Our May 2025 theme was curated around our speaker, Dr. Maricel Presilla, a co-Founder of the International Chocolate Awards.
Dr. Maricel Presilla is an award-winning author, culinary historian, chef and restaurateur. She is widely recognized as a pre-eminent expert on Latin American cuisines, cacao, and chocolate.
In 2013, her magnum opus, Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America*, was honored as Cookbook of the Year by the James Beard Foundation and Best General Cookbook by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. She was named the Beard Foundation’s Best Chef-Mid Atlantic in 2012 for her work at her restaurant Cucharamama, and she was inducted into the prestigious Beard Foundation in 2015.
Maricel has deep roots in cacao and chocolate and is author of The New Taste of Chocolate (Revised): A Cultural and Natural History of Cacao with Recipes*, a must-read book in the canon of chocolate books. She is a Partner at the IICCT (International Institute of Chocolate & Cacao Tasting), where she leads sensory analysis classes, and a co-founder of the International Chocolate Awards.
While Maricel’s culinary awards are impressive, her talents don’t stop in the kitchen. She holds a doctorate in medieval Spanish history from New York University, and she has decades of experience in research and field work on cacao farms throughout the Americas. She is one of the most engaging speakers I know, weaving stories from history, culture and anthropology into every talk she gives and every chocolate tasting she leads. Listening to Marciel is a technicolor experience you won’t forget!
In honor of Maricel, we’re featuring medalists from the International Chocolate Awards as the May theme. All of the chocolates won awards in their regional competitions, and most went on to win awards at the World Final.
Bronze, World Final; Gold, Americas (USA & Canada) in the category “High %/plain origin dark chocolate bars”
This is an intense dark chocolate with strong cocoa/brownie flavors, hints of unripe blackberries and a yeasty-umami note that reminds me of Marmite. I find the finish pleasantly bitter and astringent. Chocolate maker Bryan Graham is a trained pastry chef who deploys his experienced palate to create balanced chocolate that highlights cacao’s unique flavor qualities.
Bronze, World Final; Gold, Americas in the category “Micro-Batch Plain Origin Dark Bar”
Best in Competition Americas in the category “Plain Origin Dark Bar”
Blanco Jaguar is a white cacao grown by Don Margarito Mendoza and his family in Chiapas, Mexico. The cacao is lighter in color and has a higher fat content, resulting in the lighter color of the chocolate. As Maricel said during our live event, this bar is “alive”. It has a bright acidity that delivers complex flavors after the initial burst of fruit. I taste tropical fruit notes with hints of brownie and a floral, herbal finish. Sleep Walk Chocolate is the sister brand to Chicago’s Dark Matter Coffee.
Silver, World Final; Gold, Americas in the category “Micro-Batch Plain Origin Milk Bar”
Best in Competition Americas in the category “Plain Origin Milk Bar”
Denise Castronovo sources cacao from remote rainforest regions that support biodiversity, and sacred places where indigenous communities respect the land. The cacao in this chocolate originates from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, where the world’s tallest coastal and glacial mountain is home to all the Earth’s biomes. Grown in small agroforestry farms in a region where palm and banana plantations are affecting biodiversity, this rich milk chocolate has caramel and butter notes with hints of tropical fruit.
Silver, Americas, “Dark chocolate bars with an infusion or flavouring”
I’m not usually a fan of hops-forward bars, but this one is an exception. The flavor that results from soaking cacao nibs in stout beer, hazelnuts and vanilla blunts the often-bitter notes of hops. The flavor reminds me of the sweet, malty aromas that perfume the air of breweries. Chocolate maker Christopher Nobles brings his New Orleans sensibilities to this unique take on beer & chocolate.
Bronze, World Final; Gold, Americas in the category “Combination chocolate bars with an infusion or flavouring”
This passionfruit bomb is best tasted by placing the dark chocolate side on your tongue and keeping the white chocolate side up towards your palate. You’ll notice hints of dark chocolate that complement the intense tropical flavors from the passionfruit-infused white chocolate as they melt together.
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