the cocoa of the sabiqun

life is a cup
of hot hot chocolate
the cocoa of experiences
the formless milkiness that is you

for most
HC is about mixing and meshing
for the fortunate fortunate...few
HC is a tadbit more

not a cup, but a mug
a big green garrulous mug
fit for both Hercules and Rustam
or both Muhammad and Jesus ibn Maryam

cocoa hardly suffices
there are those who
seek the cinnamon, masala,
marshmallow, and cream oh so whipped

these are the saabiqoon
those who are drawn near
even after tasting the bliss of choc
even after filling their cup to the brim

Ulker in the West Bank

My chocolate addiction forces me to eat my daily bar from the nearest corner store. Today, I had a grand serving of kunafah from downtown Bethlehem after a flavorful shwarma. Yesterday, I chose an Ulker bar after searching the shelves for Twix. For only 1 shekel, I was able to obtain this Turkish delight(after all, it is made in Turkey).

The milk chocolate containing approximately 25% cacao( a bit more than Hershey's) coated the frail wafer inside similar to the architecture of the Twix bar. I expected the caramel to be of the same thick consistency in Twix, but was instead treated to a silky darker and richer caramel floating between the wafer and milk chocolate wrapping. The variety of chocolates in ordinary cafes is surprising and includes Israeli, Palestinian, and other global chocolate manufacturers. What will tomorrow have in store?

Lava Cake Adventures

Yesterday, for the chocolate gathering, I made two brownies, one of which carried fresh blueberries amid white chocolate chips. The combination was deadly and touched the palate in a most delightful way. Neither the blueberries nor the chocolate overpowered the senses; both managed to share the pedestal equally.

Today, after acquiring the ramekins, I proceeded to the next level of chocolatiering - the conquest of the molten chocolate lava cake. A quick Crate & Barrel run by a dear friend made this adventure possible. Yesterday, I carefully creamed the truffle-like mixture in preparation for the molten centers. This afternoon, I prepared the cake mixture and baked at 400 degrees. Garnished with strawberries and bananas and dusted the Scharfenberger shavings, the lava cakes came out spectacularly.

Next time, I plan to submerge the centers in the ramekin and possibly give more time to cool down to the ramekins.

Baqara 1-15

Marble Pound Cake

Now that the kitchen has recently welcomed a cake mixer onto its shelves, we attempted the infamous marble pound cake. The mix of Trader Joe's semisweet chocolate chips with equal weights of butter and flour make this a delectable treat on any Friday night. The decorations, simple as they were, included Ghirardelli white chocolate chips hand-placed on a basic dark chocolate ganache.

The symmetry of the dish was certainly an appealing aspect despite the fact we had to crudely reconstruct the cake after the mold held tenaciously onto several chunks from the top portion. Fortunately, the ganache provided a silky covering to this structural defect.

After pouring the ganache steadily, I found that the streams of chocolate followed the identations of the cake mold in a nealy consistent fashion. I could not help but remember the ago old adage saying that somethings are more than the sum of its parts. Glory be to the Almighty! Too often in life, you find that simple actions on your part yield amazingly unexpected results. Productivity and products are gifts from God. Just tie your camel and take the first step or two!

Spring Break Creations

Its amazing what you can do with ingredients around the kitchen. Behold this dessert creation composed of Gelato & Ben 'n Jerry's ice cream and draped in dark & white chocolate ganache. Of course, this would hardly be complete without several well-placed milk chocolate Milanos.


To the right hand side, my former freshman roommate made a guest appearance in the kitchen to bake these Ghirardelli milk and white chocolate chip cookies. One word for this past week: indulgence. May the Almighty forgive his indulgent servants!

Layered Cheese Cake

Today we adventured into the realm of layered cheesecakes, alternating between the creamy vanilla and milky chocolate textures. While some fatal kitchen mistakes were committed(putting the wrong burner on the stove and trying to figure out why the butter wasn't melting), we brought out spirit of originality back into the game.

The crust is not crust, bhai or bheno. To describe it in a more dignified manner, it is the membrane of our creation composed of tidbits of Oreo's and Chips Ahoy! and sprinkled with Ghirardelli's very own white chocolate chips.

Commissioned specially for a birthday, the technique of layering dates back to an unknown sage in some esteemed century. Whoever she or he is, please keep 'em in mind when you supplicate to the Almighty.

Next time we need to remember to chill the cake for at least 7 hours before serving in order to preserve the layering. Also, we added a touch of Sri Lankan cinnamon to the brownies which truly hit the spot.

Harvard Chocolatier Competition

Last weekend, I led a group at a chocolate competition. Our entry took 3 hours to create and was arranged in components with one person in charge of each. There were basically three main components - a triple chocolate truffle cake, fudgy brownie, and double chocolate sugar cookies. Just when others thought we had finished, we knew the fun was just starting.

Using a few of our trademark decorating techniques, we created chocolate bowls, shaved chocolate, arranged the cake, and infused our sense of order into this mass of chocolate. One cooking rule we learned was to always add more chocolate than you think you need.

At the time of the competition, however, we had to remember the prophetic emphasis on humility. Despite the fact our entry outshined them all, we had keep our chins down so others could seem to have their chins up. We took 1st place!

Al-Fatiha. The Opening

Salam y'all

This is the inaugural post to this blog in which I will share both my love for the words of the Almighty and adventurous chocolatiering recipes. This is my attempt to establish the hierarchy of love between God and his creation- the cocoa bean.

As I upload audio, dont forget to subscribe to the podcast which will have it all available.
Fatiha is available here.


Na'eel