Raw Chocolate: A Healthy Guilty Pleasure

By Laura Johnson
Photos courtesy of Daniel Sklaar

Chocolate can be good for your body — at least, raw chocolate is.

Cocoa beans are jam-packed with nutrients in their natural state. In fact, they’re the best source of antioxidants in the world according to David Wolfe, author of Naked Chocolate: The Astounding Truth About the World’s Greatest Food. These small brown nuggets boast gobs of enzymes, magnesium, fiber and many nutrients, says Wolfe. Cooked at a low heat, cocoa retains those healthy elements. Thus, raw chocolate is born. But roast the beans (think vending machine chocolate), and those nutrients are nearly gone.

The Chocolate Master

Raw chocolate is more than just nutritious. It’s also an art.

Meet chocolate artisan Daniel Sklaar, 30. Six years ago Sklaar, then a financial analyst in New York, fell in love with raw chocolate after sampling some of the tasty treats at a Soho event. The chocolaty morsel hit his tongue, and there was no going back. He quit his job for it. He traveled the world for it. It was the object of his affection. Raw chocolate had taken over his life.

“I felt there was something else that I needed to do with my life,” Sklaar says. “I wanted to pursue something I was passionate about.”

Sklaar was determined to give the world an artisan chocolate that was not only nutritious but melt-in-your-mouth good. He traveled three continents looking for the best cocoa, and found it in Arizona. The delicious cocoa was from the Ecuador rainforest. Sklaar spent time there as a chef, and during his down time, he and his colleagues made chocolate. A city kid at heart, Sklaar eventually left Arizona, New York-bound.

Fine and Raw

In April 2008, Sklaar began his chocolate business, Fine and Raw.

He began crafting chocolates in his Brooklyn loft and while Sklaar’s company has grown, it only produces about 200 pounds of chocolate each week (compared to Hershey’s 20 million). Now, most chocolate production happens at Sklaar’s “chocolate factory” in Brooklyn, but he still tinkers in a little chocolate lab he keeps in his loft.

Fine and Raw chocolates are all handmade in small batches free of sugar, dairy and additives. Ingredients include Himalayan sea salt, agave nectar and coconut oil for their flavors and nutritional properties. Although the ingredients and cooking temperatures vary slightly to create different flavors, Sklaar heats the chocolate to around 118 degrees, keeping the cocoa natural, nutritious and tasty. Sklaar says Fine and Raw customers are diverse. “I would say it’s a good mix between sweeties and people looking for authentic food.”

The Environment Comes First

As small as Fine and Raw is, Mother Earth is top of mind. According to the Fine and Raw website, the cocoa is fair trade and comes from a sustainable farming co-op, which promotes growth of the rainforest. The chocolate ingredients are organic. Even the packaging, which is designed by local artists, is made of recyclable material and non-toxic, vegetable-based ink.

“[The environment] is vital. It’s definitely something that you have to be aware of and try to involve yourself in as much as possible,” Sklaar says. “The environment is the place that the cocoa beans grow. We want to make sure it’s good so we can make good chocolate.”

To get your hands on some raw chocolate, check out Fine and Raw’s website or Fine and Raw’s Facebook page.