I grew up near the mountains of Madrid, where access to processed food was scarce. I learned self-reliance very early on; I cooked what I grew and ate what I cooked. My father was a master alchemist, mixing raw ingredients he found at the flea market to create something that tasted as fine as the glitter of gold looks to the eye. My mother was a disciplined chef. She spent countless hours in our small kitchen, kneading bread, squeezing fresh lemons, and crushing leaves of parsley. Everything we ate was marked with the touch of a human hand and the flavor of love.
My mother, like most Spanish women, embraced the romantic side of life. During the summers of my childhood, basking in the glow of the hot sun, staring across the expanse of fields to the green hills beyond, I could hear my mother’s groans and sighs from inside our home as she mixed the hard and stubborn cacao to make my favorite summer dessert—homemade chocolate bars. I have never forgotten the taste of such a succulent treat, melting on the tip of my tongue like an ice carving in July.
Over sixty years later, as I sit inside Caravan of Dreams, the restaurant I’ve labored to build and sustain, the taste of that chocolate still lingers in my mind. When I think of my mother, the smell of cacao wafts through my nostrils like a ghost through a wall, and my mouth salivates with expectation. I’ve tried to recreate that flavor for decades, but the recipe eluded me, and I settled for a pale imitation.
Since its inception, Caravan’s signature chocolate has contained a mixture of healthy ingredients. Like my father, I’ve always been fascinated by the combination of different flavors and how they create something entirely new and delicious. I guess it’s the alchemist in me.
With our chocolate, I included Shilagit, a natural, tar-like substance found in the mountains of the Himalayas. It’s a sacred resin used in Ayurvedic medicine for its myriad health benefits. Since chocolate has such a strong and pleasant taste, I also mixed in a quantity of Chaga mushrooms, which help modulate the immune system. Its harsh taste is completely concealed by the chocolate, but its health benefits are absorbed by the body. A sprinkle of Reishi mushrooms, AKA the “Mushroom of Immortality,” infuses Caravan’s signature chocolate with immune support and anti-inflammatory benefits.
Still, our signature chocolate never tasted right. I’m happy to say that, in the early days of 2025, that has finally changed.
A recent encounter with Lindt’s cacao bars brought everything together. Unlike most chocolate bars, which contain, at most, 75% cacao, Lindt’s bars contain 100% cacao. They are pure, unsweetened, and organic—made the Caravan way.
After tasting Lindts chocolate, I ran to the restaurant, got out my alchemist materials, and began the long process of experimenting with different ratios and flavors. I worked deep into the night, feeling the ghost of my mother looking on as I toiled. When I left the lab—exhausted, holding my new creation in my hand—the sun had risen, and I greeted the dawn like I had when I was a child in the mountains of Spain. I lifted the chocolate like a salute to the heavens and let it melt on my tongue like in the days of old. The presence of my mother never felt as near—it tasted like home.
I’m thrilled to include our new chocolate recipe in a variety of our favorite desserts, which you can read on our menu. I hope you stop by and taste them for yourself. I know I’m proud of the result.
This one’s for you, Mamma.