Galerie au Chocolat had been a secret spot for years, since they were a wholesaler and sold retail only to those in the know. For Chanukah gifts, these chocolates are not only Kosher, but very yummy.

The delish high-end items which are made with fine Belgian chocolate come in many interesting varieties: crisped rice bark, almond rochers, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered ginger, chocolate covered orange peel, pecan brittle, espresso wafers, and their famous almond bark. Discover more when you come in to the shop.

Sure, there are chocolate bars, but also fair trade hot chocolate (made with real chocolate shavings which you can mix with either cream or milk), chocolate fondue, seasonal character molds and tiny chocolate dessert cups for port or digestives.

They have a variety of packaging options. You can easily see the yummies inside their cellophane bags tied with pretty ribbon, or you can buy them in a gift (or just for you) tin or in a beautifully wrapped gift box. You can fax, email or call in your orders any time. Delivery on the island of Montreal is $12; for the rest of Quebec or Ontario, it’s $20.

You don’t have to wait for special occasions or holidays, as everyone loves chocolates every day. Try their high quality scrumptious chocolates right now. Send some to someone special – just because.

8985 Henri Bourassa Ouest,  Ville St-Laurent, QC H4S 1P7
corner: Autoroute 13
Tel: 514-331-8460
Please note New Holiday Hours: Mon-Fri 9-5 and Sat Nov 28, Dec 5, 12 & 19, they will be open these Saturdays only from 9-3

Galerie au Chocolat has been a secret spot for years, since they were a wholesaler and sold retail only to those in the know. Those of you looking to buy sweets for the holidays coming up, this is your Kosher candyland.

The delish high-end items  which are made with fine Belgian chocolate come in many interesting varieties: crisped rice bark, almond rochers, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered ginger, chocolate covered orange peel, pecan brittle, espresso wafers, and their famous almond bark. Discover more when you come in to the shop.

Sure, there are chocolate bars, but also fair trade hot chocolate (made with real chocolate shavings which you can mix with either cream or milk), chocolate fondue, seasonal character molds and tiny chocolate dessert cups for port or digestives.

They have a variety of packaging options. You can easily see the yummies inside their cellophane bags tied with pretty ribbon, or you can buy it in a gift (or just for you) tin or in a beautifully wrapped gift box. You can fax, email or call in your orders any time. Delivery on the island of Montreal is $12; for the rest of Quebec or Ontario, it’s $20.

Don’t just wait for special occasions or holidays, as everyone loves chocolates every day. Try their high quality scrumptious chocolates right now. Send some to someone special – just because.

http://galerieauchocolat.ca/

Steel furniture has made a huge resurgence in the decor scene due to its good clean lines and durability.

We all remember those enamel-painted pieces of office furniture that lurked in our elementary schools or in our parents’ basements. They were heavy, utilitarian, and usually painted a neutral almond, taupe or (heaven forbid) olive green. Yes they were very durable, but ugly and terribly un-cool. Aside from throwing it out, or sending it to the basement to store your now useless record collection, there didn’t seem to be much to do with it.

On that point, archMontreal has a different take on it. Ignoring the terrible mid-century paint jobs and the laminate tops, these pieces usually have very good, clean lines, harking back to the beginning of industrial design and the adage that form follows function. They have several of these pieces, salvaged from their own workshop, and decided to try to make them usable again.

One of the easiest fixes is to get rid of the paint and get back to the old, bare metal, which they did using the services of a local sand-blaster. The next step was to replace the laminate tops with made-to-measure maple or oak counter tops, tapping into the current trend to mix industrial metal and wood for a chic, urban loft look. You can see the transformation in the accompanying photos – the before and after pictures of the metal cabinets that were sandblasted.

Originally used in a Montreal industrial shop, the cabinets now could be re-purposed as storage armoires, book shelves or even mud room furniture. If you can stretch your mind enough, the sky’s the limit for what these pieces could become.

archMontreal is proud to make re-purposing and re-using salvaged materials and furniture their main mandate. It’s the best sort of recycling – instead of destroying pieces of our industrial heritage, they make sure they can lead new lives as something else.

Visitors to the shop will find plenty of furniture ready to be re-purposed or in the process of finding a new existence. They are happy to provide unaltered pieces for those who want DIY projects or to help you along your path to a unique, custom piece.

Visit them right away (before the pieces are sold!) to see the cabinets and more, or follow their Facebook page [/archmontreal] or their Instagram [@arc_montreal] to see their new arrivals.

5524A rue St-Patrick, suite 202 Montreal, QC, H4E 1A8
corner: boul Monk
Tel: 514-788-6007
Hours Tues-Fri 9-5, Sat 11-4 Please call before going to make sure the doors are opened
Station de l’eglise / Station Vendome

If some of the cakes at Les Delices La Frenaie look suspiciously similar to those in Loblaw’s (and Boccacinos, Chenoys and your favorite espresso bar), you would be a good detective.

So come to the source for the 46 kinds of cake: chocolate praline explosion, apple caramel cheesecake (23 others), frutti di bosco, custard, limoncello, heavenly berry and Milky Way in 8″ or 10″ sizes. The best buy is the pound cakes ($9.50) which come in apple walnut, orange, lemon cranberry, banana chocolate, espresso almond and 13 more.

Some cakes can be ordered for more than 20 people if you call 36 hours in advance. Of course there’s birthday, wedding and character cakes. There’s usually tastings, don’t pass up the amaretti biscotti.

Trays of pizza (tomato, white, all dressed and vegetarian) can be ordered – and are perfect for New Year’s party nibbling.

Locations: St-Leonard, 8405 Lafrenaie, St-Leonard (514-324-8039); 58A boul. Brunswick (514-542-4242); Rosemere, 199F Cure-Labelle (450-430-4222).  www.lesdeliceslafrenaie.com

Pharmacies are always open the latest on Christmas Eve so if you really get stuck at the last last minute, head for one of them. In the Pharmaprix flyers I have seen: perfume, a micro-derabrasion system for a home facial, cameras, a Sony docking station $99, kids’ acoustic guitar, Minnie Mouse alarm clock, gourmet chocolates: caramel shortcake or almonds and cranberries, a pet bed, a gingerbread house kit, and … the slinky.

Q 1 – In the summer everyone wants to look fit and feel fit so its time to  get back on track with good nutritional choices, what food shopping can you suggest?

Health food stores offer a wide variety of foods that have been carefully grown and produced. This one of the biggest growing segments of the food industry. You feel virtuous shopping there.

Q2 –  Is it really healthier there?

You can make good lifestyle choices in regular supermarkets but health stores often have products that are organically traceable right back to the farmer that grew it. There are networks of 1,000’s of farmers. Be careful of that word “organic” though, as you know Dr. Joe will tell us that everything is organic.

Q3 – Isn’t it much more expensive buying food at health food stores?

It is more expensive to buy food at health food stores, because of the cost of producing smaller quantities and growing without pesticides, etc. There is one place I can mention for deals, though. At Club Organic, if you join their club ($30), you are offered a discount based on the volume you buy each time: a $1-$99 order will yield a 3% discount on your bill, $100-$299 is 5% off, and $300 and up will get you 7% off.

Q4 – What kind of food will I find there, is it all sprouts and tofu?

Your regular supermarket staples are here – grains, beans, flours (spelt, amaranth, kamut, soy, gluten-free), cereals, organic fish, beef, veal and chicken, healthy breads, dairy, candy, chips, freshly ground peanut butter, but also cashew, almond and sesame too, and always lots of teas: green teas, barley teas, tisanes.

There’s even food to go: stir fries with seitan and miso, millet pie, pizza, spring rolls homemade soups, desserts, spelt and seaweed wraps and bbq burgers.

Q 5- What kind of other things might I find there that are not usually found in a corner supermarket?

It’s the harder to find things, not usually found in a corner supermarket, that draw a lot of people to these stores: gluten-free, lactose-free and wheat-free products, goat, soy and almond milk, organic chocolate milk, brown rice pasta or buckwheat pasta, noodles made of soba, spelt and soya, etc.

Q6 – Where are all these stores?

Club Organic, 4341 Frontenac at Rachel, Phone523-0223 Food items bought at this store can be traced back to the farmer who produced them, as these products are certified by Ecocert Canada, an international regulatory network. You can shop without a membership, but for a $30 membership you can buy ground beef, chicken, butter, flour, beans, grains, dates, pasta, oil, nuts, etc., you get a discount. The more you buy the better the deal: a $1-$99 order will yield a 3% discount on your bill, $100-$299 is 5% off, and $300 and up will get you 7%.
www. epiceriebiologique.ca

Tau Aliments Naturels 4238 St-Denis, Phone:843-4420.   Other bigger locations: 6845 boul. Taschereau (450-443-9922); 3188 boul. St-Martin ouest (450-978-5533). www.marchestau.com

Rachelle-Bery, 505 Rachel est, Phone: 514-524-0725  Other locations: 2346 Beaubien e. (514-727-2327); 4810 boul. St-Laurent (514-849-4118); Longueuil, 217 St-Charles o. (450-679-6472); St-Saveur, 105-1, ave Guindon (450-227-3343).  www.rachellebery.com

Tea is the new coffee. With its centuries of known healing properties and enjoyment, it’s about time that we North Americans figured it out.

Tea, which is over 5,000 years old, was possibly born in the Yunnan province of China. Legends mention Shen Nung, an early emperor and scientist, who ruled that all drinking water be boiled as a hygienic precaution. One day while traveling, his servants boiled water for him, and just then dried leaves from a nearby bush fell into the boiling water. The emperor drank the brown liquid and enjoyed it.

In 800, Lu Yu wrote “Ch’a Ching”, the first definitive book on tea. He diligently recorded the various methods of tea cultivation and preparation. Zen Buddhist missionaries later introduced his meticulous methods to imperial Japan. One missionary in particular, Yesei, had observed its use in religious ceremonies in China and appreciated its value, and there are records of his findings.

Tea was so highly thought of in Japan that the serving of it was elevated to an art form, resulting in  the Japanese Tea Ceremony. While visiting Japan I was privy thrice to this exacting two hour ceremony while sitting on bended knees – once by a Buddhist Monk in a temple, once by a Canadian Tea Master and once in a private home while dressed in a kimono.

Besides me, perhaps one of the first Europeans to encounter tea and write about it was the Portuguese Jesuit Father Jasper de Cruz (in 1560), and around that time a Dutchman named Jan Huygen van Linshoten visited Java. He wrote about his voyage to the East Indies in 1598 and mentioned “cha”, as it was called in Mandarin.

Around 1650 the Dutch under Peter Stuyvesant brought the first tea to America in the settlement Nieuw Amsterdam, later re-named New York by the English. So now that it is here you can enjoy it at one of the places below:

At Camellia Sinensis, crisp stainless steel boxes line the entire wall filled with white, yellow, black, oolong and green artisanal teas. Each of the four owners is a specialist in one kind, and they travel the world themselves to keep prices down (and quality up) by importing directly from China, Japan, India, Taiwan, etc.

To brew tea, there are  hand-crafted teapots from China, Japan, Quebec, Germany  Vietnam, Taiwan and Russia. They import “tea cakes” called Pu Er, from the jungles of China and Vietnam.These are aged and like wine can be aged for 100 years. Here they only carry cakes from as far back as the 1970’s.

You can go to tea school, which covers all aspects of tea – introduction to tastes and countries or you can imbibe in their tea salon. They have an extensive web site where you can learn and order the teas online wherever you are in the world.

Location:  351 rue Emery
corner: St. Denis
Phone: 514-286-4002
Other location: Marche Jean-Talon, 7010 Casgrain (514-271-4002)
Hours: Mon-Wed 11-6, Thurs & Fri 11-9, Sat 11-6, Sun 12-6
www.camellia-sinensis.com

Un Amour des Thes is run by a family who will gladly teach you about the 200 varieties of tea in the shop, individually or in a group or at tea tastings. They scour the world (India, China, Japan, Kenya, Tanzania) to stock the black, green and white teas and come up with some interesting ones: how about “chocolate” tea, a Ceylonese black one with dark cocoa highlights, the red rooibos (full of antioxidants) or formed teas which “bloom”.

Locations: 1224 Bernard ouest  Outremont  514-279-2999)
Hours: Tues-Fri 11-6, Sat 9-5, Sun 11-5
Other locations (longer hours): 5612 Monkland Ave. (514-482-2999); 781 Mont-Royal e. (514-369-2999); Laval, 2888 Du Cosmodome (450-687-4999).
www.amourdesthes.com

David’s Tea is re-introducing tea to a whole younger audience. The teas here are creative mixes served iced, in martinis and blended with fruit petals, flowers, dehydrated fruits and lots of sweet flavors (vanilla, orange peel, dulche de leche, apple, caramel, mango, lemon zest, almonds, and even chocolate). They offer seasonal menus and special teas: blooming ones, herbal ayurvedic, mate, pu’erh, rooibos, the emperor’s white teas and  limited edition ones.

Locations: 1207 Mont-Royal est at de la Roche  (514-527-1117 ); 5625 Pare (514-739-0006); Fairveiw Pointe Claire (514-697-3331); Carrefour Laval (450-681-0776); 4859 Sherbrooke o.
Hours: Mon-Wed 10-10, Thurs-Sat 10-11(summer Mon-Wed 10-9:30, Thurs & Fri 10-10, Sat 10-8, Sun 10-7
www.davidstea.com

It’s summer, and that means one thing – ice cream! No matter how old you are, you succumb to the delights of it once the hot air moves in. But ice cream has come a long way since we ordered a vanilla pop or a chocolate cone from the neighborhood truck rolling past our door.

Our worldly travels or restaurant forays have taken us far afield when it comes to flavors, types and creations that we now eat. Do we want the full 35% butterfat of the denser, richer, creamier premium American ice creams or have we gotten used to the smoothness of Italian gelati or the icy freshness of a French sorbet?

Gelati is made smooth with milk and/or cream and in the best of all worlds, fresh real fruit. Each store, restaurant or bakery has its own secret recipe of combinations using (hopefully) fresh fruit and not powdered flavors or frozen fruit. Sorbet (or granita in Italian lingo) is made with only water and fresh fruit.

Flavors must blow our minds away. Chocolate is no longer good enough, it has to go beyond to hazelnut chocolate or chocolate chocolate fudge. Fruits have evolved from the fridge, like lemons and oranges, to the wilds of cassis, papaya, mango and even lichee.

Head to some of these fun ice cream parlours around town, where these flavors are layered into parfait glasses with some extra fruit syrups, whip cream or nuts, and they can be frozen into cake creations or actual fruit shapes. And yes, you can still get a plain vanilla cone or chocolate cup.

Gelateria La Bella Italiana is the cafe of the wholesaler Ital Gelati (found in supermarket freezers) and they create about 34 flavours of gelati (1/2 litre to go $5) in mocha almond, noisette, baci, granita, mango, raspberry, watermelon, orange, spumoni, pistachio or sorbets ($5).

Incredible creations such as gelati forma di frutti (in the shape of apples, bananas, oranges) or fruits that have been “emptied” and refilled with sherbets: melon, lemon, pineapple, orange, papaya, raspberry and coconut are here along with coppa di gelato, which is ice cream mixed with fresh fruit topped with whipped cream or coppa fragola, a strawberry dessert with 3 scoops of vanilla gelato, strawberry syrup and fresh strawberries.

Or you can ask for a tartuffe, a ball of vanilla covered by chocolate,  or share a chocolate hazelnut cassata log or gelato cake in mocha almond fudge, pralines and cream and chocolate mousse.

Location:  5884 Jean Talon St. East at Valdombre St.,  St. Leonard
Phone: 514-254-4811
Hours: Daily 8am-midnight
Other location (it’s the office, but you can buy for the freezer): 8390 le Creusot, St-Leonard, open Mon-Sat 9-5.

Save yourself a trip to Italy if you yearn for real gelati. Roberto’s Restaurant and Gelateria is a pretty ice cream parlour which entices you with flavours:  zuppa inglese, baci, amaretto, noisette, tiramisu, mint, chocolate, coffee and pistachio.

If you want some fruit sorbet, don’t worry – there’s watermelon, blueberry, lemon and more. The menu goes on to spumoni, mokador (coffee, nougat, hazelnut), sundaes, fantasie di fruita, gelati with liquors, igloos and sliced cake creations.

2221 Belanger St. East at Sagard St.
Phone: 514- 374-9844
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

La Brioche Lyonnaise, The French are known for their perfection of ice known as sorbet, and this establishment is known for its preparation of that treat in many natural fruit flavours (pear, mango, raspberry, lemon, strawberry, black currant). People have been coming for years to taste them, as well as the homemade ice creams ($3 scoop in cone or cup). It’s a cafe too.

Location: 1593 St-Denis at de Maisonneuve.
Phone: (514) 842-7017.
Hours: Daily 7:30am-midnight
www.labriochelyonnaise.com

At Pile ou Glace, you can find out how Italian gelati blends the richness of ice cream with the iciness of sorbet to give you a refreshing summer treat. You can choose from a daily assortment of 18 gelati flavours (could be cappuccino, nougat, chocolate, roasted almond, hazelnut, amaretto, lemon, caramel, banana, coconut or even vanilla), or 4 sorbets (always lemon granita and perhaps dark chocolate, grapefruit, orange, mango). You can eat it outside or take it to go

Location: 7084 boul. St-Laurent at Jean-Talon
Phone 514-277-3301
Hours: Daily 11-11

Q1: Montreal is a multi-ethnic city, and we have many places to buy authentic groceries from different parts of the world. Today you wanted to tell us a bit about East European food.
When you think of Russian or Baltic food, you think of hearty stick to your ribs dishes and that’s just about what we need at this time of year. Since these are local family businesses, much of the food is homemade so free from preservatives or additives. Their meat products are smoked naturally with wood, not injected with flavoring.

Q2: What countries are we talking about?
Russia, Roumania, Hungary, Slovenia

Q3: What kinds of foods might we find there?
Well borscht of course, chicken Kiev, different kinds cured meats: gypsy sausage or Moscow salami, goose pastrami. There’s healthy foods like kefir, yogurt drink and their smoked fishes are full of omega 3 (mackerel, herring and sturgeon). You’ll always find dumplings – my favorites are called pelmeny, little meat dumplings that I put in soup. Cabbage is good for you and they make homemade sauerkraut and stuffed cabbage. Don’t forget these stores also make wonderful desserts.

Q4: In what part of town would you find these stores?
West of the city in the Snowdon area: Sherbrooke St., Decarie Blvd., Victoria Ave.

At Bucarest Charcuterie and Patisserie you’ll find that Rumanian food and everything to make an authentic meal – meatball soup, stuffed grape leaves, naturally smoked sausages, chopped eggplant salads, stuffed cabbage, marinated mushrooms or carrots, goose, lamb or pork pastrami, fresh roe, homemade sauerkraut, pickled cabbage heads, etc. can be purchased here.

Russian foods to try would be sprats, sturgeon, whole herrings, smoked eel and mackerel, kefir and pilmeny (meat dumplings and others), chocolates and homemade cakes. Their canned groceries cover more of Eastern Europe, and include: sour tomatoes, white cherry or walnut preserves, chestnut puree, Hungarian paprika paste, pumpkin seed oil, black currants in syrup and yummy juices (pomegranate, red currant, blackberry).

Location: 4670 boul. Decarie at Cote St-Luc Rd. Phone: 514-481-4732

Patisserie et Charcuterie Bourret – The Roumanian, Hungarian, Slovenian, Swiss, German take-out foods in this 40-year-old business include zakuska, smoked eggplant, fish egg salad, goose pastrami, salamis, stuffed cabbage, pickled whole cabbage, fresh and smoked sausages, head cheese and Bulgarian sheep feta.

Bakery specialties to try are kifli (almond and apricot), poppy seed bagli, the 7-layer dobosh, cozonac, and torte wafers ($3.99). There is a wall of grocery products like gooseberry jam, chestnut puree, letcho, Hungarian noodles.

Location: 5771 Victoria, Snowdon  Phone: 514-733-8462   www.bourretinc.com

St. Petersburg Russian Delicatessen – If you’ve ever wanted to try gypsy sausage or dried Moscow salami, you’ve found your spot. Russian yummies include smoked trout and mackerel, salmon caviar, borscht and chicken Kiev of course, but also spicy carrots, pickled mushrooms, herring with beets and potato, pelmeny, 10 kinds of pierogies and varenikas in the freezer, lots of jarred and canned veggies, and after you’ve had your pickled tomatoes, grab a piece of halvah or a  few cookies from the 75 bins and wash it all down with strawberry soda, sour cherry tea – or kefir.

Location: 5584A Sherbrooke ouest  Phone: 514-369-1377

Q1 – With Valentine’s Day coming up, let’s start with the basics, what is the difference between dark, milk and white chocolate?

After cocoa beans are dried and roasted, they are then ground into a liquid consistency known as chocolate liquor. If this base is hardened, it becomes unsweetened baking chocolate. If you have ever tasted this, you will know it is very bitter.

To make it palatable, sugar and extra cocoa butter are added, and then it becomes what we know as semi-sweet chocolate. For milk chocolate, the world’s favorite flavor, milk is of course added along with sugar, extra cocoa butter and vanilla.

Q2 – We are lucky to have artisanal chocolate boutiques in Montreal, what makes them worth the extra few bucks?

Each piece is hand dipped with ultimate quality chocolate be it Valrhona, Callebaut or variety ones from  around the world: Costa Rica, Madagascar, Tanzania,  Domincan Republic, etc. Their treats go way beyond your caramel and chocolate turtle into complex gourmet tastes

Q3 – Okay, let’s go through a few of them and explain what they each specialize in:

At Chocolats Privilege you can be wowed by the original chocolate combinations. Their signature one is called “Privilege”, and is a crowd pleasing dark chocolate and coffee combo, but they sell lots of ganaches ($9.50 per 100 gram) combined with: green tea, basil and lime, LBV porto, rosemary and cream, coriander, or a raspberry/blueberry/strawberry combo.

Another idea is making chocolates with beans from around the world: Costa Rica, Madagascar, Tanzania, Domincan Republic, etc. There’s a caramel line, pralines and specialties: almond paste with walnuts, rum,  half-coated orange slice and a couple of sugarless options.

First Location: 1001 Fleury est at St. Charles
Phone:  514-385-6335
Hours: Mon-Wed 8:30-6, Thurs & Fri 8:30-8, Sat 9-6, Sun 9-5:30
Other locations: Jean Talon Market, 7070 Henri-Julien (514-276-7070); Kirkland, 3602 boul. St-Charles (514-694-2261); Marche 440 (450-682-3666)
www.chocolatsprivilege.com

Divine Chocolatier takes Callebaut dark chocolate and wrap it around orange or ginger slices, blueberries, orange peel or praline and offers up divine confections (100 gr/$9.95). Sure there’s healthy 72% dark choclate with orange and ginger but look for the fun items: the chocolate shot glasses, body oil, caramel or chocolate hazelnut spread, and molded shapes like a computer, tennis racket or kama sutra poses. Seasonally you might get cinnamon or allspice in your chocolate or flavored hot chocolates.

Location: 2158 Crescent Sherbrooke
Phone: 514-282-0829
Hours: Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat 10-5, Sun 12-5 (closed Sun. in winter except holidays)
www.divinechocolatier.com

In Les Chocolats De Chloé it’s the ambiance here that keeps devoted clientele. The open kitchen makes you feel like you are part of the chocolate-making process, and the staff is so accommodating when asked questions. You will have some, because the originality of the flavors (lemon chocolate, Earl Grey tea, salted ganache, Illy coffee) will perplex you. Valrhona chocolate is all they use, and no extracts – rum is rum – and fruits are made in season and every candy is dipped by hand. Popular hot chocolate mixes come in vanilla bean and cinnamon, and there could be turtles and chocolate covered marshmallows.

Location: 546 Duluth est Berri
Phone: 514-849-5550
Hours: Tues & Wed 10-7, Thurs & Fri 10-9, Sat 11-5, Sun 11-7
www.leschocolatsdechloe.com

Q4: Let’s get back to the history of chocolate, how did we find out about it?

Columbus brought the beans back to King Ferdinand of Spain in 1492, they didn’t know how to process them. Explorer Hernando Cortez had spent some time among the Aztecs in 1519, and had been able to observe the processing technique, so he took this knowledge and some more beans back to Spain.

Q5 – I understand that it was kept as a secret potion?

Members of the Spanish court fell in love with it after they discovered that by adding sweetener it became a wonderful drink. It was so favored that it was kept a secret amongst the nobility for almost a century. With the marriage of Louis XIII of France to a Spanish princess in 1615, the scrumptious secret was let out and dispersed throughout Europe almost as fast as an Internet virus.

Q 6 –  How is the cocoa bean turned edible and delicious?

To make chocolate, the football-shaped pod is opened and the cacao seeds found inside are fermented in the sweet pulp from the pod for days. When the pulp rots and falls away, the beans are dried and roasted, removing the shells. They are then ground into a liquid consistency known as chocolate liquor.