Palestinian chocolatier adds herbal touch to her sweet offerings

RAMALLAH, Palestine－Reem Shihab, a Palestinian woman from the West Bank city of Ramallah, makes chocolate with herbs such as sage, mint, anise, basil, thyme and rosemary.

The Palestinians usually boil these herbs in water or mix it with tea to drink. The herbs are also used as medicines to treat illnesses such as asthma, cold, and flu. But the idea of making chocolate with herbs is quite ingenious.

Shihab, a mother of six, said that she makes the chocolate by mixing flavor extracted from herbs with olive oil, cardamom and roasted coffee seeds.

She then wraps the mixture with grape leaves, which gives it a special taste.

"In my chocolates, I use six different flavors extracted from natural herbs that are popular in Palestine," she said, adding that she promotes her products through Facebook.

Three years ago, Shihab started making herbal chocolate after she passed several training courses specialized in cooking and making desserts.

Aspiring to stand out from other dessert chefs, she managed to make her chocolate with herbal flavors.

Shihab had lived abroad for many years before she returned to Ramallah.

"The years I lived in the diaspora taught me to innovate … because Palestinians who live abroad …always miss things from back home," she said.

She tried many times to get the flavor of the herbs before succeeding. Before delivering products to customers, she decorates her chocolates with herbal leaves, depending on the exact in the piece.

Shihab sells her herbal chocolates at $US30 a kg.

Meanwhile, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate in the Palestinian territories has reached 38 percent for women and is 21 for percent men.

Shihab also makes herbal chocolate for people who suffer from diabetes.

As for the future, Shihab dreams of establishing a factory to produce herbal chocolate, and open a store as her house gets crowded with customers.

"I have ambition. I hope to sell the herbal chocolate not only in Palestinian markets, but all over the world," she said.

"I hope that Palestinians, wherever they are in the world, can taste my chocolates and feel as if they are back home," she added.

Taghreed Abu Salim, a Palestinian woman who owns a restaurant in Ramallah, is Shihab's regular customer.

Abu Salim buys the herbal chocolates to add to her dessert menu.

"I have traveled all over the world and I have tasted many kinds of chocolates, but I had never eaten herbal chocolate before this," she said.

Shihab packs orders for her customers carefully and writes on every pack Made in Palestine.

Xinhua