Chocolate Jezus: chocolate pusher

Chocolate Jezus logo

I don't go to church on Sunday

Don't get on my knees to pray

Don't memorize the books of the Bible

I got my own special way

Tom Waits found his chocolate Jesus in Zerelda Lee's candy store, but you can find it right here in Ghent. With Chocolate Jezus Julie Ragusa-van Schooten, chef by diploma with roots in photography, wants to offer you a high quality and special chocolate experience. She loves chocolate so much she calls herself a "chocolate pusher". Let's find out why!

Rosie & The Rabbits: How would you describe Chocolate Jezus? What's your elevator pitch?

Julie Ragusa-van Schooten (founder Chocolate Jezus): If people needed to get any impression I would want them to think it tastes very good and the quality is very high. The products are organic and dairy free but that is just aside. It's mentioned that everything is organic but I don't want to focus on that. I want it to be unique and delicious in the first place.

Rosie & The Rabbits: Why did you call it Chocolate Jezus?

Julie Ragusa-van Schooten: Music is a passion. I don't play anything but I go a lot to concerts. And my favourite song by Tom Waits is Chocolate Jesus. The only problem was: when typing it online you only find the song, so I changed the -s into -z and so now it's even spelled in Dutch.

Rosie & The Rabbits: To be honest we're not chocolate's biggest fans... How would you convince us?

Julie Ragusa-van Schooten: I'm very particular on white chocolate, because normally it's too sweet and people don't see it as chocolate. So my challenge is when you eat it you wouldn't say it's white chocolate. I often make a delicate ganache that is so smooth and people simply love that.

Rosie & The Rabbits: Do you need your daily piece of chocolate?

Julie Ragusa-van Schooten: If there's a day without, something is definitely wrong. But when working for hours on truffles I don't touch them. I call myself a chocolate pusher because I'm always pushing chocolate on people to get an objective opinion.

Rosie & The Rabbits: Your website tells us people can also host a chocolate party?

Julie Ragusa-van Schooten: Well, I always want to come up with something new; I don't want to make something over and over again and I want to surprise people. So a chocolate party is the ideal way to try out things. I have done two now, mainly to introduce people to my ideas. I don't only make sweet things as in desserts, but any dish with chocolate is an option.

Rosie & The Rabbits: Do you use Belgian chocolate in your creations?

Julie Ragusa-van Schooten: No, to be honest mostly chocolate from Germany because it's organic and dairy free, and if you want to mention another term: it's fairtrade as well. But I love Belgian chocolate from local stores, definitely. If there would be a local company delivering organic, dairy free fairtrade chocolate, I would definitely work with them. On the other hand it can be all this, but if it doesn't taste good, what's the point?

Rosie & The Rabbits: If your career would have been completely different, what would it have been like?

Julie Ragusa-van Schooten: I have done so many things, from documentary films, over photography to food. I think it would have been music related. With food however I have truly found my niche. I know I will always work with chocolate but I will push myself to always find something new.

Rosie & The Rabbits: On your blog you are very open and honest: you share your success recipes with everyone.

Julie Ragusa-van Schooten: I like to talk about chocolate, I'm an open book. I also see it as a compliment if people ask how I did things. Sharing recipes is also a way to bring people to my site and in the end: to my chocolate.

Rosie & The Rabbits: Do you see shops selling your creations one day?

Julie Ragusa-van Schooten: Oh, that would be lovely but I prefer to take one step at a time. When processing chocolate in huge quantities I would really worry about the quality. That would be my main concern, and actually it already is now. If I got this kind of demand I would of course be very happy but tormented at the same time. Anyhow, I should start thinking about taking it to a next level because it's coming soon. Right now vegetarian restaurant Avalon is selling my chocolate but I cannot keep up with the stock; it sells so quickly!

Rosie & The Rabbits: How different would it be for you to sell your chocolate in a shop?

Julie Ragusa-van Schooten: What I'm doing now suits me better: I need to go out and meet new people and it's totally in my nature to do that. In a shop you're waiting for people to get to you.

Rosie & The Rabbits: What do you like the most: the creative thinking part or the doing part?

Julie Ragusa-van Schooten: I must say it can sometimes be stressful to think of recipes; you're putting money, effort and time into it. When it doesn't work, that's always disappointing and it lowers self-esteem a bit.... But I learn a lot; it's a challenge to solve the problems. I'm not a chocolatier and will never claim to be so but I work really hard.

The fun part is putting it in its package and putting the Chocolate Jezus logo on it! Of course, seeing people trying my chocolate and enjoying it is very nice too. Perhaps I focus on the technical aspect too much, but you can't avoid being technical with chocolate, because if you don't, you make so many mistakes. For several months I have been trying and testing and at one point it started coming together.

Rosie & The Rabbits: If you look back, are things going as expected?

Julie Ragusa-van Schooten: Things are going surprisingly well, but I'm not sure yet what kind of direction I'm going to. I get such a wonderful response and I still don't really work on it full-time. So I think, if I would, the response would even be greater. So far it was mainly an experiment to see what orders I would get.

You can buy these delicious Chocolate Jezus creations at restaurant Avalon or host a chocolate party with some friends!

www.chocolatejezus.com

www.facebook.com/chocolatejezus

Pictures: Chocolate Jezus

Eco-hostel Andromeda: if only we were tourists...

Andromeda is a such a beautiful name for a ship. We automatically associate it with black skies and shiny stars as well as with loyalty, as prescribed by ancient Greek mythology. It’s a close friend who told us about this ecological boat hostel at Bargiekaai 35, which is the only eco-hostel in the country and has been elected Belgium’s best hostel in 2010. 

To be honest we had no clue what to expect, but our rather skeptical prejudices where completely disproved after a couple of minutes. Liselot Claeys and Maarten Verbrugghe welcome us on board and suggest we first make a tour. The rooms are colourful and spacious, the showers better than at home. The only things reminding us of being on a boat is the rather narrow corridor and the impressive ABC engine flaunting behind glass. We’re so pleasantly surprised that we cannot wait to ask our questions.

THE RABBITS: What is the story behind the name Andromeda?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE (owners): The boat’s name was Andromeda when we bought it. Usually, when people name their boats, they often combine the first letters of their names, or their children’s names. In our case it could have been Lima or Mali, but since Andromeda sounds quite good, we didn’t want to rename it.

THE RABBITS: How long have you been running this eco-hostel now?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: We started four years ago. We had been talking about it for a long time before actually doing anything. I was studying, then started to work and didn’t have much time to think about it really. After a while we said to ourselves: either we stop talking about it or we start taking action. At first we had to arrange the required licenses, take care of the administration and look for money. Two years have passed from buying the boat to opening the doors of our hostel.

THE RABBITS: How did you prepare?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: Of course we did some limited market research and went to have a look in cities such as Amsterdam, where boat hostels existed already. On the other hand we didn’t want to investigate too much in order not to get influenced.

THE RABBITS: How did you find this boat? Did you buy it for the hostel or was it already yours?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: We have always lived in this street. At a certain moment we started looking for a boat, found this one by coincidence and turned it into the hostel we wanted to run. When thinking about it now, it perfectly fits in our concept and philosophy: reusing something which normally would have gone to the dump. Secondly we don’t occupy any house and it has a very low impact on both the city and the environment. The barge is very much related to our local history as well: it’s a typically Flemish ship and belongs to the disappearing patrimony. Ghent and Flandres are designed for these kind of boats.

THE RABBITS: How is a boat different from a regular building? In what respect do you have to arrange things in another way?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: Actually it’s not that different. Well, let’s say we never saw it as a restriction to our plans. Our goal has always been to offer exact the same quality to our guests as a regular hostel, regardless the eco and bio aspects. The price-quality ratio had to be the same. We had a certain standard we wanted to reach and it was up to us to achieve that; the boat couldn’t be an excuse. The only thing that might be different is the concept: the setting is quite unique and the boat appeals to people’s imagination.

THE RABBITS: Which ecological measures did you take to lower the impact of your hostel?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: On top of the roof we have our own reed water purification system. We use this water to flush the toilets. The beds have 100% biodynamic latex mattresses. Water and rooms are heated in a CO2-neutral way by using pallets. Just to give you an idea: we have the same heating cost as one family, while twenty people are staying and showering here! All thanks to well-insulated rooms and a well thought ventilation system. And in the morning you get an organic, fair trade and vegetarian breakfast.

THE RABBITS: Unfortunately ecological and biological are very fashionable terms. How do you distinguish between the real thing and the commercial claptrap?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: First of all you cannot focus on “biological” too much, since biological isn’t always ecological or durable. We didn’t use eco-paint for all the walls for example since it’s very susceptible to scratches. So then you have to ask yourself: what is the most ecological solution? Repainting the walls with eco-paint every year or painting it once using regular lacquer which lasts for at least ten years? Another problem is the lighting: we don’t use energy saving lamps since you cannot put a timer on them. Besides, they consume less energy but need to be processed as chemical waste. That’s also the reason why you won’t find any solar panels on the boat: they just cannot be recycled. In the future we do want to install a solar water heater.

We didn’t even receive a single subvention for our project: subventions are inevitably related to checklists, while we wanted to judge things ourselves and make our own choices. Therefore we indulged ourselves in the cradle to cradle principle: how are things produced? How are they used? Can they be reused or recycled afterwards? Unfortunately 100% ecological is impossible: you need to compromise from time to time, e.g. in order to get a fire permit.

Sadly, tourism is one of the most polluting sectors. Here in Ghent tourism is currently booming and no one seems to be thinking about the environment, while you really can make a difference and make sure your guests don’t have to make any effort. If people have to take action themselves, it often doesn’t work.

THE RABBITS: How do your guests react to the ecological aspect?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: The funny thing is: some of our them don’t even know they booked a room at an eco-hostel, let alone on a boat. They’re the kind of people who arrive here and say our garden on the deck looks like a jungle. And a lot of them are very disappointed that we don’t have solar panels. Of course it’s about personal preferences as well; some think it’s nice we have a push button for the showers since it increases awareness on how much water you’re using, while others absolutely hate it. Anyhow, people remain who they are, even when travelling; it’s not because they’re on a trip that certain people will stop complaining.

But in the end, the majority of our guests are very positive and they do appreciate how much effort we put into this.   

THE RABBITS: Did you develop some kind of interest in boats during the years? Are you going sailing with the Andromeda from time to time?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: To sail a ship like the Andromeda you need a skipper, we are not even allowed to go sailing with her ourselves.

But we are more interested in boats now, yes. Living on the water is very pleasant. When walking down the steps, you really enter another layer of the city: we look out on the green banks of the canal, we can watch the animals on the water surface, the birds for example are coming for bread in the morning. We’re sitting more outside than other people as well. We experience city life in another way.

THE RABBITS: What kind of people come to stay the night here?

LISELOT CLAEYS & MAARTEN VERBRUGGHE: Our type of guests differs according to the season: in the spring time and autumn we have the traditional backpackers, which are very different from the people coming here during Gentse Feesten and I Love Techno for example. Then you have the city trippers as well of course. In general they come from all over the world, except for Africa perhaps. African people are more used to staying at a friend’s house when visiting Europe.

The multicultural aspect opens up your world and makes it close a bit at the same time. Clichés are both confirmed and invalidated, which is very interesting. Our hostel is a very social place: travellers also come here to get to know others. The hostel is rather small and informal unlike big ho(s)tels where people are just numbers. And the boat makes it impossible to avoid or ignore each other.

Anyhow we trust our guests: they can take drinks from the fridge and note it down on a sheet. We have our own books in the cupboards, which they can take with them to read. Some of our friends say we’re too naive in these things, but honestly we have never had any problems. The last thing we want is to make people pay on beforehand, let them sign a list of rules and start checking everything they do.

When going up the stairs, leaving this lower level of the city behind us, we’re already late for our next appointment. And if our next interviewee had not been waiting for us, we would still have been on that boat. Maarten and Liselot have the guts to make their own choices and therefore it’s a pitty that so few inhabitants know about this well kept secret. Therefore: spread the word to your foreign friends and decline their requests for staying the night at your place. There’s such a lovely low impact boat waiting to welcome them.

www.ecohostel.be

Carrotmobbing - eco-pimp your supermarket!

If we say fairtrade you probably think of Oxfam and Max Havelaar within two seconds (don't worry, that counts for us too), but fairtrade is so much more than that. Get ready for a long Fairtrade week from 3 til 13 October,  full of events and surprising initiatives in order to help you reflect on the choices you make when shopping. 

We picked out a very special one for you and I must say, it's a genius idea to which we can only say: yes, yes, YES! Coming from the USA but already organized in Antwerp in 2009 and now finally also in Ghent: Carrotmobbing! The principle is very simple: the more people go shopping at a certain supermarket on a certain day, the more money that supermarket spends on eco-pimping itself. For this very first edition Spar Nieuw Gent (Zwijnaardsesteenweg 752) is the place to be on Saturday 6 October. 

But why?, we hear you thinking. Well, here's why:

THE RABBITS: Carrotmobbing has been a global phenomenon for a couple of years now. How did you know that the time had come to involve Ghent in it as well?

MICHAEL FOCKEDEY (Carrotmob Gent): The city of Ghent aims to be carbon neutral by 2050. Therefore a climate covenant has been established which was endorsed by the current coalition. In order to meet this target, the city of Ghent wants to involve as much citizens as possible in this process. That is why, in 2011, a "transition arena" took place in order to reveal the paths to a carbon neutral city. Twenty transition paths, related to transport & mobility, water recuperation, energy, housing, social structure, consumption, etc., were formulated and some of these paths generated working groups: the Carrotmob for example was born in November 2011 out of the transition path “the consumer is pushing the market”.

THE RABBITS: What made you pick the Spar mini-market at Zwijnaardsesteenweg as an opener?

MICHAEL FOCKEDEY: This particular Spar mini-market could offer the most. We wrote to sixteen mini-markets in and around Ghent asking them what percentage of their daily turnover they wanted to invest in energy saving measures. More or less six markets replied, but only Spar Nieuw Gent offered as much as 103%. Other markets could only offer 20 to 40%.

THE RABBITS: Will there be Carrotmobs in larger department stores in the future?

MICHAEL FOCKEDEY: In October we will evaluate our first Carrotmob and take a break in order to recover and reflect on things. After that we’ll see what comes next. Our six Carrotmob members all have a fulltime job and organize this event after working hours… We'll see, maybe new volunteers will join the team so we can mob a larger store someday!

THE RABBITS: What are your estimations on the number of people that will attend on 6 October?

MICHAEL FOCKEDEY: Personally, my estimations have always been around 400 mobbers. In addition to the regular customers, I hope this will induce a pleasant crowd in and outside the shop. We thought of entertainment as well so no one will get bored: we’ll have a makeup artist, Radio Topkaas is coming, there will be fair trade samples, a fair trade photography competition, a fair trade restaurant competition, etc.

THE RABBITS: How will you follow-up on the investments that are made in the supermarket and on how the money is spent?

MICHAEL FOCKEDEY: The shopkeeper undersigned a commitment statement, prescribing that the promised investments (103% of the total daily turnover on 6 October) should be accomplished within the ten following months. A couple of weeks ago we did a professional energy audit in collaboration with E-maze at the Spar mini-market and we’re expecting a detailed energy report to come in this week, indicating the quick-wins on one hand and the long-term investments on the other hand.

We sure hope you are as convinced as we are. Let's go eco-pimp this mini-market!

www.facebook.com/CarrotmobGent
www.carrotmob.org
www.facebook.com/weekvandefairtrade