18/06/2024
The Udomsak Krisanamis x Shabar Chocolate collaboration is Thai cacao made into a delectable handcrafted bar inspired by Udomsak’s painting Golden Slumbers, 2023. initiated the collaboration when she curated the ALL IS PRETTIER. show at . As we worked on our silk collaboration with Udomsak, we found many parallels between cacao and indigo. Firstly, both are ancient and the SE Asian species of both indigo and cacao have narratives of their own separate from the global narrative to the point that they are relatively undiscovered. Cacao, which was part of ritual and livelihood to the ancient Mayans and Aztecs, was first planted in Thailand in the 1970s (though unlike indigo which has been in the region for much longer). It has come into its own with high-quality single-origin beans being grown and harvested only in the last decade with passionate chocolate farmers and producers uniting. Like indigo, the cacao comes from the land, the terroir makes cacao from each region unique. It is harvested and then it goes through a post-harvest process that makes it edible, with fermentation also a part of the process, human intervention turns the bean in pods into rich, delicious “brown gold” that we know as chocolate. The Founder of Shabar, identified this shared trait where indigo was also used as a currency, how value is derived from the land and made by hand by artisans.
The Udomsak Krisanamis x Shabar chocolate is made with single-origin cacao from Khun Thana’s Kanvela Farm in Mae Tang District, Chiang Mai. The bee pollen is sourced from Supha Bee Farm in Mae Rim District, Chiang Mai. The sea salt flakes are naturally harvested in Thailand.
The bar is made in a batch of 1000 and is available now at .
