Beloved community: cook, chocolate maker and student of holistic nutrition & herbal medicine Alice
Alice of leife.dk is a UK based cook, chocolate maker and student of holistic nutrition & herbal medicine. In her work with chocolate and cacao, she is inspired by the traditional ways cacao is grown, its versatile utilization and medicinal properties.
Kajsa talked to Alice about her work, ethical cacao and nourishment from a holistic nutritionist POV.
For the upcoming winter holidays, Alice has created a nourishing and delicious hot chocolate recipe for the Helsinki Healing Arts Center and our community. Enjoy!
Hello Alice, how are you and who are you?
Hello Kajsa, I’m doing well thank you :-) Just enjoyed a cozy weekend with reading some herbals and getting outside too, when the weather allowed!
I’m a half British half Danish previous cook/chocolate maker, currently delving into studies of holistic nutrition and herbal medicine, and enjoy everything to do with creativity and nature!
What are the paths that lead you into doing what you are doing right now? What is an early memory from your life that connects you to where you are right now?
Such a beautiful question to ask :-) There are many paths, and I feel that they’ve all been leading me to where I am now, as I almost got here a couple of years ago and the herbs have continued to call me! Initially, I developed a passion for cooking as a way to express my creativity, as I love both the visual and culinary eating aspects of making good food, along with the joy that comes with sharing it. I wanted to make things that were suitable for as many people as possible, taking into account a wide array of diets, and was therefore called by a plant-based style of cooking (with as little harm to our animal friends too), using local ingredients as much as possible (which seems quite different to making chocolate at a later stage, being sourced from much further away! — but more on that later).
This path developed into making simple dishes in two cafes in Copenhagen, followed by a break to reconsider and recover from working too much (!), and then making chocolate, which ultimately led me into stepping back from producing food and onto studying herbalism and holistic nutrition, with the goal to combine my previous, mostly intuitive path into food with a deeper and more knowledge rich one, to hope to help people heal themselves through the power of nature and diet.
An early memory that connects me to where I am now would have to be walks in the forest where I grew up in the south of the UK, as I’m currently in the West Midlands and much closer to nature than I have been the last few years, living in cities — Copenhagen, Malmö and London! Some of my favourite memories are foraging wild strawberries among other fruits in the Swedish forests, and walks in the forest there too.
In your work as a (previous) chocolate maker/baker, what has been your biggest inspiration and passion?
The work of other chocolate makers as inspiration for sure! And all the growers of cacao, and people who traditionally use them. My passion grew from my love of cacao and how powerful it is in many ways, including medicinally (along with being delicious), and how you can use it in so many recipes too.
How does sustainability, fair trade and other ethical aspects influence your work?
It’s a sad fact that so much of our available chocolate on the shelves is sourced from people working under extremely poor conditions, including slavery and child slavery, reflected in the low price and wide availability of commercially made chocolate. Knowing this influenced my work to a large degree: with the mission to spread awareness about the chocolate industry, and the chocolate making process. If you’re looking to buy chocolate, the most sustainable way is to look for chocolate makers who call themselves ‘bean-to-bar’, and are transparent in where they are sourcing their cocoa beans from, and happy to answer questions on that if you have any!
As chocolate is a commonly enjoyed treat in our Western world, and as a dried foodstuff can be transported in that dried state as beans, often shipped over long distances over several months before being stored in warehouses closer to us (commonly in special temperature-controlled chocolate warehouses in Amsterdam), it felt ok to be part of that method of production, though right now, I’ve been drawn to connecting more with locally grown fruits, vegetables, herbs, etc (as there are also lots of consciously working chocolate makers out there to too, to support!). My dream is to grow my own herbs for use in my practice, moving forward...
“It’s a sad fact that so much of our available chocolate on the shelves is sourced from people working under extremely poor conditions, including slavery and child slavery, reflected in the low price and wide availability of commercially made chocolate. Knowing this influenced my work to a large degree: with the mission to spread awareness about the chocolate industry, and the chocolate making process.”
Chocolate is a big part of the celebration of Christmas and the December holidays; what are some of your own favourite chocolates for this holiday?
It is for sure :-) Apart from eating chocolate simply from the bar, I enjoy melting it into hot chocolate at this time of year, and using it for baking in anything that needs a chocolatey extra! Favourites would have to be chocolate chunk banana bread, for this holiday and most holidays, and chocolate ganache into truffles infused with herbs, too.
As a student of herbal medicine and holistic nutrition, what are some of the most significant ways you incorporate that knowledge into your own nourishment?
Right now I’m still very much a beginner, but as a student I’m currently trying to explore the therapeutic effects of higher doses of single herbs and spices, as I’ve previously just included a little in my recipes, and am realising that for some, such as rosemary, this works perfectly, but for others, such as cinnamon or turmeric, the benefit can increase when you increase the dose (all to an extent - please ask someone more knowledgeable if wishing to do this yourself!). Basic things such as being more mindful when cooking and eating, using seasonal and local ingredients where possible, and foraging in your local area are all ways I try to incorporate myself to connect more deeply the healing power of nature and what the herbs and other plants can teach us.
How does nutrition and healing intersect; what are some ways you find healing through nourishment?
In my view nutrition and healing are overlapping; nutrition is an integral part of healing, as the foods which we eat are interlinked with us and our environment in so many ways. How food can be nourishing, or trigger for example inflammation, on an individual level and for different effects for different people, it’s important to have awareness as to what we put in our bodies. I think the most powerful way to find healing through nourishment is to be aware of the effects your diet is having on you. Therefore I try to listen to my body as much as possible and cultivate awareness around when I feel my best. I also believe all substances can be healthy or beneficial in the right dose, and harmful or toxic in the wrong dose, so the most important thing to be aware of is the feeling. It’s also been interesting for me to experiment with singular herbs and spices to find healing, as I’ve mentioned above.
What are some of your favourite ingredients for making nourishing meals in the winter season and why?
I love using root vegetables in the winter season, such as carrots, celeriac, parsnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes and beetroots, for their warming qualities that are deeply nourishing and filling! Also green leafy winter vegetables like kale which are a great source of vitamins and minerals, especially important in winter, and delicious in stews, broths, curries etc. One of my favourite herbal recipes for the winter season is an elderberry elixir, combining the antiviral properties of elderberries with warming spices such as ginger and cinnamon, for a flu and virus preventative, and immune system supporter. ■
Homemade Herbal Almond Milk Hot Chocolate
by alice @leife.dk FOR HELSINKI HEALING ARTS CENTER
It is so important to enjoy foods that are comforting and delicious! When developing this winter hot chocolate recipe, I looked at qualities already contained within cacao and tried to amplify them.
Cacao is technically speaking a vasodilator (relaxing blood vessels) and contains a high number of flavonoids, all which improve circulation, which is especially important in the cold months. Herbs often work in synergy with each other, which means the effects of one are increased when placed in combination with another, so adding similar herbs with overlapping properties can harness their effects in the best way possible, which is also how I decided upon which herbs to use.
Cinnamon was also included for warmth and blood-glucose stabilising effects, liquorice for adaptogenic, digestive effects and more natural sweetness, hibiscus and rose for cardiovascular effects and effects on both the physical and emotional heart (such as cacao), and chaga as the king of the mushrooms for it’s immune boosting benefits among everything else.
All the herbs and spices contain large amounts of antioxidant, antiinflammatory and antimicrobial properties too, which are perfect for extra support during the winter. Also, everyone should feel free to add or omit some or all of the extras, and use what’s on hand and local to them, and also depending on what properties would be most beneficial individually.
Ingredients
Homemade almond milk (makes 1 litre):
· 140g almonds
· Filtered water, to cover, then 1 litre filtered water to blend with
Hot chocolate (makes 2 cups):
· 300ml homemade almond milk
· 2 tbsp dried hibiscus flowers
· 2 tsp dried rose petals
· 60g 70% bean-to-bar dark chocolate
· 1 tsp dried double extract chaga powder
· 1/2 tsp cinnamon
· 1/4 tsp dried licorice root powder, optional
· 1/4 vanilla pod, scraped
· 1 tsp raw honey, optional for extra sweetness
· Extra chopped dark chocolate and chaga powder, for sprinkling on top
Method
ALMOND MILK
Start by soaking the almonds for the almond milk, ensuring they’ve been soaking in filtered water for 8-12 hours.
Drain and rinse halfway through, then top to cover with more filtered water. At the end of the soaking time drain again, and add to a high speed blender along with 1 litre fresh filtered water. Blend on high for 40 seconds to a minute, then pour through a nut milk bag into a large bowl and squeeze to get all the liquid out. Store in a lidded glass bottle in the fridge until needed. Lasts for 4-5 days.
hot chocolate
Measure out the almond milk into a saucepan and add the dried hibiscus flowers and rose petals.
Bring to a gentle heat, then switch off once you see a little steam, cover, and leave to infuse for 30 mins to an hour.
Once infused (the milk should be slightly pink), sieve through a handheld sieve, add back to the saucepan and heat gently again. Add the chocolate and other herbs and spices, taking care to feel intuitively which ones call to you most, and adding others if you have favourites! Whisk until combined and the chocolate is fully melted - it will get very thick, keep going!
Taste, and adjust spices/sweetness as needed, then pour out into serving mugs and top with a little extra chopped chocolate and chaga.
Feel free to adapt the recipe with other herbs and spices as you feel, and change up the herbs for the almond milk infusion. Earl grey would be wonderful with the milk infusion, as would peppermint or orange zest! I like to keep the bitterness of the chocolate apparent by not adding too much honey, if at all, and the chaga which is also bitter.
ENJOY!
→ follow Alice @leife.dk to learn more about her work and offerings!
