Episode 2: A Melting Heart, the Secret of 70% Cacao

Episode 2: A melting heart, the secret of 70% cacao At 1 am, well past midnight, the air on the hillside in Seongbuk-dong was as cold as ice to the point of bone chilling, but the inside of the 'Moonlight Oven' kitchen was warmly warmed by the warmth of freshly blooming oak charcoal and melting chocolate. The little cacao fairy, Sasha, was perched precariously on the edge of a copper mixing bowl, lightly circling in the air while holding a thin, fragrant cinnamon stick with both hands. Every time the green cacao leaf wings flapped, fine golden moonlight powder flew into the air, creating a sparkling milky way on the surface of the ganache.

“Giant baker! Why don’t you wipe the sweat under your chin? Your skills are decent, but you’re using too much force! When handling the dough, your soul should be as light as the wind in the cacao grove!” “You talk too much, little elf. I’m concentrating, so don’t poke my ears with cinnamon sticks.” Minwoo replied calmly, wiping the heavy Italian black marble worktop on one side of the counter neatly with a dry dishcloth. At first glance, a faint smile appeared on his taciturn lips. It seemed that he did not dislike the fact that such a noisy and cheerful uninvited guest came to the kitchen at night, where he always fought the silence alone.

“Thank you for the compliment. But why do you keep insisting on only 70% dark cacao? Usually, customers looking for dessert much prefer soft milk chocolate or sweet, familiar chocolate around 50%.” In response to Minwoo's question, Sasha snorted as if she had been waiting and pounded a cinnamon stick on the marble floor.

"Ha! That's the fatal delusion of people who don't know what's going on in the world! What's the point if life is all sweet like sugar water? 50% is too sweet and doesn't satisfy the thirst deep in your heart and just goes to the surface, and 90% is so bitter that it tightens your throat and weighs down your heart. But 70% is different!" Sasha soared into the air and hovered at the height of Minwoo's nose, raising his eyes boldly.

“The cacao content of 70% is the golden ratio that perfectly resembles the most sincere tears that humans shed in life! If 30% is the bitterness of life and the wounds that must be endured, then exactly 70% should be the sweet comfort that gently embraces it with your whole body and allows you to live again tomorrow. 70% dark chocolate is the only key in the world to melting the cold bar of a wounded and hardened soul!”

“It’s a golden ratio that resembles human tears….” A bitter yet faint smile spread across Minwoo’s lips. Minwoo carefully placed the 70% Ecuadorian dark couverture chocolate in a glass bowl onto a double boiler over low heat. As the gentle moist heat of the steam enveloped the bottom of the cheek, the hard chocolate pieces slowly began to melt from the edges into a smooth liquid, radiating an ebony sheen.

“Sasha, do you believe that chocolate really has a soul?” “I’m not saying I’m believing it, it’s just what it is! Look, can’t you hear the sound of the cacao fairies stretching and stretching their arms inside that melting ganache? Okay, that’s it for the chatting! The temperature has risen! Tempering begins!” At the same time as Sasha's loud cry, Minwoo's hands moved nimbly like a skilled craftsman. Minwoo boldly poured the dark chocolate, perfectly melted at 45 degrees Celsius, onto the cold black marble countertop. Sigh-!

A river of dark red chocolate spread widely over the cold, smooth marble like a mirror. Minwoo repeated the task of spreading the chocolate thinly and then scraping it again, alternating between the stainless steel scraper and the long spatula in both hands. Square, square, visor! visor-! Every time the scraper hit the marble, a refreshing metallic sound rang out, and the chocolate, imbued with the cool coolness of the marble, quickly cooled to 27 degrees and began to take on a heavy consistency. It was a fleeting moment when the crystals of cocoa butter in chocolate formed ‘Beta Crystal’, the most stable and dense crystal structure.

At that time, Sasha glided on the marble with her two small feet like she was skating and made a flashy turn. “Okay, the decision is made! Now, without hesitation, put it back in the bowl and raise the temperature to 31 degrees! Even if it is off by just 1 degree, the diamond cracks on the surface of the brownie will shatter!” Following Sasha's instructions, Minwoo quickly scraped up the chocolate, placed it in a lukewarm double boiler, and precisely raised the temperature to 31 degrees. The perfectly tempered chocolate gave off a brilliant and dazzling glow, as if it were ground obsidian from the night sky.

“Phew… it’s perfect. At this level, the surface will be as crisp as thin glass, and the inside will be melted and chewy like velvety raw chocolate.” As Minwoo wiped the sweat from his forehead, Sasha sat on the edge of the mixing bowl and looked at Minwoo with her chin resting. “Giant baker. When you were talking about your first love, your eyes looked extremely sad. Did she like these 70% brownies too?” Minwoo was silent for a moment while smoothing the countertop, then looked at the red light of the brick oven and opened his mouth softly.

"... Seoyeon couldn't eat sweets at all. She was very weak since she was young, so she always took bitter and astringent herbal medicine and pills. She pushed away the candies and whipped cream cakes that everyone else liked, saying that she felt sick even if she took a bite. However, she ate all of the 70% brownies that I baked for the first time in my high school pastry lab."

“Why did you do that? No matter how good the cacao was, it would have been very useful.” “It was the fall of her second year of high school, the day of the school sports day. Seoyeon was cheering too hard, got overheated, and collapsed on a bench in the corner of the playground from exhaustion. I handed her a cup of ice water and a piece of the 70% brownie that I had kept in my pocket. Seoyeon took a careful bite of it and opened her eyes.” A faint longing was evident in Minwoo’s wet voice.

"'Minwoo, I really like your brownies because they don't lie and pretend to be sweet. At first, I was surprised by how bitter they were, but the more I chewed them, the more sweet and warm warmth came out from deep inside my heart... It was as if they were quietly hugging me when I was tired.'" As Minwoo said those words, the corners of his eyes were moist. Sasha held the cinnamon stick to her chest and nodded quietly.

“It’s stupid. You’re telling me that you buried such painful and tearful memories in your heart and baked bread alone for ten years? You should have woken me up a long time ago!” Sasha snorted loudly and kicked the pocket of Minwoo’s chef coat. It was right then. Click- Chiik! The brick oven's mechanical timer chimed, and golden steam billowed out through the cracks in the cast-iron door. Minwoo put on thick heat-resistant gloves and carefully took out a square cast iron pan. Sizzling- crackling! The brownie that emerged from the oven was truly a marvel.

The surface had a paper-thin, crispy chocolate crust that was cracked like a delicate network and shining like a diamond, and between the cracks, rich ganache was breathing moistly, shiny like volcanic lava. Minwoo carefully cut off a piece of brownie with a chef’s knife. The blade went in smoothly with a light crunching sound, and the inside was filled with a heavy and lumpy texture, like the highest quality handmade raw chocolate.

“Now, Shasha. Taste the magic of the 70% cacao you mentioned.” Minwoo gently took a corner of a freshly baked brownie off the tip of a small teaspoon and held it out to Sasha. Sasha put down the cinnamon stick and took a piece of brownie with both small hands and put it in her mouth. Mumbling! Sasha's round eyes widened, and the cacao wings on her back made a buzzing sound and trembled violently.

"Wow...! The outside is crisp and crumbly, but the inside melts like butter as soon as it touches your tongue! The wild flavor of bitter cacao first covers your tongue, and then the subtle sweetness of beurre noisette butter and vanilla spreads to your heart! This... this is the true taste of first love!" Minwoo smiled at Sasha's ecstatic exclamation and put the remaining piece of brownie into his mouth. The warmth of the warm, rich chocolate traveled down the esophagus, gently caressing the deepest part of Minwoo's heart that had been frozen for ten years.

The cold early morning wind shook the windows, but the inside of the bakery was filled with the sunlight of the warmest spring day in the world. “Sasha, I need to put these brownies on the front row of the showcase this morning.” “Of course! Wrap it neatly in brown kraft paper, and don’t forget to tie dried eucalyptus leaves and cinnamon sticks with twine! Once the child smells this sweet magic, he or she will never be able to pass by!”

“Okay. I’ll pack it carefully just like you said. And since you’re probably tired, you can keep your eyes peeled behind the jar of warm flour.” “Hmph, I’m a fairy, so I don’t have to sleep at all! But if you really want, I can roll around on the butter jar lid!” Sasha excitedly flapped her wings in front of Minwoo and drew a large heart shape in the air with a cinnamon stick. Minwoo placed a plate of freshly baked brownies on a cooling rack and slightly opened the kitchen window, where the warmth was still lingering. The deep and sweet scent of 70% cacao that flowed through the cracks in the window spread far and wide along the steep stone steps and old alleys of Seongbuk-dong, and local cats, who were deep in sleep, sniffed and stretched.

With the two people's sweet promise, the long dawn in Seongbuk-dong was slowly turning into a soft and clear indigo dawn.