Tanner Owens

Author

From Mexico with Love: Cuna De Piedra

by Tanner Owens on March 18, 2024

Thousands of years ago – as far back as 1500 B.C. – ancient Mexican civilizations such as the Olmec and Aztecs harvested cacao and consumed it with great reverence in celebratory occasions and religious ceremonies. However, the cacao they consumed bore little resemblance to what we know as chocolate today. Spiced heavily and served as an unsweetened drink, this early cacao drink was bitter and served either hot or cold. With the addition of annatto seed and maize, it took on a more reddish hue, rather than the creamy brown we associate with cacao drinks today.

Flash forward over 3,500 years and cacao is enjoyed by hundreds of millions of people in its more well-known form of chocolate. With such a rich cacao history, it’s only natural that one of the most exciting craft chocolate makers in the world is coming out of Mexico – Cuna De Piedra. Translating to “cradle of stone,” Cuna De Piedra produces exceptional chocolate using Mexican heirloom cacao fused with the flavors, traditions, and pride of Mexico.

While many companies have up to six or more intermediaries to go through before the bar reaches you, Cuna de Piedra takes pride in having a hand in every part of the process from harvest to packaging. This not only ensures quality, but fair pay to those who produce the cacao – ensuring these farms can continue to thrive for generations.

The result of this is a catalog of chocolate bars with exceptional texture and unique flavors we’re proud to share at Caputo’s. Below is a shortlist of some of our favorites:

Cuna De Piedra Comalcalco Tabasco with Hibiscus Flowers 73%

Luscious 73% dark chocolate meets the refreshing sweetness of rare hibiscus flowers harvested for hundreds of years by the indigenous Numa Gamaa Ski Yu Me’Phaa community. Wrapped in an inconspicuous black wrapper, the bar itself stuns with dried hibiscus flower flakes coating the bottom. As for the taste, that doesn’t disappoint either. Wonderfully aromatic and sweet, this hibiscus-dusted bar is hard to beat.

Cuna De Piedra Comalcalco Tabasco with Mezcal Reposado 73%

It wouldn’t be a Mexican chocolate company without a mezcal-infused chocolate bar now would it? This 73% dark chocolate provides a surprising creaminess and richness that pairs beautifully with the subtle wood and smoke notes of the mezcal. Using 100% Maguey Espadín from Santiago Matatlán, Oaxaca, Cuna De Piedra sources mezcal made from Egyptian stone mill-crushed agave that is double-distilled and aged for two years in white oak barrels.

Cuna De Piedra Soconusco Chiapas 85%

Coming marginally closer to the flavors the Aztecs enjoyed, Cuna De Piedra’s 85% dark chocolate provides a more robust flavor that lends itself well to baking and cooking use. A great dual-purpose bar, this 85% is also very snackable when you’re craving something bolder. Using beans sourced from the 28-person RAYEN cooperative in Raymundo Enríquez, this chocolate is bitter at the front, but grows more complex as it melts in your mouth. On the back of each Cuna De Piedra bar they state: “Good things take time, but they are worth waiting for.” That message rings exceptionally true with their 85% bar. Take a bite, let it melt slowly, and you will be rewarded.

Barnacle Knows a Thing or Two About Kelp

by Tanner Owens on August 2, 2023

If you’re like me, you may not look at kelp – a type of large brown algae – and wonder what it tastes like. Luckily for us, the good folks at Barnacle Foods did! Born-and-raised Juneauites Matt and Lia founded Barnacle in 2017 after their bullwhip kelp-infused salsas garnered high praise at their local farmer’s market. Founded with the mission of showcasing just one of the many delicious flavors of Alaska, Barnacle also champions ocean conservation and sustainable harvesting.

Kelp farming is a relatively young industry, and Barnacle is leading the way in bringing it to its full potential. Through tireless advocacy and leading by example, Barnacle is ensuring kelp forests and the kelp farming industry remain healthy for generations of Alaskans to come. Barnacle also pays respect to the indigenous regions from which their ingredients are sourced – including Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Haida waters.

Here at Caputo’s, we share this sentiment. It is crucial to protect biodiversity and ensure our grandkids enjoy the same access to the amazing food and ecosystems our ancestors enjoyed.

Since their inception, Barnacle has since expanded into barbeque sauces, hot sauce, seasonings, chili crisp, and of course, salsa! Kelp imparts salty, savory, and vegetal notes to anything it’s used in. Even more, kelp is an incredibly sustainable product. With a growth rate of up to 18 inches a day, kelp forests require zero additional resources to grow. These sprawling forests also absorb carbon, helping to balance our ocean’s pH levels.

Harvesting a Kelp Forest

Here are a couple of our favorite products from Barnacle:

Kelp Chili Crisp: Barnacle teamed up with chef Taku of Outdoor Chef Life to bring this wonderfully complex chili crisp to our shelves. Using fried bullwhip kelp, onions, and chilis de arbol, this chili crisp and its accompanying spicy vegetable oil are the perfect addition to eggs any way you want to make them. While the chilis de arbol bring a smoky heat to the mix, the onions, garlic, and sugar add flavor and a surprising sweetness. Try it on pizza, pasta dishes, or – as Barnacle suggests – on top of donuts!

Bullwhip Kelp Hot Sauce: The product that introduced me to Barnacle. This hot sauce blew me away with its unbelievable umami flavor. The piri piri pepper-derived heat balances effortlessly with the briny flavors of bullwhip kelp, creating a deviously addictive hot sauce that pairs well with just about anything! Breakfast burritos, eggs, grilled veggies and much more can be elevated in no time with a few dashes of this hot sauce.