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

This upcoming pop-up reimagines Indian iterations of the fruit through a storytelling-led menu that journeys from local farms to global appreciation

Last mango season, chef Gokul Kumar aka Goku hosted a pop-up celebrating the fruit — leaf, wood, seed, blossom and all — across nine courses. This year, he focuses on cacao 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.

A cacao pod. PICS COURTESY/GOKUL KUMAR

“Indian cacao has long been overlooked globally and at home,” he says. “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 — but awareness is the first step. There’s a market now. It’s time we tap into it.”

Meanwhile, global cacao is facing a crisis. Prices are soaring due to crop failures in West Africa — where most of the world’s supply comes from — driven by climate change, ageing trees, and disease. And yet, India’s potential remains largely untapped. This dinner is his way of changing the narrative. “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’t explored it enough.”

A single cocoa pod takes months of work to grow, harvest, and process. This menu traces its journey through every hand it touches — from farmer to forest to plate — giving Indian cacao the spotlight it long deserves.

The Guide’s top 5 picks from the tasting menu

Bread and butter: The first course is a nod to the chef’s personal journey — gluten-intolerant and passionate about sourdough. Featuring bread made with superior quality wheat from Punjab, the course includes chocolate sourdough using Manam’s Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh) single-origin cacao. It’s paired with a vegan cherry-cacao butter that lets the subtle acidity of cacao butter shine — a playful, plant-based take on black forest flavours.

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–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 — tracing cacao’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 — without stripping away its soul. It’s a tribute to the hands that grow cacao, and a reminder of the recognition they deserve.

Gokul Kumar

Mayan way: This course dives into cacao’s origin story through a traditional Oaxacan mole. Known as the land of seven moles, Oaxaca has long celebrated this rich, layered sauce — 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’s transformation across cultures and time — a story of adaptation, survival, and the quiet power of food to carry history.

Yelakki: The final course is a playful ode to elaki — the tiny, sweet banana from Tamil Nadu and Kerala. At first glance, it looks like a banana, but it’s entirely made of chocolate, filled with a banana-rum mousse. It also features cupuaçu, 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 — a familiar flavour reimagined to end the meal with a sense of wonder. A reminder that cacao, like stories, can take many forms.
 
ON April 11 and 12; 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm
AT Magazine St. Kitchen, Byculla. 
COST '3,750 (exclusive of taxes)
CALL 9987897207 (to book a slot)

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