Last mango season, chef Gokul Kumar aka Goku hosted a pop-up celebrating the fruit &mdash; leaf, wood, seed, blossom and all &mdash; across nine courses. This year, he focuses on <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sunday-mid-day/article/rewriting-the-indian-cacao-story-23446966" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">cacao</a> with Uncharted Terroir with Chef Goku at Magazine St. Kitchen, in association with Patricia Cosma and the Indian Craft Chocolate Festival, in collaboration with craft chocolate producers nationwide.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/apr/Cacao-pods-trees_e.jpg" alt="A cacao pod. PICs COURTESY/GOKUL KUMAR" width="1280" height="720" /> A cacao pod. PICS COURTESY/GOKUL KUMAR
&ldquo;Indian cacao has long been overlooked globally and at home,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Most farms, some over four generations old, have grown for big brands, with little focus on quality or craft. The farmers I met in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, are hesitant to shift &mdash; but awareness is the first step. There&rsquo;s a market now. It&rsquo;s time we tap into it.&rdquo;
Meanwhile, global cacao is facing a crisis. Prices are soaring due to crop failures in West Africa &mdash; where most of the world&rsquo;s supply comes from &mdash; driven by <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/nature-and-wildlife/article/climate-change-effect-earths-axis-has-meandered-10-metres-in-last-120-years-say-studies-23365896" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">climate change</a>, ageing trees, and disease. And yet, India&rsquo;s potential remains largely untapped. This dinner is his way of changing the narrative. &ldquo;Most chefs I know, including myself at one point, still default to Belgian chocolate. But Indian cacao offers incredible nuance, depth, and character. We haven&rsquo;t explored it enough.&rdquo;
A single cocoa pod takes months of work to grow, harvest, and process. This menu traces its journey through every hand it touches &mdash; from farmer to forest to plate &mdash; giving Indian cacao the spotlight it long deserves.
The Guide&rsquo;s top 5 picks from the tasting menu
Bread and butter: The first course is a nod to the chef&rsquo;s personal journey &mdash; gluten-intolerant and passionate about sourdough. Featuring bread made with superior quality wheat from Punjab, the course includes chocolate sourdough using Manam&rsquo;s Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) single-origin cacao. It&rsquo;s paired with a vegan cherry-cacao butter that lets the subtle acidity of cacao butter shine &mdash; a playful, plant-based take on black forest flavours.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/apr/Elaki_e.jpg" alt="Yelakki" width="1280" height="720" /> Yelakki
Cheese board: The cheese course is a thoughtful play on classic pairings. Collaborating with Chennai-based cheesemaker Namrata Sundaresan, the chef presents a kokum and cacao nib&ndash;rubbed Manchego aged for depth and complexity. Served with guava compote on a filled pastry, it pays homage to South American traditions while subtly referencing the Spanish conquest &mdash; tracing cacao&rsquo;s journey from indigenous hands to European tables.
Ghana dreams: One of the most poignant courses on the menu is a soup rooted in resilience. Inspired by African cacao farmers who, with little means and unfair wages, created a nourishing dish from leftover cacao pods and leaves, it speaks to struggle and ingenuity. The chef refines this humble, grainy, intensely flavourful recipe just enough for the plate &mdash; without stripping away its soul. It&rsquo;s a tribute to the hands that grow cacao, and a reminder of the recognition they deserve.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/apr/Gokul-Kumar_e.jpg" alt="Gokul Kumar" width="1280" height="720" /> Gokul Kumar
Mayan way: This course dives into cacao&rsquo;s origin story through a traditional Oaxacan mole. Known as the land of seven moles, Oaxaca has long celebrated this rich, layered sauce &mdash; once made without chocolate, onion, or garlic. Only after the Spanish conquest did sweetened cacao find its way into mole, changing it forever. Much like sambar varies across Indian homes; mole is profoundly personal and complex. This dish reflects cacao&rsquo;s transformation across cultures and time &mdash; a story of adaptation, survival, and the quiet power of food to carry history.
Yelakki: The final course is a playful ode to elaki &mdash; the tiny, sweet banana from Tamil Nadu and Kerala. At first glance, it looks like a banana, but it&rsquo;s entirely made of chocolate, filled with a banana-rum mousse. It also features cupua&ccedil;u, a Brazilian cousin of cacao with a coconut-like shell and rich, tangy notes. Shared by a friend from Brazil, it adds a unique twist to this dish. This dessert is all about surprise and nostalgia &mdash; a familiar flavour reimagined to end the meal with a sense of wonder. A reminder that cacao, like stories, can take many forms. &nbsp; ON April 11 and 12; 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm AT Magazine St. Kitchen, Byculla.&nbsp; COST '3,750 (exclusive of taxes) CALL 9987897207 (to book a slot)<script type="text/javascript">atOptions={'key':'d0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7','format':'iframe','height':90,'width':728,'params':{}};</script>
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This upcoming pop-up reimagines Indian iterations of the fruit through a storytelling-led menu that journeys from local farms to global appreciation

Hail the desi cacao: This pop-up in Mumbai reimagines Indian iterations of the fruit

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Home / Mumbai-guide / Things To Do / Article / Hail the desi cacao: This pop-up in Mumbai reimagines Indian iterations of the fruit

Hail the desi cacao: This pop-up in Mumbai reimagines Indian iterations of the fruit

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