Joys of Filipino chocolate in SoKor

Gastrodiplomacy is crucial to the Philippine government’s push for the country’s rich cultural legacy and sustainable development.

We might as well start with things we used to think we didn’t have, like Filipino chocolate.

The Chocolate Queen of Cebu Raquel Choa and her detail of chocolatiers from the Chocolate Chamber of Cebu recently shared the rich history and customs of the Filipino-chocolate experience recently in South Korea.

The visit honored the World Chocolate Day and the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the Republic of Korea.

“We are proud to bring the Philippine Cacao Tradition to the South Korean Community, introduced by the Chocolate Queen herself. Our shared values in food and culture strengthens the close connection between both our nations,” said Philippine Ambassador to South Korea Theresa Dizon-de Vega.

TCC is unique in its campaign since it preserves Filipino culinary culture while advancing environment-friendly travel and agricultural methods.

The chamber keeps growing by working with local cacao farmers to produce the highest-quality cacao beans for their goods and by educating Filipino MSMEs and cacao-farming communities in other Southeast Asian nations on how to turn beans into delicious chocolate in a variety of ways, transforming the chocolate experience.

During a Filipino Tsokolate pop-up event held in honor of World Chocolate Day on 7 July in the new Philippine Experience Center inside the Philippine Embassy in Seoul, TCC provided over 150 members of the Filipino and Korean communities with three different types of chocolate drinks.

At Rakkojae, a traditional Hanok complex in Bukchon Village, the doyenne of Filipino chocolate also told members of the Korean media, culture and tourism influencers about the rich chocolate-making history of the Filipino people and the heritage narrative of Filipino cocoa.

The Philippine Embassy invited South Korean chocolatiers, members of the food and beverage industry, and potential customers and partners from trade councils, tourism and agriculture to a separate chocolate-appreciation session where the Chocolate Chamber showcased the different flavors and applications of Filipino chocolate along with cacao-growing techniques.

The comprehensive lesson on cultivating and tasting Filipino chocolate was complimented with a Filipino food course offered by Spatula by Haevichi experimental kitchen.

Dizon-de Vega recently hosted a Cacao to Beverage 101 session, where she invited heads of missions from countries that grow cacao, ambassadors from Asean and representatives of Korean cultural institutions.

The session focused on the traditional method of making Filipino tablea, which are small, traditionally made tablets made from pure ground roasted cacao beans.

Additionally, the session told the story of the Philippines’ rich history in chocolate-making, which dates back to the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade.

The TCC team in Seoul included AJ and JP Choa, the children of Chocolate Queen.

The chamber promotes the younger generation’s involvement in the traditional preservation of Filipino chocolate production.

For the enjoyment of the community, Angelie Choa, the CCC Batidores (the chocolate equivalent of a coffee barista), prepared more than 350 cups of Filipino tsokolate.

During the activities, a live painting demonstration showing the sustainable use of cacao in art was held by JP, a young and upcoming artist who uses the cacao bean to paint landscapes in the Philippines.

With 824,798 South Korean visitors (or 26 percent of all foreign tourist arrivals) to the Philippines as of July 2024, South Korea continues to be the country’s biggest source of tourists.