Durian and chocolate high, videos, photos and Keiko Ti - Thats me!

Yesterday was my last day with Chocosol @ 720. They were packing up to move on.. over to 6 St Joseph St. I will miss them so much.. I was a little in denial that they were actually leaving.

Toward the end of the day, as it was quieting down .. it was so busy! I got out a durian that the Boutenkos had given to us when they left & we had a durian party. Not that most of the chocosol guys or everyone was into it.. but quite a few of us were, def Matthieu & Simon & Oliver & Mark. Mark is 12 years old & comes in quite a bit to volunteer & help make chocolate. He loved the durian. Said he had The Great Glass Elevator before - this is a recipe from The Naked Chocolate book (D Wolfe & Shazzie). The recipe calls for 1 durian, 30 cacao beans, 1 young coconut & a ball pond. You open the coconut.. eat the durian & the beans and then drink the coconut water w/ a straw & laze around in the ball pond for an hour before resuming any adult activities.
He said it made him high, ..and lazy and tired and happy. He said he's probably been more high than any other kid his age. He's almost raw.. he wants to be & is heading in that direction, says hes 70%.
Durian has a lot of tryptophan, which raises seratonin levels in the brain.. this leads to feelings of bliss and even euphoria.

Durian has a nasty smell though when you open it.. kind of like sulphur.. and the taste is amazing.. vanilla and banana and slight oniony or something but better and has a creamy buttery texture - its an aquired taste & many people wouldn't agree with me - that it's amazing. I didn't like it very much at first either.. but each consecutive time got better & there is something about sharing durain with someone else. Its an intimate experience.. even if there are more than 2. Not sure how that happens.. but a definite bond develops. Durian is an experience as much as a flavor. & most raw foodists think its the best flavour ever!

A woman came in about an hour after we opened it ..she came up to the counter & said.. "whats going on in here, is something happening.. the energy level is so high" 'Oh yeah, I told her we just opened a durian & shared it" she was really intrigued. she had never had one before.. but told me that she just got back from Thailand and there were signs not to take durian up to the hotel rooms (They are banned on the subways in Singapore also, according to Anthony Bourdain's book - A Cooks Tour - my husband is reading that right now) So there was a bit left & she tried some. She gave a bit of a weird look - most people are not sure what to make of it & don't get all the hype - but like I said - aquired and its something more than just taste - theres another level going on here.

Matthieu had some melted cacao and we were dipping the durian in the melted raw chocolate - it was sooo good! Matthieu is my chocosol raw buddy who makes the most amazing green juices.. he hand cranks them - more energy in them ..& uses a lemurian crystal to grind stuff up.. its actually more of a potion than either just a tonic or juice.. this stuff is magical!

Matthieu made the Chocosol Chronicle - 720 experiment video I posted a week or so ago. He is going to teach me how to post videos to YouTube & maybe edit etc. - part of my great plan - a travelling raw video blog - but thats still just such a small part of it. : ) & I have much to learn & do. Matthieu is also going to be my chocolate connection - I am a serious addict! ; )

Mark, on the other hand, came & helped me spread out the bread and get sheets of it into the dehydrater after the durian experience.. I think I may just take over this volunteer help! He offered. : ) & he wrote out a bunch of raw recipes for me to try & lent me his Bible (Naked Chocolate) to read for the week until he can come back. Its one of those books thats been read, read, and reread hundreds of times .. and signed 3 times by David Wolfe.

I am just finishing my lunch as I write this. Rawket Chips (my dehydrated spicy corn chips) w/ guacamole & salsa. Sooo good! ..and I am finally off to go paint now. I brought all my paintings so far up and out into my front hallway & they are stacked 3 high - 6' (they are all 2'x2') and 5 long.. 14 of them so far.. going to go work on the 15th.. but it looks like one big painting, all put together like that - a bouquet or actually a whole garden! I brought them to get ready to be photographed but I kind of like them there.

I should get me photographed also.. I don't have 1 pic of myself on the computer. I joined facebook last week or so. ..under my artist name Keiko Ti. I just signed my paintings all Keiko Ti.. my husband asked what that name was.. new to him. He said I was so weird. Maybe I am (in a good way of course) - I kind of liked that.


durian pic from http://tzuyen.blogspot.com/2005_06_01_archive.html