types of cocoa at the International Cocoa Genebank in Centeno, Trinidad. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale
Different types of cocoa at the International Cocoa Genebank in Centeno, Trinidad. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

Who would have thought that the process of chocolate-making was the perfect way to teach chemical engineering?

Dr Steve Sternberg, associate professor in chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth, in the US, does and has created a chocolate lab to teach his students.

Business Day met Sternberg at UWI's Cocoa Research Centre in Centeno two weeks ago, along with his contingent from the university on a visit to experience Trinidad’s cocoa-making industries. The plan is to create a cultural study abroad programme during the winter break for chemistry engineering students.

Trinidadian Lyndon Ramrattan, lab services coordinator in the chemical engineering department at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota Duluth students Madeleine Ogren and Claire Peterlin, and associate professor Dr Steven Sternberg and his wife Margaret Kirtley-Sternebrg at the International Cocoa Genebank at The UWI Cocoa Research Centre in Centeno, Trinidad. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

The Duluth Chocolate Lab is a year old. Prior to that, Sternberg found that students were compartmentalising their knowledge and not connecting the different processes in chemical engineering. However, when Trinidadian Lyndon Ramrattan, lab services coordinator in the chemical engineering department, was brewing cocoa tea, Sternberg got the idea to teach chemistry via the bean to bar production of cocoa.

“Lyndon came to the department and started sharing chocolate with me and he gave me a big bag of beans... I just started diving into chocolate. I looked into the process. Every one of these steps is what we needed to teach chemical engineering. I thought I could do this here,” he said.

Sternberg wants his students to come to Trinidad to soak in the rich history and academic research Trinidad has on cocoa. He will be working closely with lecturers from the centre to develop courses for his students.

Unharvested ripe cocoa pods at the International Cocoa Genebank in Centeno, Trinidad. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

“This place (Trinidad), this is the epicentre of cocoa. This is where all the knowledge is. This is where all the trees are. I don’t think there are any other places with the diversity and history of cocoa,” he said.

The academics from Minnesota went to cocoa estates in Brasso Seco and visited the UWI International Cocoa Genebank.

Sternberg wants his students to have a comprehensive idea of the full cocoa making process. He is hoping his students will go on the cocoa fields, harvest the pods, collect the beans, do the fermentation, learn to dance the cocoa and eventually bring their beans back home to Minnesota where they can continue to make the chocolate bars.

Annelle Holder-John of the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine Cocoa Research Centre smells the dry and ripe Theobroma Speciosa, one of the species at Trinidad's International Cocoa Genebank. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

They will also learn Mesoamerican history, the history of chocolate, the evolution of equipment and some of Trinidad's culture. They are hoping to have the programme run from December 27, 2019 to January 12, 2020.

Cargo Food Authority is one of the biggest employers for the Duluth chemical engineering students, so the experience in food chemistry would be beneficial for their future work prospects.

In the chocolate lab, the engineering students experiment with different types of flavours for their chocolate bar such as cinnamon, clove, ginger, pop rocks, marshmallows, lavender, bubble gum and more.

Annelle Holder-John of the University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine Cocoa Research Centre describes the cocoa pollination process. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

They have had beans from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Central America and of course, Trinidad.

Sternberg stresses on teaching ethics in his classes. All the beans used in the chocolate lab are fair trade beans that do not use child or slave labour.

“We want to get them thinking about the supply chain. You might not be using slaves in your facility but what about from the suppliers you buy? Think about the things you buy,” he said.

Because of the volume of online discourse and activism about the use of slave labour in the chocolate industry, Sternberg was able to find a lot of information and online resources for his students.

“It makes it a really easy conversation to start. The use of slave labour is a very uncomfortable conversation to have, but this makes it an easy conversation. We can have a lot of different conversations, and repetition of these conversations will make it stick for them,” he said.

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