If you want to make this authentic, add rum

Published on Roads & Kingdoms on 24th July 2015:

Kim Russell pouring out cocoa tea

“It’s rudimentary but it works,” Kim Russell shouts over the whirr of a vacuum cleaner as he slowly pushes the freshly ground cocoa beans down a shoot.

“And it costs a lot less than the industrial winnower. You need to do it a couple of times to get all the shells out, but it’s much quicker than by hand.”

There are probably not many vacuum cleaners involved in the making of a cup of hot cocoa, but this is what happens at Crayfish Bay, an organic cocoa farm on the Caribbean island of Grenada.

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Jenever in The Hague

Published on Roads & Kingdoms on 26th May 2015:

Jenever and herring by Qin Xie

“You don’t like maatjes? Well, have another shot of jenever and try it.”

This, according to Fleur Kruyt, is the way to get maatjes, or Dutch soused herring, into your diet.

I’m at Van Kleef, The Hague’s oldest—and only—surviving distillery, to learn about jenever. Originally founded in 1842 by Lambertus Theodorus van Kleef, the distillery is now a museum in the heart of a largely residential area. Kruyt, our knowledgeable guide on this occasion, has been sharing her insight into this esoteric spirit.

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