Passion for chocolate - David Wolfe at TEDxHelsinki
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0:04 - 0:06My name is David Wolfe.
-
0:06 - 0:09I was born near New York city in America,
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0:09 - 0:11currently residing in Ontario Canada.
-
0:11 - 0:17I am a renegade nutritionist,
I am renegade superfoodist -
0:17 - 0:19and infopreneur,
-
0:19 - 0:21but above all of that
-
0:21 - 0:23I am gastronome.
-
0:23 - 0:27I explore unique foods that are available
to us all over the world. -
0:27 - 0:31In 2002 I founded, as part of my work,
-
0:31 - 0:33a nonprofit organization
-
0:33 - 0:36The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation,
whose goal is to plant -
0:36 - 0:4118 billion fruit trees
and nut trees all over the planet. -
0:41 - 0:45We're at about 200,000 right now.
-
0:45 - 0:49And, that same year
that we founded this organization, -
0:49 - 0:53a wonderful organization
filled with amazing people, -
0:53 - 0:59I ran into the most incredible
fruit and nut tree in the world. -
0:59 - 1:02It is the source
-
1:02 - 1:05of the Earth's favorite food.
-
1:05 - 1:08That's right, the population of the world
has one favorite food. -
1:08 - 1:11And of course, it's chocolate.
-
1:11 - 1:15Now, in my exploration of this
I stumbled into it -
1:15 - 1:17because I was a health food fanatic.
-
1:17 - 1:21I never ate chocolate
since I was fifteen years old. -
1:21 - 1:25This was about when I was maybe 32.
-
1:25 - 1:29I stumbled into
this form of chocolate here. -
1:29 - 1:31This is raw chocolate.
-
1:31 - 1:34This is chocolate
in its unique original form, -
1:34 - 1:36a form that is called --
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1:36 - 1:40by the British it is the slang word "coco."
-
1:40 - 1:42But it's really cacao.
That's the real word. -
1:42 - 1:46And is sometimes called a bean,
but it's really a nut. -
1:46 - 1:50It is the most widely eaten
nut in the world -
1:50 - 1:53that nobody actually eats.
-
1:53 - 1:55I was in Hawaii with some friends.
-
1:55 - 1:59We were peeling them. They started
showing up in our smoothies. -
1:59 - 2:01We'd get these coconuts,
we'd break up coconuts -
2:01 - 2:03
and make these incredible drinks. -
2:03 - 2:06We called them superfoods smoothies.
-
2:06 - 2:09And we started adding them to these
smoothies and I asked my friend one day, -
2:09 - 2:14I said, "What is this?"
I didn't know what it was. -
2:14 - 2:17And he said,
"Oh, just peel the next one, and eat it." -
2:17 - 2:21So, I did eat it.
And that's what it looks like on the inside. -
2:21 - 2:24And, at that exact moment
-
2:24 - 2:28that I ate that food,
I was touched by the spirit -
2:28 - 2:30of chocolate.
-
2:31 - 2:34A food that's archetypically connected
-
2:34 - 2:36with winning the golden ticket,
-
2:36 - 2:39that's connected with prosperity.
-
2:39 - 2:41I was taken on a rocket ride
-
2:41 - 2:43across the universe
-
2:43 - 2:46in a voyage of discovery
that has brought me right to you -
2:46 - 2:49at this present moment, right now.
-
2:49 - 2:53This food is filled
with legends and lore, -
2:53 - 2:57which I summarized along with
scientific data and recipe information -
2:57 - 2:58and all kinds of great stuff
-
2:58 - 3:00in my book "Naked chocolate,"
-
3:00 - 3:04which became the sourcebook
or a reference book -
3:04 - 3:06for people who are interested
in raw chocolate, -
3:06 - 3:10because all the chocolate we've ever had
has been processed -
3:10 - 3:12through high heat and machines.
-
3:12 - 3:14And we thought,
maybe we should just eat it -
3:14 - 3:17cold processed -- is there a difference.
-
3:17 - 3:19And that's we're gonna explore here
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3:19 - 3:23as we delve into the astonishing truth
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3:23 - 3:27about the world's greatest food.
-
3:27 - 3:30Chocolate comes from the Mayan lands
and ancient Mayan farms. -
3:30 - 3:33Chocolate is a Mayan word.
-
3:33 - 3:36The word "cacao" is one of the
oldest words -
3:36 - 3:39in use in the world today.
-
3:39 - 3:46Some people estimate that
that word is 15,000 years old. -
3:46 - 3:48The oldest word in the world.
-
3:48 - 3:51It was brought to the West
and brought to you -
3:51 - 3:53by Hernando Cortez.
-
3:53 - 3:58He was the conqueror of Mexico.
It all happened by an accident, -
3:58 - 4:00because Montezuma,
who was the leader -
4:00 - 4:02of Mexico at that time,
-
4:02 - 4:06was in a state of civil war
in Mexico City. -
4:06 - 4:09And when Cortez showed up there
in 1521, there was -- -
4:09 - 4:11they believe that
-
4:11 - 4:14Cuauhtémoc himself had come to
the great city. -
4:14 - 4:17Christopher Columbus,
when he first spotted cacao -
4:17 - 4:20he thought it was almond.
-
4:20 - 4:24And this was money for them.
This is what their currency was. -
4:24 - 4:27Today we use coins.
Then they used cacao. -
4:27 - 4:29It was their money.
-
4:29 - 4:32And he saw -- somebody dropped
some cacao beans on a little boat. -
4:32 - 4:35And they all jumped for it.
-
4:35 - 4:40Columbus wrote that these people
are crazy about almond. -
4:40 - 4:47Montezuma was known to drink
50 cups of chocolate a day. -
4:48 - 4:51It was always consumed as a drink.
-
4:51 - 4:52And there you see the cup
-
4:52 - 4:56that Montezuma was known to drink out of,
or one that's similar to that. -
4:56 - 5:00Anyway, how do you turn this bean,
this nut, into a drink? -
5:00 - 5:03Well, you'll have to break it open,
and eventually -
5:03 - 5:07get all of those cacao beans into a beverage,
which we'll see later. -
5:07 - 5:09But before we do that,
-
5:09 - 5:11we've gotta look at where
the chocolate comes from. -
5:11 - 5:13This is the chocolate tree.
-
5:13 - 5:16And yes, money does grow on trees.
-
5:16 - 5:20Still today the number one
cash crop in the world. -
5:20 - 5:22And it's the best crop
-
5:22 - 5:26for keeping indigenous people
in the jungle, -
5:26 - 5:29so that we don't cut down
our sacred forests. -
5:29 - 5:31Every time you choose to buy chocolate,
-
5:31 - 5:36organic chocolate, and or,
what I prefer -- raw chocolate, -
5:36 - 5:38you are voting with your money
to save the rain forest, -
5:38 - 5:40and it is a vote that counts.
-
5:40 - 5:44It's the best vote you can have.
-
5:44 - 5:46It grows in a little pod.
-
5:46 - 5:48What an interesting looking plant.
-
5:48 - 5:51It grows right off the trunk.
-
5:51 - 5:52The fruit does.
-
5:52 - 5:54And inside --
-
5:55 - 5:57there's the flower.
-
5:57 - 5:58This is the glory of chocolate.
-
5:58 - 6:00Look at the different colors there.
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6:00 - 6:03Inside we see this.
-
6:03 - 6:06These are the cacao nuts,
or the beans, or the nut -
6:06 - 6:08that all chocolate is made out of inside.
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6:08 - 6:11And around each nut is a white pulp.
-
6:11 - 6:16And that pulp was traditionally
in Amazonia and Central America -
6:16 - 6:19where chocolate is from,
was only eaten by women. -
6:19 - 6:24But men ate the nut on the inside.
-
6:24 - 6:27This is what that pulp looks like.
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6:27 - 6:30That's what we call 'The best day ever'.
-
6:30 - 6:32When you have that much chocolate,
real chocolate, -
6:32 - 6:34original chocolate, raw chocolate,
-
6:34 - 6:37the fruit than nut,
the pulp, everything, -
6:37 - 6:41but you gotta watch out,
because all the creatures in the forest eat it. -
6:41 - 6:42And in fact,
-
6:42 - 6:48it is known that if you have a forest
with 140 species of different birds -
6:48 - 6:50then when you put a cacao orchard in,
-
6:50 - 6:52and you put it right into the jungle;
-
6:52 - 6:55no trees are taken out,
nothing is cut down. -
6:55 - 6:58You take your little baby cacao plants
or "chocolate trees", -
6:58 - 6:59you put them right in the forest,
-
6:59 - 7:03and that will attract at least
40 more species of birds. -
7:03 - 7:08Birds love to hang out
in chocolate trees. -
7:09 - 7:11It comes back to this;
the coin of the realm, -
7:11 - 7:15the great cacao bean.
The secret inside. -
7:15 - 7:17We had an amazing discovery early on.
-
7:17 - 7:21In that, that cacao bean, the thing
that all chocolate is made out of, -
7:21 - 7:27is the highest antioxidant food
in the world. -
7:27 - 7:30This was a discovery.
This was not known ten years ago. -
7:30 - 7:32It is known now.
-
7:32 - 7:36Chocolate contains 15 times
the amount of antioxidants -
7:36 - 7:38as wild blueberries,
-
7:38 - 7:4220 times the antioxidants
as what's in green tea, -
7:42 - 7:4630 times the antioxidants
as red wine. -
7:46 - 7:49All of those pigments of color,
that are captured, -
7:49 - 7:52that beautiful purple color
-
7:52 - 7:54that's the antioxidants;
it's actually the color. -
7:54 - 7:58And the brown of chocolate
is the polyphenols -
7:58 - 8:03that protect yourselves and actually
protect you from aging. -
8:03 - 8:05Listen to this:
-
8:05 - 8:10It is known now that chocolate is the number
one longevity food in the world. -
8:10 - 8:11That is known.
-
8:11 - 8:15It is the number one food for your heart
according to the research, -
8:15 - 8:16for your heart.
-
8:16 - 8:19It's also a great way
-
8:19 - 8:25to party and have a good time
without a hangover. -
8:25 - 8:28Chocolate grows across
the temp required that the -- -
8:28 - 8:31what we call the tropical belt
of the world; -
8:31 - 8:36from about 20 degrees north latitude
to 20 degrees south latitude. -
8:36 - 8:40In that belt.
And it's originally from the Americas: -
8:40 - 8:41Central America,
-
8:41 - 8:44Venezuela, Ecuador.
-
8:44 - 8:46Most people now believe that chocolate
is originally from -
8:46 - 8:49the Orinoco river basin of Venezuela.
-
8:49 - 8:53That's where the Spanish
first rolled into and saw tens of thousands, -
8:53 - 8:56even hundreds of thousands
of wild cacao trees, -
8:56 - 8:57but no people,
-
8:57 - 8:59500 years ago.
-
8:59 - 9:03I searched all over the planet.
I visited shamans -
9:03 - 9:05asking them
what they thought about chocolate. -
9:05 - 9:11This shaman in the Amazon told me
that you can take the cacao tree bark, -
9:11 - 9:14peel it off, soak it in ice-cold water.
-
9:14 - 9:19It releases the gel in 24 hours,
and when you rub that in your scalp, -
9:19 - 9:22it cures male pattern baldness.
-
9:25 - 9:27I'm an infopreneur.
-
9:27 - 9:29My eyes went into dollar signs,
when I heard that. -
9:29 - 9:32You mean, there is a product that
would sell more than chocolate itself, -
9:32 - 9:34that comes from the chocolate tree?
-
9:34 - 9:36And we're researching this right now.
-
9:36 - 9:38First and foremost I am a researcher.
-
9:38 - 9:40That's what I love to do, I love to study,
-
9:40 - 9:43research and look into the data.
-
9:43 - 9:46Chocolate is the number one food
-
9:46 - 9:49in magnesium of any food in the world,
-
9:49 - 9:52that is the number one mineral
deficiency in the Western world. -
9:52 - 9:55Also, chocolate is the highest
natural source of iron, -
9:55 - 9:58the highest natural source of manganese
-
9:58 - 10:01and the highest natural source of chromium
-
10:01 - 10:03of any major food in the world.
-
10:03 - 10:06These are very important minerals
for blood building. -
10:06 - 10:10They're very important for
stable blood sugar -
10:10 - 10:13and, of course, magnesium de-stresses us.
-
10:13 - 10:15Could we use that?
I think so. -
10:15 - 10:18Chocolate is also extraordinarily rich
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10:18 - 10:22in phosphorus, zinc and copper.
-
10:22 - 10:27Zinc and copper for healthy nervous system
and phosphorus for bone. -
10:27 - 10:30We always hear about calcium,
calcium, calcium. -
10:30 - 10:33Phosphorus,
we need that for healthy bones. -
10:33 - 10:36And this is why chocolate
is associated with longevity. -
10:36 - 10:38If you recall,
-
10:38 - 10:40there was a great book written years ago,
which we're gonna look at -
10:40 - 10:43"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
-
10:43 - 10:48And the Oompa Loompa's had brilliant
pearly white strong teeth, -
10:48 - 10:49because chocolate
-
10:49 - 10:52is great for your teeth.
-
10:52 - 10:56Chocolate toothpaste is coming.
-
10:56 - 10:59This is what the cacao bean looks like
when you break it open, -
10:59 - 11:01when you break it
into the different pieces. -
11:01 - 11:03And those are called nibs,
-
11:03 - 11:06and these products are available
here in Finland now. -
11:06 - 11:07And all over the world.
-
11:07 - 11:10Raw chocolate products --
in fact this industry is now -
11:10 - 11:12over a hundred million dollar industry.
-
11:12 - 11:14And it all came from one moment
-
11:14 - 11:18when I bit into raw cacao bean.
And for the last 8.5 years, -
11:18 - 11:22I've been proselytizing
about the power of chocolate -
11:22 - 11:24all over the place.
-
11:24 - 11:27In fact it never stops.
Some people complain about that. -
11:27 - 11:32Anyway, iconically chocolate is associated
with wonder and magic. -
11:32 - 11:34And if you see that giant head
back there, -
11:34 - 11:36that's an Olmec head.
-
11:36 - 11:39They're the ones
who originated the word cacao. -
11:39 - 11:42And you can see the bird
in this image as well, -
11:42 - 11:44indicating that connection
-
11:44 - 11:48between birds
in that realm and chocolate. -
11:48 - 11:52Chocolate, as I discovered when I was
studying in Oaxaca Mexico, -
11:52 - 11:54is added to guacamole,
-
11:54 - 11:56but not process chocolate,
-
11:56 - 11:58raw chocolate.
-
11:58 - 12:02They take the crushed up nibs
and they put it in their guacamole. -
12:02 - 12:04Try it at home.
-
12:04 - 12:07I was fortunate I grew up in California
with Mexican people, -
12:07 - 12:11and I was in love with guacamole
from an early time. -
12:11 - 12:14What an amazing thing
to have your cuisine expanded. -
12:14 - 12:17And that's what we're doing
with chocolate. -
12:17 - 12:20I got so into chocolate,
I started growing chocolate. -
12:20 - 12:23This is my chocolate nursery in Hawaii.
-
12:23 - 12:25I have a farm in Canada,
I have a farm in Hawaii. -
12:25 - 12:28And the purpose of that farm in Hawaii
is to grow chocolate and explore -
12:28 - 12:30the mystery and magic
of this great plant. -
12:30 - 12:33I grew that chocolate tree from seed.
-
12:33 - 12:37Such an amazing amount of learning
can come from growing plants. -
12:37 - 12:39You can learn more from a garden
many times -
12:39 - 12:42then you can from a book.
-
12:42 - 12:44I was very, very excited to explore.
-
12:44 - 12:47Maybe there's even more magic here
than we know about. -
12:47 - 12:50Now, I have continued to discover
that there's little things in, -
12:50 - 12:54anandamide, for example,
the bliss chemical is present in chocolate. -
12:54 - 12:57The love chemicals,
phenethylamines -
12:57 - 12:59that are damaged by heat,
-
12:59 - 13:02but entirely present
in raw chocolate. -
13:02 - 13:05There's at least seven of them
in raw chocolate. -
13:05 - 13:06And those are the feelings
-
13:06 - 13:08of love, happiness
-
13:08 - 13:14and fulfillment that chocolate gives us.
It's from a chemistry that's in the plant. -
13:14 - 13:17This is the book.
And if you recall the book, -
13:17 - 13:20I do want to mention
that when I got to chapter 16, -
13:20 - 13:21there was a most amazing citing
-
13:21 - 13:23that occured for me
when I was in Amsterdam -
13:23 - 13:27many years ago.
(Laughter) -
13:27 - 13:30[You] can guess what happens there.
-
13:30 - 13:32"Oompa-Loompas!"
everyone said it at once. -
13:32 - 13:35"Oompa-Loompas!
Imported direct from Loompaland," -
13:35 - 13:37said Mr Wonka proudly.
-
13:37 - 13:40"There's no such place," said Mrs Salt.
-
13:40 - 13:44"Excuse me, dear lady, but.."
"Mr Wonka," cried Mrs Salt, -
13:44 - 13:47"I am a teacher of geography."
-
13:47 - 13:49"Then you'll know all about it,"
said Mr Wonka. -
13:49 - 13:53"And oh, what a terrible country it is!
Nothing but thick jungles infested by -
13:53 - 13:55the most dangerous beasts
in the entire world -- -
13:55 - 14:00hornswogglersand snozzwangers
and those terrible wicked whangdoodles. -
14:00 - 14:02A whangdoodle would eat
ten Oompa-Loompas for breakfast -
14:02 - 14:04and come galloping back
for a second helping. -
14:04 - 14:08When I went out there, I found the little
Oompa-Loompas living in tree houses. -
14:08 - 14:11They had to live in tree houses
to escape from the whangdoodles -
14:11 - 14:13and the hornswogglers
and the snozzwangers. -
14:13 - 14:14They were practically
starving to death. -
14:14 - 14:18And they were living on green caterpillars,
and the caterpillars tasted revolting, -
14:18 - 14:22and the Oompa-Loompas spent every moment
of their days climbing through the treetops -
14:22 - 14:27looking for anything to mix with
the caterpillars to make them taste better. -
14:27 - 14:32The one food that they longed for
more than any other -
14:32 - 14:35was the cacao bean.
(Laughter) -
14:35 - 14:37But they couldn't get it.
-
14:37 - 14:41An Oompa-Loompa was lucky
if he found 3 or 4 cacao beans a year. -
14:41 - 14:44But oh, how they craved them.
Listen to this: -
14:44 - 14:46They used to dream
about cacao beans all night -
14:46 - 14:50and talk about them all day.
-
14:50 - 14:54You had only to mention the word "cacao"
to an Oompa-Loompa -
14:54 - 14:55and he would start dribbling
at the mouth." -
14:55 - 14:59Listen closely: "The cacao bean,"
Mr Wonka continued, -
14:59 - 15:01"which grows on the cacao tree,
-
15:01 - 15:07is the thing
that all chocolate is made from." -
15:08 - 15:10Roald Dahl knew,
and it was in the book, -
15:10 - 15:13the great book
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." -
15:13 - 15:14Remember the Oompa Loompas.
-
15:14 - 15:18This is an elf with a cacao pod
-
15:18 - 15:20but the sculpture is 3000 years old.
-
15:20 - 15:23It is intrinsic to the magic
of chocolate. -
15:23 - 15:27In Mexico, this is where the great
cuisine was innovated, -
15:27 - 15:30it was always served as a drink,
but today -
15:30 - 15:32we have blenders.
It makes it so much easier. -
15:32 - 15:34You can upgrade
-
15:34 - 15:39your smoothie, your protein shake
by adding a dash of raw cacao -
15:39 - 15:43and bringing forth
the magic and wonder, -
15:43 - 15:45just as they did in Ancient Mexico.
-
15:45 - 15:48On the Mexican 100 peso note,
if you look closely, -
15:48 - 15:52right there next to Xochipilli
are actual cacao recipes, -
15:52 - 15:56iconically represented.
-
15:56 - 16:01We've innovated and brought forth now
an entirely new cuisine, -
16:01 - 16:03brought to the greatest chefs
in the world, -
16:03 - 16:06revive some of the great additives
of chocolate, -
16:06 - 16:10creating these wonderful
and delightful recipes. -
16:10 - 16:14The one question that I get more than
any other, after all of this is: -
16:14 - 16:16Is it possible to o.d. on chocolate?
-
16:16 - 16:20and the answer is: Yes.
-
16:20 - 16:23Thank you so much. I am David Wolfe.
Have the best day ever.
- Title:
- Passion for chocolate - David Wolfe at TEDxHelsinki
- Description:
-
Chocolate story by David Wolfe - health, eco, nutrition,
and natural beauty expert who loves chocolate. - Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 16:25
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Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Passion for chocolate - David Wolfe at TEDxHelsinki | ||
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