Getting Bare With Trudy From Chow Cacao

Meet Trudy — the amazing lady behind Chow Cacao, arguably the best raw chocolate in the world!

We’ve stocked her delicious chocolate on our online store for two years now, after falling in love with her creations at first taste. We chatted to her about how she got into the chocolate game and her crazy flavour combinations.

How do you stop yourself from eating it all day long?

I should be taste testing every day, right?

Haha, well I don’t have much self-control when it comes to eating chocolate… there are days where I most likely eat too much and then days I’m not in the kitchen so therefore I can’t get my hands on anything… that’s probably a good thing.

I don’t crave chocolate the way I used to, I think it’s because my magnesium levels are through the roof now, but I really like to enjoy the Smooth Pure Dark with my tea in the morning. If all goes well it will stop there.

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m a very relaxed kind of person, some people say I’m too relaxed. Which kind of describes the journey of how Chow Cacao became today.
A slow but natural progression.

I grew up in the South Island of New Zealand in a place called Dunedin. (Or more precisely, Mosgiel.)

I went to school and studied graphic design there and after that I made the move to Sydney with a bunch of friends for a holiday, and six years later I’m still here in Australia.

During these years I’ve traveled and lived in a few different places and that’s when I developed my loving for food, food that is wholesome yet delicious. I absolutely love creating recipes, I was in the middle of creating a recipe book, but then this chocolate thing got in the way and now it requires my whole life… haha but I love it.

But I guess the two things I love is amazing food and beautiful design, and I’ve somehow put these two together to create Chow Cacao.

What is your personal favourite flavour combination?

I personally just like really pure dark chocolate. but if there has to be an added flavour in there, a peanut butter and chocolate combination is always a winner for me.

When did you start making chocolate?

It would have to be about two and half years ago. I was self taught, so each day I’m still learning something new about the fun but crazy chocolate process… it’s kind of like science in a way to get it right, and I’m no scientist.

When did you realise you could make a career out of making chocolate?

When my hobby became out of control! I was working part time at the local chocolate shop in town when I started to sell my chocolates around Byron, and to my surprise I couldn’t keep up with the orders, so then I knew at some stage I wanted to focus on that alone.
Which at the time seemed scary and daunting as I knew quitting your day job to pursue your hobby wouldn’t be a walk in the park, I knew there would be some sacrifices and I would shed sweat and tears along the way. But it turned out to be one of the best decisions.

What is the craziest flavour you’ve experimented with?

Salted Macadamia and Rosemary, Pumpkin Spice, and Gingerbread Cookie Crunch to name a few. :)

And of course our new flavour, Raspberry & Rosepepper!

Any ingredients you’re desperate to use but haven’t found a winning flavour to pair it with?

There are so many flavours we want to bring out, sometimes it’s hard to choose. I could write you a list…

I used to make a coffee chocolate, I want to bring it back but add a twist to it, I’m just not sure what that little addition may be.

Can you give us any hints on future flavours? We won’t tell anyone!

Oh man… we have a lot of flavours we want to share with everyone. But I will give you one hint — expect some tangy, refreshing flavours this Summer.

What do you do to unwind?

I like to cook! And it also helps living two minutes from the beach, where I spend a lot of time before work.

I also like to drink a lot of tea and then fall asleep during a movie at night.

What is your idea of adventure?

Definitely a spontaneous trip along the coast, no plans, just keep driving south and see what happens!

If you could have one person cook for you who would it be?

Jiro Ono, a Sushi Chef in Tokyo. That would be amazing.

How important is it to eat organically?

Regardless of your diet, I think eating organically is possibly the best thing we can do.

Not so many people realise it but the soil in which our food grows is depleting big time because of all the pesticides used, and therefore we’re not getting the same nutrients from our foods as we used too.

So we all need to eat organically to improve the soil quality and then animals can be fed their natural diet without antibiotics and hormones.

It’s one big cycle!

Stay green and fresh like our Crunchy Mint chocolate.

What is your guilty pleasure?

I can make a really good elephant noise and I put my arm up in the air pretending it’s my trunk.

Favourite Bare Blends smoothie?

Too easy — Matcha, Mango and Macadamia smoothie. Thank you for making this!

Try some Chow Cacao for yourself at our online store.

Follow Chow Cacao:

Instagram: @chowcacao

Website: chowcacao.com.au

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