- [Jorge] Today on Crossing South we visit a chocolate maker who has found in Baja, a place for his craft.

And we face a monster of a taco.

And it's coming to you now.

(uprising upbeat music) In the outskirts of the small town of Tecate, next to the backdrop of this amazing landscape.

We found chocolate, lots of chocolate and we were ready to learn.

(upbeat music) Diego, I don't know how many chocolatiers Baja has, but you know, you're one of them, so.

- Right, well actually I'm a chocolate maker.

- Oh, really?

- Yeah.

- So tell me, explain the difference between a chocolatier and a chocolate maker.

- Right, so a chocolatier is the one that works with chocolate that's already made.

- Okay.

- And the chocolate maker is the one that makes the chocolate.

- From the grain, from the cocoa, from the- - Exactly.

- Oh, wow.

Okay, so this is like way in.

- Yeah.

- Tell me back home, when you were still in Venezuela, is the bean, the cocoa bean, is it in the region, is it easy to get over there?

Or is it imported like many, many places that work with chocolate?

- It grows in Venezuela.

- It does grow.

- It is complicated to get because of everything that's going on over there.

- Right, right.

Which is probably one of the reasons why- - Why I am here.

- You moved to a greener pasture, so to speak, right now.

Right?

- Exactly.

- Until things improve, if they improve right?

(laughing) - Yes, if they improve.

- If they improve, correct, correct.

So, how have you liked it in Baja?

- I love it.

- Really?

- Amazing food, amazing wine.

You haven't tasted tacos until you come to Mexico.

( laughing) That's for sure.

- That I know, that I know.

- Yes.

- You came to a good region for tacos, that's why.

(both laughing) So, are we gonna get to your operation, your chocolate making experience?

- Absolutely.

- Come on folks, It's Crossing South don't go anywhere.

We're with Diego.

Let's go into this operation.

Where'd you learn your English at Diego?

- In Venezuela.

- Wow, it's pretty good.

- Thank you very much.

- Because also like, you have an accent, but very minimal, actually, It's very smooth, so.

- Yeah.

- Did you watch a lot of, like many US television or- - A lot.

- A lot, right?

( laughing) That helps a lot, right?

- Terminator, Predator.

(both laughing) - Non PDS friendly shows, but- - Not family friendly shows, yeah.

( laughing) This is the cocoa bean.

- Oh, wow.

- Yeah.

( sniffing loudly) - This is literally what the Pre-hispanic tribes would use, right?

Because all of Latin America, the different... - Yeah.

Prior to the colonization, most of the times they were not even dry.

They came straight out of the fruit and they started developing recipes with this fresh, raw cocoa bean.

- Okay, the fresh, not sun dried.

- Uh-huh, not sun dried not fermented.

- Is this edible?

- Yeah.

- Bitter and a little bit stringent.

- It's actually not bad.

- [Diego] I mean, we don't just pick random beans.

- [Jorge] Right, right, right.

- [Diego] We have to go to a process of analyzing the cocoa beans.

- [Jorge] And you've probably tried beans from all these different countries, right?

- [Diego] Yeah, from Peru, from Ecuador, Mexico has plenty of regions as well that have amazing cocoa beans.

Like Soconusco, Chiapas, Tabasco - Okay.

Does the beans you choose reflect a little bit of your taste?

- Yes, absolutely, 100%.

- Because I can imagine another chocolate maker may choose beans from a different country, right?

- [Diego] Yes.

- [Jorge] So it has to be a little bit of yours as well.

- [Diego] Yes.

- [Jorge] The way I want to make chocolate, I want it to have these characteristics.

- In a way.

So, in my opinion the most difficult part starts on the farm.

- Oh, really?

- You have to pick the right cocoa pods, the ones that are ripe.

Then you have to ferment them, which is a very complicated process.

And then to sun drying them, right?

- So they do that over there.

- They do that over there.

- You get that all ready, so.

- I get that all ready, yeah.

- Half of your work is done away from you.

- Exactly.

- So, how do you ensure that it's good?

That- - Well, there's a way of analyzing cocoa beans.

Analyzing the fermentation and the quality of the sun drying process.

- Okay.

- And through that, you determine which are the beans you can work with to make a very good quality chocolate.

- So are you doing that?

- Yes, and I can show you how.

- Yeah, okay, let's do it, let's do it.

- Yeah?

Very good, let's go in.

(machines humming) - You saw my cocoa plant earrings, right?

My nose is big, I'm not ashamed, big like a pickle I'm still getting paid ( laughing) - Well so, these are different kinds of cocoa pods at a stage of ripeness.

- Oh, okay.

- They all belong to a specific region of Venezuela.

Now, as you can see the pods grow attached to the trunk and the branches of the tree.

And they do not fall off.

- [Jorge] Now, this looks disgusting.

Honestly, this looks like, (Diego laughing) You know, some sort of- - [Diego] Alien.

- Some sort of caterpillar, you know?

- Yeah, like a sea creature?

- A sea creature that's just died and is turning white because oxygen kills it.

- Yeah.

(Diego laughing) - So, this is what turns into chocolate.

- Amazing.

- Yeah.

- That's what you have to take out and sun dry.

- Exactly.

That's what you have to take out.

They all come in different genetics.

- Uh huh.

- So, these are the three main genetics of cocoa beans.

- Oh wow.

Do you know of the history?

Did the indigenous people already know these processes or did Europeans find them out as they came?

- A combination of both.

- Combination.

- Mm-hm.

The thing about fermentation is that you need to ferment your cocoa beans in specific kinds of boxes.

- That is crazy.

The equations for what you can create with the ingredients of the earth.

The equations are limitless.

Aren't they?

- Yeah.

- I mean, this is what we found out from trial and error.

Imagine the things that we haven't found out yet.

- This process is responsible for reducing the humidity away from the bean.

- Okay.

- If you don't do that, you're gonna build mould and fungus.

- Gotcha.

- Mm-hm, but the trick is that you have to do it slowly.

So you cannot do it during noon.

- [Jorge] So, how do you stop the sun from lighting at noon?

- We speaking, we're talking about a tropical climates.

You will have to pick them up.

- [Jorge] No!

- Yeah.

- [Jorge] No!

- Yeah.

- [Jorge] It's super hard work to make chocolate, man.

(both laughing) - If you cover them with a tarp everything that tries to go away from the bean, the humidity, it's gonna come back down.

- [Jorge] Oh, it comes back down.

- Yeah, yeah.

You're gonna create a sort of the steam chamber, or- - [Jorge] Oh no.

- Kind of like an oven.

Mm-hm.

- [Jorge] Wow.

- So, put them, take them, put them, take them.

- [Jorge] Put them, take them.

Let's say this is the sample you get.

- Mm-hm.

- Producers send them to you through, I dunno, DHL, FedEx, whatever.

- Gotcha.

- You get this.

- Okay.

- You will get a couple of handfuls, to your hot air popper.

Yup, sorry.

Just like this one.

- [Jorge] Uh huh.

- [Diego] And then you will have to plug it in to help the shell separate from the bean.

- Okay.

- So you can peel it with your hands.

- Okay.

(beans rattling) - Very good.

- One, two, three, four.

15, 16, 40.

- 40.

Push, yeah, very well.

- Okay, so now what?

- You smell that?

- Smells rich, yeah.

(Jorge laughing) - Smells like chocolate.

- It does, it does.

- Mm-hm.

- What do we do now?

- Well, now we have to peel them, right?

- [Jorge] Show me how you peel them.

- [Diego] In order to peel them, we just have to push down on them.

Just like this.

Yeah, there you go.

After they're fermented and sun dried they will go from light brown to almost black.

- [Jorge] That's when they have the chocolatey color.

- [Diego] Mm-hm.

- [Jorge] Amazing.

- [Diego] Exactly.

'Cause every bean has a slight different flavor, right?

- Crazy.

- They grow in a different part of the plant.

- Mm-hm.

- They end up in a different part of the fermentation box.

They end up in a different part of the sun drying process.

- Amazing.

- [Diego] So, we need to get a handful of them.

- To create like, an average taste.

- Yes, exactly.

- Amazing, Do you enjoy your product?

- [Diego] I do.

- Do you save some for yourself to like munch on?

- I eat chocolate every day.

(Jorge laughing) Every day.

- Nothing wrong with that.

- Nothing wrong with that.

Here I am, doing pretty well.

(both laughing) - You look pretty happy, so.

- I am.

(both laughing) So for the next step, we're gonna grab our beans and we're going to grind them in our coffee grinder.

- Okay.

(coffee grinder humming) - That's about good.

- Oo.

- Yeah, see that?

- Oh man, it just released everything.

- Released everything.

- It's like unleash the power.

- So, you can grab it.

- Yes.

- Yeah, yourself.

And we're gonna have a little tasting.

( sniffing loudly) - All these people, like, you know, doing this with, you know, chemicals and drugs or whatever.

All you have to do is grind some cocoa beans, man.

- Well- - And just like, ahhh.

(Jorge laughing) - And then we have a commercial say no to drugs.

- Say no to drugs, say yes to chocolate.

(both laughing) - [Diego] Move it on your mouth, Let it sit.

(Jorge moaning) - That's good, right?

- Yeah.

- Mm-hm.

- Kind of fruity.

- That's a good batch.

- Tangy.

(both laughing) - [Jorge] Yes.

- [Diego] Yeah, very nutty.

- It is nutty.

- Yeah, very earthy.

- You know, I've heard that adjective a lot.

But it is.

I think that's the first time that it actually warrants it.

- [Diego] If you don't taste any cheese like ramps and cheese, if you don't taste any meat.

- [Jorge] I don't.

- If you don't taste any bad, rancid ham.

- No.

- If you don't taste any putrid.

- No.

- If you don't taste any garbage.

- Nope.

- Then you have a good batch.

- I have a good batch.

I have a good batch.

- Congratulations.

- Yes, congratulations, sir.

You have a good batch.

(both laughing) You can put the Jorge seal of approval on your batch.

- Yeah.

- Boom.

- There you go.

- Inspected by Jorge.

(both laughing) Now that we've determined we have a good batch.

- [Diego] Yes.

- [Jorge] What is the next step?

- The next step is that we have to select the beans, right?

- Okay.

- As you can see here, every bean has a slight different, you know, size.

- You still have some- But we've determined that they're all good.

So, - Right.

- [Jorge] But, the overall batch is good.

Why do you need to select them now?

- [Diego] Well, you have to select each sizes.

As you can see here, you have small beans and big beans.

- Okay.

- [Diego] And your goal is to have an even roasting on each of the different sizes.

- [Jorge] Oh, really?

- [Diego] If you have them all together, some are gonna be burned, some are gonna be raw.

- [Jorge] Okay.

You know what you could do?

You could create and print out a grid and have children- "Okay, make sure you put ones that do not exceed this size.

Whoever it puts them first win."

- Not child labor free.

(Jorge laughing) - Let's say child labor laws in Mexico are a little bit more lax than the States.

(both laughing) - Yeah, we can play it safe.

We can play it safer.

- So, Diego you're last name's Wonka, right?

- Yeah.

- So, just kidding.

(Jorge laughing) - First name, Willie.

(Jorge laughing) - What's next?

What are we gonna do here?

- Well, after you have selected your beans, you have to roast them of course.

- Okay.

- So, we use a regular convection oven.

Grab your beans, already selected.

- These are already selected?

- Yes.

- Those are preselected one size, all.

- So you put them into your tray.

- Okay.

(beans rattling) Ah, there you go.

- There we go.

- That's the process.

- And you get them in.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

Boom, boom (oven door slamming) So, roasting in cocoa beans is very similar to roasting in coffee, right?

Where different roasting temperatures are gonna give you different aromas and flavors as well.

- Mm-hm, check this out.

Live long.

- Star Trek.

- Live long and prosper, Vulcan.

So- - Isn't "Star Wars," no, I'm kidding.

(Jorge laughing) - This is "Star Trek."

Only nerds will understand that, so.

- If you crack your beans, right?

- Mm-hm.

- This is a cracker you can use to crack barley to make beer.

- Oh really?

Okay.

- Yeah.

So, you crack your beans and you get this, right?

Which is a collection of shells and cocoa nibs.

- [Jorge] Really?

- Yeah.

- You don't do the old time winnowing, you know, where you throw them in the air.

- No.

- And the air takes away- - No.

- You got to do it with the machine here.

- We built the machine for that.

- You built?

Oh wow.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- So this is a shop vac.

- Okay.

(laughing) - That is connected to a dust collector.

- No way.

- Yeah, and- - [Jorge] Don't tell me you designed that.

- Well, it is a combination of all the machines I've worked with.

It is not my original design, but I have adjusted- - But you did make some tweaks.

- Yeah, you know.

- I made some tweaks for me.

- Okay.

- And then you get almost perfectly clean- - [Jorge] It has a few shells still.

- [Diego] A few shells, and you can still pass.

- [Jorge] Okay.

- See?

- [Jorge] But most are nibs.

- [Diego] Mm-hm.

- [Jorge] Most are your chocolate nibs.

- [Diego] So, this is what's gonna become chocolate.

- [Jorge] Oh, wow.

- Mm-hm.

So, cocoa beans are 40 to 50% natural cocoa fat.

- Okay.

- So, think of cocoa beans like the way you think of peanuts, right?

- Right.

- If you put peanuts into this machine, you will make peanut butter.

- Oh really?

Okay.

- If you put cocoa beans into this machine you will make a cocoa paste.

- Okay.

- And if you add any kind of sweetener to that cocoa paste, you make chocolate.

- Chocolate.

(Jorge laughing) But this is pure cocoa.

- [Diego] This is pure cocoa and sugar and takes three to four days to be ready.

- No!

- Yeah.

- Three days doing this?

- Yes.

Achieving the ideal texture between the grainy nibs, the grainy sugar.

- We're you taught that or did you learn that by practicing?

This is practice, yeah.

- Oh, wow.

- Repetition.

- Wow, so, to get it to the texture where you want it.

- Yeah.

And with this machine you have to wait that amount of time.

- So it's on.

- It's on.

- You go to sleep and it's still doing this.

Dear Lord.

Okay.

- Yeah.

So, you pour your chocolate in any kind of container you have, after 24 hours, you can take them away into this beautiful shapes you have over here.

- Wow.

Mm.

- You want to take this block with you?

- Yes!

Yeah.

(both laughing) But I see you have some wafers, some little coin shaped ones.

How do you go into these shapes?

- Into these shapes?

Well, we have something that's called a tempering machine.

- Mm-hm.

- A tempering machine is a machine that melts the chocolate and gets it to the right temperature.

- Oh, really, okay.

- See that?

- Can I put my head- - You can put your face there if you want.

(Jorge laughing) Yeah, so this is the tempering machine, right?

This is the machine you can program to temper your chocolate.

- Okay.

- To evenly distribute your fat into the structure of your chocolate.

- Okay.

- [Diego] It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get to the right temperature.

And what you do after that after you have reached the desired temperature you have to pour your chocolate into your moulds.

- Okay.

- You release, you let it drop.

You do it two, - Oh, wow.

three times, - [Jorge] Oh, wow.

maybe four, maybe five.

And then you have to put everything there.

That's here into the tank.

You scrape it, right?

- [Jorge] Whoa.

- [Diego] Go down.

you clean, you clean, you clean here, clean here.

And you do it one more time.

Just a little bit.

Cover any hole that's- - [Jorge] Yeah, everything is messy.

- [Diego] And then you have to of course vibrate it to take the air out and even.

- Where do you vibrate it, here?

- Here.

(machine vibrating) - Oh, whoa.

- [Jorge] This is really specialized machinery specific for this artistry - [Diego] And the ones that are not perfect like this one, - Uh-huh.

you take it out and put it back.

- [Jorge] You put it back.

- Uh-huh.

- [Diego] Or you eat it.

- [Jorge] Or you eat it?

(both laughing) They're closing.

- [Diego] Yeah.

- [Jorge] Yeah, this was like printing the doubloons man.

It's like chocolate the doubloons.

- [Diego] You can trade chocolate for many things, (Jorge laughing) like tattoo.

(Jorge laughing) - He's traded tattoos for chocolate.

- I have.

- That's the old, the old way, you know, bartering (Jorge laughing) - Yeah, the old school way.

- What service do you, you show up to the your farmer's market with your chocolate.

What do I need?

You know, - How many chocolates do I need to get attached to that?

- I need milk, I need eggs, let's see what else I need, who wants chocolate?

(both laughing) - That's right.

- I start here?

- [Diego] Oh, there, yeah, you start there.

Go, it's like painting.

(loud puffing) - Go.

Oh, no, I didn't do though.

- [Diego] No problem, You're doing great.

Okay, you can stop it now.

Okay.

- Oh.

- [Diego] And scrape it.

- Scrape it all ready?

- [Diego] Yeah.

Oh, there's one here I didn't do.

- [Diego] Don't worry about it, just scrape it, push down, yeah.

Clean.

- There.

- There?

- [Diego] That's the way to go, yeah.

And you have to go in the same direction on the outer borders as well.

- On the other borders?

- [Diego] Right here.

- Like that?

- [Diego] Yeah, you can do that.

It's gonna take a little bit of the chocolate.

It's gonna turn out fine.

- Okay.

- [Diego] Okay, you can clean your spatula with the machine as well, like, - Like this?

- [Diego] Uh-huh, and the other side as well.

There you go.

Yeah.

- It's kind of messy.

- [Diego] But actually not bad, way better than me the first time I swear.

- [Jorge] I know he's being nice, give me a break.

- Do I do another one here?

- [Diego] No, you can put it there.

If we do it too much times.

- Okay.

- We're going to take too much of the chocolate away.

That's good.

- Okay, kind of messy.

(machine vibrating) - [Diego] Well, the vibration will fix it.

- We'll see how it goes.

- [Diego] Yeah.

- [Jorge] Let's see how Jorge's batch comes out.

I'll give you a Crossing South label to put on that box, specially made by chocolatier Jorge Meraz.

(Jorge laughing) - [Diego] There you go.

- [Jorge] Because this would make me, not a chocolate maker, a chocolatier, right?

- A chocolatier.

Commercial chocolate for me it's a gateway into better things.

- Right, exactly.

- Yeah.

(Jorge laughing) - Good way to see it.

- I do not advocate for, you know, calling out like, go commercial job.

- And as long as it makes you a chocolate lover, you'll be able to find your way to me.

- And as long as you are transparent where are they getting their beans from, if it's child labor free or if it's slavery free, it's fine.

- Yeah, but some of them like I see on the label, chocolate flavor.

Whenever I see that, I know it's not even chocolate.

- That's Satan.

- That's like a- - It's not good.

- That's a deceitful wording, right?

- Yeah.

- Chocolate flavor- - Flavored chocolates like fake and fake.

(Jorge laughing) (Jorge exhales deeply) - I've never had cocoa tea.

- [Diego] Oh, welcome.

- Oh, wow.

- [Diego] Good?

- Very good.

Yeah, I don't think I've ever tasted anything like this before.

And it doesn't, you know, it tastes good like that.

It's unsweetened, right?

- It's unsweetened.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

- You said this gives you energy?

- Plenty.

And helps release endorphins in your body.

- Really?

- Yep.

- Why?

'Cause I giggle, I think I can feel it.

I feel the power.

- Do you feel the force?

- I feel the force.

(Jorge laughing) I feel the shots.

(Jorge laughing) - Yeah, shots, space ball.

- (laughing) Exactly.

- Yeah.

I'm telling ya, only a fellow nerd can get these references.

- You've come to the right place.

- I feel the schwartz.

(both laughing) - [Jorge] I'm geeking out, right, I know.

- schwartz tea.

- schwartz tea, this is how it is, the schwartz tea - A great way of awakening.

There you go.

- Oh, man.

- Yeah.

- [Jorge] If you're looking for taste, you know and that balance of purity and chocolate, this way for that he makes with coconut, oh my goodness he found the right ingredient to sweeten it up.

Oh man.

So good.

Roasted cocoa nibs on top of the wafer.

Hmm, hmm.

You know, kind, kinda reminds me that I love Lucy episode where they have to wrap chocolate and they, it gets too much for them and start eating them.

So nothing gets past them.

(upbeat music) Our company is KajKab, - Catch cap.

- It's K-A-J-K-A-B.

We sell chocolate online.

- Okay.

- And we also offer classes, If you contact us through the email that's on our website as well.

So, if they go to the website and they wanna learn how to make chocolate, do you go to them or they come here to your shop?

- They come here.

- Oh, nice.

Nice, so it's almost like an a by appointment kind of thing, right?

- Yeah, by appointment yeah.

- Very nice.

It was very nice to meet you my friend.

- Thank you very much.

- Thank you Diego for making the world sweeter.

Through Chocolate.

- Thank you very much.

- [Jorge] Diego was surely one of those happy humans who sleeps comfortably each night knowing he had sweetness to people's lives.

We now move from Tecate to the coast and we prepare to face off against a monster, a monster taco.

- [Jorge] Here in Rosarito we found a spot, it has been recommended.

It's the local spot, the place to be.

And apparently the service is super fast and they have a taco called the "monster taco".

I wanna try that, so stay with us folks, it's Crossing South don't go anywhere.

It should be tasty.

- [Jorge] Los Cabos is one of those perennial Mexican places unfazed by trendy hipster fats.

It is what it is.

Plastic chairs.

Very minimalist.

- You've probably seen Krispy Kreme doughnuts, right?

Well there's Krispy Kreme shrimp and fish filets right there.

Check it out.

(upbeat music) So the portions are good, it's your classic shrimp fish taco.

(upbeat music) Okay, I don't think I'm eating all this on my own.

My crew is eating too, wink.

I want you to look at that veggie goodness, Oh my goodness.

Mm, shrimp falling out of your taco is always a good thing.

I mean, always just like, you know, grab him.

Hmm okay, for the shrimp tacos is really good.

It's just being honest or that you know what you're getting and what we feature on the show.

If not the best one I've had in Baja, but it's really good.

It's probably be a nine.

Let's give it a nine, the shrimp taco but that's not the one I really came for.

I came for another beast and that's the one I'm waiting for.

This is the monster.

Ooh my goodness, how am I gonna eat this?

Give me a fork, that's why they have these plastic forks or spoons here on the table.

How am I even gonna fold this?

So I know it has octopus, shrimp, calamari and a piece of Carne Asada, piece of meat.

I should take my sunglasses off, I think it's gonna get all over the place.

All right.

(Jorge laughing) Oh my goodness, okay.

It's really hot, but it is super good.

Oh my goodness.

Oh my goodness.

This is so good.

This taco gets a 10, definitely.

The shrimp taco is good too.

I guess the other ones, the normal ones are good too, but just save yourself the trouble just to go straight to the monster.

I, next time I come to this place, that's the only one I'm ordering.

This is extraordinary.

It is so messy, messy and good look at how big it is, And it's already half eaten.

I mean, half of it is gone already and looking at how much left I have to continue round two of my all out battle Maley with this thing.

I mean, look at it, look at that piece of Carne Asada of just floating out.

How am I gonna bite that?

(laughing) You shouldn't see this folks.

The rest is censored.

(upbeat music) So after duking it out with this monster taco amongst the modest but authentic local environment of tacos, Los Cabos and getting to visit with the Venezuelan expat chocolate maker who makes Baja a sweeter place.

We leave with our hands full till the next time we get to Cross South.

(upbeat music) - Like to know more about the places you've just seen?

Maps, videos, podcasts, and more at CrossingSouth.com.

We also do Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

(upbeat music)