Corpus Civilization

Belarus

"I don't want to, father."

Piatro shook his head at the tools laying on the counter and the confusing contraptions that lingered behind his father's back. They were too complex for him to understand, and even if he was expected to understand them at some point in his life, he didn't want to learn now. He just wanted to be a boy, to go out and skateboard for hours in the park without a care in the world.

"Ah, Piatro! You're almost fourteen! You need to learn how these work soon." Piatro's father stood aside from the counter motioning at the objects. "They aren't too difficult to understand, if you'll let me explain—"

"No, father!" Piatro stomped his foot against the warm, honey-colored ground of the chocolate shop. "I don't want to learn how to make chocolate today! Please, can I just go outside and skateboard! The weather is so nice out today..."

For a while, Piatro's father stood in silence, measuring both Piatro and his tools on the counter. Occasionally, the whiffs of burning sugar and other baking confections greeted the two occupants in the Chocolate Lab, but they were so desensitized to the scent that their mouths held back watering. Piatro tapped impatient fingers at his dark jeans.

"Piatro...fine. You know what? Fine. You can go out and skateboard today, but if you do, then I'll never teach you the secret of this shop that only two other chocolatiers know..."

Piatro humphed. "Secret? Yeah right."

"Oh, it's quite the secret." Piatro's father adjusted one of the mixing tools, staring off with a wild glint in his eyes. "Without it, chocolate would not be the same at Kommunarka. Our chocolatiers make it special here, make it like no one else in all of Belarus, in all of the world."

"Hmm..." Piatro squinted his eyes. His father continued.

"The secret is so sought after that one in three customers asks us about it, trying to dig the secret out of the clerks...why, Piatro, don't make that face at me! I'm serious, this shop is famous around the world, even if you cannot tell. With your appreciation of chocolate or not, the family secret in this store will remain forever."

Piatro's eyes were focused now, and for a moment he forgot about skateboarding. "What is it? What secret?"

The elder man shrugged. "Why, I can't tell you if you skateboard."

The boy deflated. He bit at his lower lip and studied his father and the tools on the countertop. Then he considered the gravity of the secret at hand. Only known to chocolatiers of Kommunarka, the family store? And he didn't know it yet?

"Okay, I won't go skateboarding today. Please tell me the secret!"

Piatro's father chuckled. "Wait just a second now, Piatro. You have to learn how to make the chocolate before you can learn the secret behind it. Here, let's start by organizing the tools."

For the next half hour, Piatro learned about the different kinds of machines utilized in chocolate making. His father pointed out the cocoa bean roaster, the machine used to peel and crack open the beans, the winnower used to remove any leftover husks from the peeling process...

"What does that do?" Piatro pointed to a large, black machine that had a funnel and a steel bowl underneath what looked like some kind of faucet nozzle.

Piatro's father motioned animated to the funnel. "This is the grinder! Here, you place in the cocoa beans after they are peeled and the excess husks have been removed by the winnower. This machine can smash up the toughest beans into the finest powder."

Piatro blinked at the object. He never knew that thing was a cocoa bean smasher! With mounting interest, he leaned over the countertop to listen to the abilities of the rest of the machines.

"This here is for the refining process. This is where the soft, powdery cocoa gets mixed with sugar and any flavors we want it to taste like. This is the machine that gives the chocolate its smooth consistency, spins powder into gold!"

"Oh..." Piatro stared at the machine, dumbstruck. "That thing makes the chocolate bars?"

"Not quite." Piatro's father dragged a few boxy, plastic molds across the surface. "These are the molds we use to pour the chocolate liquid into, and they set for a certain time. If the chocolate didn't set before we served it, then we'd be a soup shop instead of a chocolate shop."

Piatro laughed, trying to imagine customers eating their chocolate with a spoon in a bowl. He found it entertaining, but boy, the mess that would make in the store! It was a good thing they had so many different molds, from bunnies to sealife to hearts. Everyone found a shape they could relate to at Kommunarka.

"Great, so we're finished with the machines...shall we give it a go with real cocoa beans?"

Piatro grinned. "Yes, except let's not put the chocolate in a mold this time! I want to have chocolate soup."

"Fine by me."

Piatro's father left the room to fetch the supplies with a grin on his lips. When he returned, he set the supplies upon the counter and started rummaging through them. With Piatro's help, he peeled and winnowed the cocoa beans using the instruments, but before they could move on to the bean grinder, Piatro stopped them.

"Wait, I just remembered. You have a secret to tell me."

Piatro's father chuckled. "Right. I will tell you the secret...after we're finished. We're almost done Piatro! Let's start smashing these beans up, how about it?"

Eager to try out the contraption, Piatro leaned over the counter. He followed his father's direction, and a very fine cocoa powder settled into the steel bowl below the device. He loaded the powder into the melangeur, which spun the cocoa bean powder into gold. After his father added some supplemental ingredients, Piatro watched excitedly as the machine ate them and mixed everything in one big soup. He couldn't take his eyes off of the swirling mocha liquid, spinning thickly under the direction of a large metal stir rod.

"Wow...it's beautiful!"

"It's nearly done." Piatro's father shut off the device, grabbing a large spoon and small cup from the counter. "Now we just need to taste it. Here."

Piatro's father scooped a large spoonful into the bowl, careful not to spill any excess chocolate over the side. Hopping in his spot, Piatro reached out for the fruit of his labor, not wasting any time before he scooped a spoonful of chocolate and stuck it in his mouth.

"Mmm!" Piatro rolled the warm, melted chocolate over his tongue. "It tastes better this way than in a bar! Why don't we serve chocolate soup, father?"

"Ah, that has to do with the secret of the store." Piatro's father smiled. "Do you want me to tell you what our regular customers have been asking recently?"

"What?" Piatro globbed another spoonful of chocolate into his mouth.

"Who will run the store in a few years, when you decide to retire?"

"Oh, I thought it would be something cool." Piatro raised his eyebrow, still delighting himself in the chocolate soup. "So what's the secret? Let me guess...I'm the one who gets to run it?"

"Nope."

Piatro froze. "Wait, what?"

Piatro's father nodded. "The secret of the Kommunarka's ownership has always been tied to innovation. The chocolatiers must compete, must innovate new products to sell...and whoever comes up with the best product gets named owner. That's why I became the owner even though my uncle owned the shop. His son didn't create something startling enough, I guess."

A new determination burned hot in Piatro's eyes. "So...I don't get the chocolate shop?"

"Unless you can win it, that is."

Piatro leapt off the chair with his chocolate soup bowl in hand. "I will win it! I will! I just have to master my chocolate soup recipe! You'll see, father. I will own Kommunarka!"

With that, Piatro took off jogging through the doorway to get closer to his chocolate soup goal, forgetting about the gray skateboard leaning against the doorframe.

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By Izzy