To Make An Empire, Hold The Anchovies

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Positioned north of Lima, Peru, the Caral-Supe settlement was the ancient home of the Norte Chico men and women, a civilization practically as outdated as the Egyptians.

Situated north of Lima, Peru, the Caral-Supe settlement was the ancient home of the Norte Chico men and women, a civilization just about as outdated as the Egyptians.

Megalomaniacs, consider yourselves warned. Anchovies will not help you create your empire. To rule prolonged and prosper, serve corn.

That's the word from archaeologists who say they've solved a mystery that has been puzzling their colleagues for the past 40 many years : How did some of the earliest Peruvians control to make a robust civilization without corn the crop that fueled other fantastic civilizations of the Americas, like the Maya?

The Norte Chico folks, who lived some five,000 many years ago, built a thriving civilization but from the archaeological proof previously accessible, it looked like they did it solely on anchovies. And anybody who has ever nibbled an anchovy on a pizza is aware of there is not a great deal of meat on people small bones.

Would that have given the Norte Chico adequate oomph to construct the monumental architecture they left behind, including dozens of huge communities with big earthen platforms and circular ceremonial plazas, some forty meters across?

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A see of one of the ceremonial plazas at the Caral-Supe archaeological site.

A view of a single of the ceremonial plazas at the Caral-Supe archaeological web site.

" Think about anchovy at each and every meal you ate," says Jonathan Haas, an archaeologist at the Area Museum in Chicago. "The challenge with anchovies is if you are going to get calories out of them, you have to consume a great deal of them, and it is not a balanced diet regime."

Agriculture is deemed the engine of civilization, and in the Americas, that signifies corn.

However quite little proof of corn consumption had been observed in Peru dating back to the time of the Norte Chico, Haas and his colleagues figured these men and women just had to be consuming corn. So they made the decision to seem tougher.

Initially, they searched Norte Chico archaeological internet sites north of Lima for proof that the ancient Peruvians had been increasing corn. They observed lots of outdated maize pollen.

Then, they went looking for pollen on the stone tools the residents of Norte Chico employed to cook. They looked beneath the microscope, and "lo and behold, the big bulk of the tools are being applied to course of action maize," Haas tells The Salt.

Eventually, they looked in the fossilized human poop identified in the web sites. They found anchovy bones and lots of corn starch. And which is not all: Turns out, sweet potatoes had been the 2nd most well-known carbohydrate, and guava the most well-liked supply of sugar. (You can study a good deal from fossilized feces.)

Haas says this "corn principles " thesis may be controversial, but he thinks his team's data are sturdy adequate to hold up. The work was published in the Proceedings of the Nationwide Academy of Sciences.

"Rather than being a maritime- based society, it can be an agriculturally based mostly society," Haas says. "South America then falls in line with the rest of the civilizations of the globe."

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Fried Chicken And Waffles: The Dish The South Denied As Its Own ?

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Chicken and waffles: so delicious, but so controversial.

Chicken and waffles: so scrumptious, however so controversial.

Phone fried chicken and waffles a classic Southern food, and you're liable to get accused of a damn Yankee conspiracy.

That is what we found out last week, when our story about the dangers of a Southern fried diet plan prompted several of you with roots in the South to protest will not pin that dish on us! Here is a sampling of the comments we obtained :

" I'm a southerner, and I have by no means heard of fried chicken on a waffle!"

"I live in the deep, deep, deep South and I have by no means observed them in any of the 'soul' foods destinations I consume."

"I grew up in the South. The 1st time I heard of fried chicken and waffles was through a summer time working in LA... definitely an LA thing and not southern issue."

"This is a Yankee-fied interpretation of a southern staple."

Your visceral response acquired us questioning : Have been we wrong to assign this blend of carbs and fried goodness a Southern backstory? We put the question to John T. Edge, the director of the Southern Foodways Alliance and author of Fried Chicken: An American Story.

" It can be a Southern dish," Edge tells The Salt, "but a Southern dish as soon as or twice eliminated from the South."

" It can be a dish most popular between expatriate, African-American Southerners," he adds, "a dish most popular amongst Southerners now residing in urban locations, regardless of whether that be the urban South or the urban West, in the case of Los Angeles, or the urban North, in the case of New York."

So is it breakfast or dinner? Edge says there are no rules except that the chicken must be on the bone. He prefers the dish with dark meat, a drizzle of maple syrup and a hit of Tabasco.

As Edge recounts in his guide , both the East and West coasts get credit score for popularizing fried chicken and waffles. In the 1930s, the combo was a signature offering at Well's Supper Club a Harlem haunt that was a favorite of Sammy Davis Jr. and Nat King Cole. Out in Los Angeles, Roscoe's chain of soul meals eating places brought chicken and waffles to the Hollywood crowd starting in the 1970s.

But Edge suspects the dynamic duo has probably been a portion of America's culinary repertoire for significantly longer given that the nation's earliest days, when Thomas Jefferson brought a waffle iron back from France. As for the place chicken and waffles originated? Edge thinks it was many locations which includes the South.

"Killing a chicken, wringing its neck and cooking it for breakfast is a fairly conventional matter to do" in rural places, he says. Which is accurate in the South, he says, but also in the Midwest and in Pennsylvania Dutch country where men and women have been pairing waffles with chicken creamed, not fried for centuries.

Adding a waffle may possibly look exotic, he says, but it can be actually not far removed from chicken and biscuits or chicken and corn bread a waffle getting a type of " speedy bread." In numerous rural parts, he says, it was relatively typical for a farm girl to kill a chicken on Sunday morning, batter it up, cook it in a cast-iron skillet and serve it for breakfast with some type of quick bread.

" Which is a conventional dish," Edge says.

Hmm... regular . So why did we raise the hackles of so quite a few readers? Edge has a theory.

"Any time you speak about fried chicken in the South," says Edge, " you're in essence talking about somebody's mama, and when you talk about somebody's mama, somebody will get mad."

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One particular City's Enjoy Affair With Processed Cheese

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Provel, as witnessed in its native habitat.

Provel, as noticed in its native habitat.

With thirty Rock off the air, Judah Friedlander has time to indulge other interests. Like processed cheese.

Friedlander, who played Frank on the sitcom (the man with all the custom baseball caps), says he's been "obsessed" for the past several many years with Provel, a processed blend of Swiss, provolone and cheddar hardly ever identified outdoors its hometown of St. Louis.

" It can be not even legally cheese," Friedlander tells The Salt. " It is melted plastic from the '80s."

Even its fans admit Provel is an acquired taste. For me, consuming raw Provel is akin to chewing on a candle that is lit at the other finish. It has the texture and sheen of wax, with an aftertaste redolent of the liquid "smoke taste " that is the last ingredient listed on the label of a block of the stuff.

But men and women raised consuming Provel love it. It is pretty much unknown outdoors of St. Louis, but in that city Provel can be identified all more than, melted onto pizzas and hamburgers and adorning pasta and salads.

" Folks from St. Louis love it," Tom Coll, proprietor of Joe Fassi Sausage & Sandwich Factory on the Hill, the city's Italian community, tells The Salt. "When we switched to provolone, folks desired the Provel."

St. Louis natives talk a fantastic deal about how it's buttery and smoky and does not melt all in excess of every thing like conventional pizza cheese.

"I like cheese that's a minor sharper," says Mike McCubbins, who performs at the city's central library. "Provel has more tang than, say, mozzarella."

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An Imo's pizza from St. Louis, produced with Provel, the regional specialty cheese.

An Imo's pizza from St. Louis, created with Provel, the regional specialty cheese.

There are disputes about the origin story of Provel, but it really is mentioned to have been invented on the Hill shortly following Planet War II. Currently, a lot more than two million pounds are consumed just about every yr, in accordance to Margie Imo, president of Imo's Pizza.

The cheese got its large break, so to talk, with the 1964 opening of Imo's, which has been a St. Louis staple for generations the pizza numerous men and women grew up on and one of the number of, back in the day, that delivered.

Imo's now has more than 90 areas, mostly in the St. Louis location. Imo's is the two the prime purveyor of Provel, sitting atop its cracker-thin crusts, and its distributor (Provel is created by a subsidiary of Kraft).

These who leave the city pine for a merchandise that they cannot get except on visits household. " Every time we come back to town, it truly is anything I make my family order," says Andrea Sigritz, who now lives in Arlington, Va. "We get the Imo's pizza with Provel, and it really is on the salad."

But it hasn't taken hold outdoors St. Louis except possibly in Greenpoint, the hipster headquarters area of Brooklyn. A restaurant identified as Speedy Romeo, which is co-owned by a Missouri native, now serves a pizza topped with Provel called the "St. Louie."

Speedy Romeo is the kind of place where personnel brags about mozzarella and ricotta " made in- residence every day." Provel, arriving as it does from the Imo's warehouse in St. Louis in boxes packed with dry ice, "is almost like the antithesis of all that," says manager Jef Diesel.

Having just partaken of a St. Louie, Diesel talks about how high -temperature, wood-fired Provel takes on a golden brown, caramelized skin, whilst retaining "the umami of the flavors and the smokiness of it. It really is one particular of individuals solid -contrast, secret substances," Diesel says.

The St. Louie is now Speedy Romeo's second -most- well known pie. But prior to you make a decision Provel is going to be the upcoming PBR- fashion, down- marketplace phenomenon, don't forget : It will not please each and every palate.

At Pi, yet another neighborhood pizza chain in St. Louis, some of the servers put on T-shirts with the word Provel crossed out.

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The St. Louis- based Pi Pizzeria chain prides itself on not using Provel in its pizzas.

The St. Louis- based Pi Pizzeria chain prides itself on not utilizing Provel in its pizzas.

"Our no-Provel shirts are additional of a statement than a dislike of the merchandise," says co- owner Chris Sommers. "I do believe this assisted get people in the door, specifically in our early days. We chose to differentiate in a Provel- heavy town, and that is been very good for our small business."

But Pi, when quickly expanding and a favored of President Obama (and mine), is nowhere near as ubiquitous as Imo's in St. Louis.

In the course of his pay a visit to to the city last week, Friedlander sent out "I have to be in St. Louis" pictures of Imo's slices via Twitter and Instagram. He ordered many much more pies from Imo's and invited his nightclub audience to " enjoy it or detest it."

He did not have to wait for takers. Admittedly, folks had been drinking, but all five pizzas have been consumed nicely before Friedlander was accomplished greeting fans and posing for their pics after the present.

" It can be disgusting and scrumptious," the comedian mentioned.

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How To Make A Chinese New Year -Worthy Potsticker

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  Chef Russell Blue Smith waits as Executive Chef Scott Drewno shouts out directions for teaching patrons to make Chinese dumplings the day prior to the beginning of the Chinese New 12 months, Feb. 9.

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  A dozen flavors go into Drewno's dumplings. Most essential, the seasonings include things like the "holy trinity" of scallions, ginger and garlic, a couple of kinds of salt, oyster sauce and additional. They are added into the pork and pork unwanted fat, and mixed to a fine paste.

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  Patrons lay out a damp circle of dumpling dough in their hands as they prepare to assemble the dumpling.

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  The dumpling dough circle is brushed with egg yolk in a "half-moon" pattern along the leading edge, which is important to holding the dumpling collectively when it cooks. "Your dumpling isn't going to have to look excellent. As prolonged as its appropriately sealed, it will cook up just as great as any other," says Drewno.

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  Drewno demonstrates how to properly seal the dumpling casing close to the meat filling, a mixture of pork, pork unwanted fat and spices.

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  Crinkled on one side, flat on the other, the dumplings are boiled for about five minutes until finally they float, then transferred, flat side down, into a pan of sizzling hot peanut oil. Only a single side of the dumpling is fried, and briefly! They might be identified as potstickers, but that is the final matter you actually want them to do in your pan.

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  The completed dumplings, effectively fried to a light crisp. The half-moon shape was meant to resemble ancient Chinese currency. Consuming the dumplings was believed to carry fortune and prosperity for the coming 12 months.

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one of seven

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Even though he estimates he is manufactured hundreds of 1000's of them, Scott Drewno says pork potstickers under no circumstances get old. In reality, they are the foods the executive chef of The Supply by Wolfgang Puck, a fine dining Asian fusion restaurant in Washington, D.C., says he would get to a desert island.

" They are anything you want in a dish salty, savory, filling," says Drewno, as he lovingly holds up one of three bowls of ground pork he planned to season and stuff into dumplings prior to our eyes.

The humble dumpling was typically prepared by families in northern China, sitting close to tables late into the night before the start out of the Chinese New 12 months.

And when the Yr of the Snake began last weekend, Chinese new year's celebrations traditionally last two weeks. So there is still time if you want to mark the event by striving your hand at dumplings this weekend.

Drewno not too long ago led a willing group of patrons by way of the sticky and twisty techniques of folding dumplings at a class in honor of the Chinese New Yr.

Have a visual taste by way of our slideshow over. Drewno's pork dumpling recipe is beneath.

Traditional Pork Dumpling With Black Vinegar Dipping Sauce

Filling:

1. five pound pork butt

one. five pound pork stomach, ground

2 ounces pork fatback, ground

1 tablespoon cure salt (sodium nitrate, or substitute kosher salt, Drewno says)

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

one tablespoon chopped ginger

two tablespoons sugar

1 / 4 cup oyster sauce

one teaspoon black pepper

one teaspoon white pepper

1 / 4 cup chopped cilantro

1 / two cup scallions, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon sesame oil

one tablespoon chili oil

1 / four cup Napa cabbage, lightly salted

two tablespoons flat garlic chives, blanched, chopped

Mix meats, fatback, oyster sauce, salt, sugar and peppers in a bowl. Location in freezer for twenty minutes. Grind in mixer with one / 4 -inch die. Mix in mixer with paddle attachment (" till it springs back at you and doesn't fall apart," Drewno says).

Include remaining ingredients.

To wrap:

Potsticker skins

Egg yolks

Spot potsticker skin on table. Brush half with egg yolk. Place little quantity of filling in center of skin. Fold in half, and crimp up sides, sealing filling.

Area in boiling water, cook three to 4 minutes until thoroughly cooked via. Drain.

Spot in scorching saute pan with peanut oil and cook on one side until golden brown. Clear away and place on plate with black vinegar dipping sauce (recipe follows). Garnish with carrot strings, beet strings and daikon strings.

Black Vinegar Dipping Sauce

(Most Asian markets carry the elements, Drewno says.)

four teaspoons black vinegar

one / 8 cup chili oil

four teaspoons sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons mushroom soy sauce

one / 4 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons ginger, finely chopped.

Location all ingredients in bowl and mix effectively.

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Romanian Horse Meat In British Lasagna Reveals Complex International Foods Trade

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Not all nations in Europe shun horse meat, as the sign above this butcher shop in Paris attests. But horse- consuming Europeans nonetheless don't like currently being swindled.

Not all countries in Europe shun horse meat, as the indicator over this butcher store in Paris attests. But horse- consuming Europeans nevertheless do not like currently being swindled.

How did the Romanian horse meat wind up in the British spaghetti sauce? Stick to its path, and you may get a fast tutorial in the complexities of the international foods trade.

Due to the fact horse meat initial turned up in Irish burgers four weeks ago, the saga of horse masquerading as cow has grow to be a pan-European scandal. Horse meat has turned up in beef tortellini in Germany cottage pies sold at schools in Lancashire, England and frozen lasagna in Norway, England and other countries.

Investigators trying to find the source of the horseflesh say it might have come from two slaughterhouses in Romania, with probably a detour in Poland, in advance of wending its way by way of at least six other European nations. Along the way, there have been a lot of options for it to have been mislabeled, repackaged or misrepresented.

Here is The Associated Press's tale of the trail:

"At least some of the horse meat originated at abattoirs in Romania, and was sent by means of a Cyprus-registered trader to a warehouse in the Netherlands. A French meat wholesaler, Spanghero, bought the meat from the trader, then resold it to the French frozen foods processor Comigel. The resulting meals was marketed in Britain and other countries under the Sweden- based Findus label as lasagna and other goods containing ground beef."

The European Union announced Friday at an emergency meeting that it would start off random DNA checks on meat traded across the EU's porous borders.

On Thursday, three males have been arrested at British slaughterhouses on fraud charges. And Dutch authorities Friday raided a meat processing plant suspected of processing Irish and Dutch horse meat and offering it as beef.

It can make you wonder if there is anybody in Europe who wasn't in the horse meat makeover organization.

Countries that traditionally shun horse meat, like Excellent Britain, are not pleased to find they've been eating it unawares. And in countries like France that never share that revulsion, consumers are angry about paying beef costs for cheaper horse meat.

By coincidence, some of us Salties met up for coffee this morning with Angelika Tritscher, a meals security skilled at the Globe Wellbeing Organization. Even though every country demands its own meals safety plan, Tritscher says, "You actually require to operate with each other. A nationwide technique alone won't do it any longer."

Her workplace has set up a network that assists nations investigate international food security outbreaks, such as a 2011 outbreak of salmonella in the United States triggered by pine nuts from Turkey.

But the increasing horse meat scandal helps make it clear that in a planet wherever meals markets often appear borderless, " purchaser beware" remains wise tips.

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Couple Ties The Knot With Their Own Afro-Asian Rice Treat

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"Jung is a moveable meal, wrapped in bamboo leaves," says Jidan Koon. She and her now-husband, Bryant Terry, designed their own multicultural edition of the traditional dish when they got engaged.

"Jung is a transportable meal, wrapped in bamboo leaves," says Jidan Koon. She and her now-husband, Bryant Terry, created their own multicultural edition of the conventional dish when they acquired engaged.

Bryant Terry and Jidan Koon's partnership evolved more than cooking. So substantially so that when they received engaged, they developed a exclusive dish: Afro-Asian jung, based mostly on the savory Cantonese treat Koon appreciated as a child in San Francisco's Chinatown.

"Jung is a portable meal, wrapped in bamboo leaves," Koon says. " It can be a triangular-shaped pocket, and when you peel back the leaves, you are going to uncover a glistening pyramid of sweet rice," occasionally filled with bits of shiitake mushrooms and a tough -boiled quail or salty duck egg.

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Tamari Greens, Miso Yams: Chef Gives Vegans Multicultural Flavor

Vegan when they became engaged, the couple wanted their jung recipe to reflect their food philosophy and Terry's African-American heritage.

Peanuts, widespread in Asian and African cooking, stayed. Black glutinous rice and black "forbidden" rice joined the classic white glutinous rice. They subbed black-eyed peas, eaten for very good luck in the American South, for the mung beans. And to replace the taste of pork fat, the pair caramelized onions and kept the shiitake mushrooms.

To celebrate their union, the couple invited good friends and relatives to help make their Afro-Asian jung at their engagement party.

The crowd wrapped adequate jung to feed almost 100 people, says Koon. "It went above so nicely. Individuals thought it was tasty."

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Recipe: Afro-Asian Jung With Shoyu-Vinegar-Chili Sauce

Makes about 20 jung

For the jung

one cup black "forbidden rice," soaked in water overnight
two cups brown glutinous rice, soaked in water overnight
two cups white glutinous rice, soaked in water overnight
Coarse sea salt
5 tablespoons added -virgin olive oil, divided
1 1 / 2 cups black-eyed peas, soaked in water overnight
ten shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water overnight
40 dried bamboo leaves (plus extra for redos)
1 massive onion, diced
one 1 / two cups raw peanuts
One spool of natural cotton string (for wrapping)

For the dipping sauce

one / two cup fresh cilantro, minced
one jalapeno, seeded and minced
one / two cup green onion, thinly sliced
1 / 2 cup shoyu
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
one one / two teaspoons raw cane sugar
1 / 2 cup water

In a substantial pot more than substantial heat, carry 4 quarts of water to a boil. In batches of 4 or 5, boil the bamboo leaves until they are soft, about 2 minutes. Rinse them effectively, transfer to a container and cover with water.

With kitchen scissors, minimize the bamboo leaves, widthwise, about one / 4 inch beneath the stem (see diagram above ). Discard the stems.

Drain the rice and combine all 3 varieties in a large bowl. Include one teaspoon of salt and three tablespoons of oil and set aside. Drain the black-eyed peas and set aside. Drain the shiitake mushrooms and reduce each in half.

In a medium-sized saucepan more than medium heat, mix the diced onion with 2 tablespoons of oil and saute until eventually it starts to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Add the peanuts and one / two teaspoon of salt and cook till the peanuts start out to brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to bowl.

Organize all of the components on a counter or table. Minimize one spool of natural cotton string into sixteen strands, each 27 inches lengthy.

To assemble the jung, refer to diagram over for every step. Line up two bamboo leaves lengthwise, vein side down, putting the left edge of the correct leaf flush against the vein of the left leaf.

Following, fold the pointed finish up one -third of the length of the leaves. Then fold the leaves in half, lengthwise.

Make a pocket for the filling by opening up the fold of the final two leaves on the correct.

Holding the pocket at its deepest corner, insert substances in this purchase : two tablespoons of the rice mixture, one tablespoon of the peanut mixture, one tablespoon of black-eyed peas, 1 / 2 of a shiitake mushroom, and 1 a lot more tablespoon of the rice mixture.

Fold the leaves more than the pocket and extend the ends of the leaves beyond the edge of the pocket by 1 to three inches. The jung really should be tightly wrapped, resembling a 3 -sided pyramid.

Fold down the sides of the leaves to make the last corner of the pyramid. Consider the part of folded leaf that overextends the jung and fold it more than to a single side. This is the final fold to close up the corner. It is important that adequate of the leaf overextends the jung for you to make these last folds.

For the duration of this phase of the wrapping, components of the leaves may possibly crack open. If the crack is little ( 1 inch or much less ) you can use a different leaf to cover the crack: Soon after making the 3 -sided pyramid form, layer the further leaf on top rated of the crack and wrap the rest of the leaf around the pyramid.

Tightly wrap a strand of string all around 1 finished pyramid, leaving 4 to five inches loose to make the final knot. Start wrapping to secure the final corner fold this aids to make sure the complete jung stays collectively as you continue wrapping. Make a tight double knot.

Repeat until eventually all the jung have been tied.

To cook the assembled jung, carry 4 quarts of fresh water to a boil in a massive pot more than high heat. Transfer just about every jung to the boiling water, cover and cook for 2 hrs.

Any leftover jung can be frozen and reboiled later.

To make the dipping sauce, combine all elements in a little bowl while the jung are boiling and set aside.

Recipe excerpted from The Inspired Vegan by Bryant Terry. Copyright 2012 by Bryant Terry. Excerpted by permission of Da Capo Lifelong Books.

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Bean-To-Bar Chocolate Makers Dare To Bare How It's Done

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  The founders of Madcasse sought to base the entire chocolate-making process, from farm through factory, in Madagascar. The goal: keep jobs and cash in Africa.

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  Courtesy of Madcasse Chocolate
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  Workers in Madagascar prepare cocoa beans for drying. The process has a big effect on the quality of the finished chocolate.

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  Courtesy of Madcasse Chocolate
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  Askinosie Chocolate, launched six years ago, is one of the pioneers of the bean-to-bar movement. Bars are made with beans from single regions, or a single farm.

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  Bob Linder/Courtesy of Askinosie Chocolate
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  Shawn Askinosie, founder of Askinosie Chocolate, buys cocoa beans directly from farmers, like this Uwate cocoa farmers group in Tenende, Tanzania. Dealing direct "impacts the flavor of chocolate, and it brings the consumers closer to the producers," Askinosie says.

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  Bob Linder/Courtesy of Askinosie Chocolate
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  Dandelion Chocolate lures customers into its San Francisco factory with a cafe and store. Co-founder Cameron Ring says most people don't know how chocolate is made, even if they eat it every day.

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  Molly DeCoudreaux
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  The Dandelion Chocolate factory has an open workspace where patrons can watchand smellthe chocolate as it is ground, conched, formed into bars, and wrapped.

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  Is it chocolate yet? Customers can test the finished product on the spot at Dandelion Chocolate's storefront cafe.

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If you're looking to buy chocolate in San Francisco this Valentine's Day, just follow your nose down Valencia Street. "A lot of people walk in [and say], 'Oh, my gosh, the smell!" says Cameron Ring, co-owner of Dandelion Chocolate.

That lush chocolate scent is wafting from a new factory that's smaller than many two-bedroom apartments. The floor plan may be modest, but the olfactory output is huge. And it's not just the sweet perfume of freshly tempered chocolate. Just-ground cocoa beans exude an acidic tang that fades in a day or two, to be replaced by that classic chocolate aroma. The grassy, acrid smell of fermented cacao beans is even less alluring. They're sequestered in a sealed room that vents outside.

"Chocolate is one food where everyone is familiar with it, but it has this untold story," Ring says. As part of the growing bean-to-bar chocolate movement, he wants to tell that story. Thus the factory in a high-traffic area of downtown San Francisco, with a small store and cafe up front that lure customers in to see the whirring machines in the factory beyond.

Dandelion imports chocolate from individual farms in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Madagascar. The bars are simple, made with just cocoa beans and sugar. They are meant to be tasted and compared, akin to a wine tasting or coffee cupping. Ring, a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur who co-founded the social networking site Plaxo, says: "The beans are the stars of the show."

By controlling the chocolate-making process from the farm to the bar, bean-to-bar chocolate entrepreneurs say they can create better chocolate chocolate that preserves the beans' distinctive flavors. Many also hope that the farm-to-bar pipeline will make for more ethical, sustainable production in an industry with a long history of exploitation.

"I actually go source these beans myself on four continents, directly with farmers," says Shawn Askinosie, founder of Askinosie Chocolate, based in Springfield, Mo. "I pay them directly. We pay them above-market prices. Then I go back with my financial statements, translated in whatever language they need, and profit-share with them."

That financial transparency pays off, Askinosie says, because farmers are motivated to test and perfect their drying and fermentation methods, which have a huge influence on chocolate flavor.

But making chocolate that way isn't cheap. A 3-ounce Askinosie bar, made from beans bought from farmers in San Jose del Tambo, Ecuador, will set you back $8. And it's not easy. Askinosie, a former criminal defense attorney, decided to try making chocolate from scratch after getting into baking as a midlife hobby. "Four months later I was in the Amazon," he says, buying cacao beans from subsistence farmers.

He soon became a cocoa bean exporter, in an industry that he says is 20 years behind the coffee trade in terms of sophistication and efficiency. "I have tried murder cases, and those are pretty stressful and challenging," Askinosie says. "This, dealing with farmers and importing, is a lot more stressful and challenging."

Still, Askinosie says he's making a profit. "We know this direct-trade with farmers model works. All we have to do is look at coffee to prove it," pointing to Chicago's Intelligentsia Coffee, which pioneered buying beans direct from growers.

Askinosie also makes a point of investing in the communities at both ends of the chocolate trail. His company funds lunch programs that feed 2,000 children a day in the Philippines and Tanzania. Back home in Springfield, he teaches entrepreneurship at public schools near the storefront factory.

Bean-to-bar entrepreneurs see direct trade, despite its frustrations, as a solution to what they perceive as the shortcomings of fair trade certification, which relies on third-party oversight. Those certifications have become controversial in the coffee industry, as huge roasters like Starbucks and Green Mountain start touting fair trade credentials.

But that also means that chocolate fans need to get up to speed on the often murky differences between fair trade and direct trade.

"Almost all the bean-to-bar chocolate makers are doing pretty good work, paying their farmers above-market prices," says Clay Gordon, a chocolate consultant and author of the Chocolate Life blog. "Most of them are choosing not to pay $8,000 to $10,000 for certification. They're paying that to the farmers."

Madcasse Chocolate is experimenting with another twist in bean-to-bar keeping production in country. "We saw that there was a gaping hole in the chocolate production system," says Tim McCollum, a co-founder of Madcasse. "Africa isn't poor because they produce agriculture; it's poor because that's all they produce."

McCollum and his partners were Peace Corps volunteers in Madagascar and, like most volunteers, felt they had gained a life-changing experience while giving almost nothing to their host country. So they looked for a product that could be made entirely in Africa. First they tried vanilla but quickly realized it had a limited market. But the world's demand for chocolate appears limitless. The former Peace Corps volunteers are selling their bars to national retailers like Whole Foods and Wegman's.

The company has staff in Madagascar to work with farmers and supervise fermentation and drying, as well as monitor production at a factory owned by an African partner, which employs about 40 people. McCollum says, "They're doing everything from new product development to recipe development to actually making the chocolate."

People may want food that's ethically produced, McCollum says, but those values don't help if the food is no good. "What they really want is better products. It all comes down to the quality." Has he succeeded? 'I don't want to sound coy here, but you'll know when you taste the product."

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