The Epic Ecuadorian Chocolate Adventure, Peurto Quito, September 2004

The raw cocoa beans

After 48 hours, 3 buses, and some dodgy hitchhiking I was negotiating a dirt track enclosed by lush greenery and wondering  if at some point earlier I’d taken a wrong turn.  Just as I was having a crisis of faith a small wooden shed on stilts magically appeared in front of me.  A brightly woven hammock was casually slung on the narrow balcony and a large, heavily ladened cocoa plant completed the scene.  Nothing could have been more a sight for sore eyes, the reason I had ventured this far off the beaten track was to learn how to make chocolate- a tradition passed on by such ancient civilisations as the Aztecs and, the more commonly associated Maya where chocolate was used in religious ceremonies as well as medicinally.

Dried and roasted

The main house was also on stilts and the ‘basement’ below was cluttered with the implements needed for the chocolate making process, as well as several batches at different stages in the cycle.  Mammy Rose talked me through it; the cocoa was grown in the forest surrounding the house, once the rough green fruits were ripe, they were cut open to reveal the raw bean which was coated in a fibrous, white layer which had to be removed (either by sucking the bean in your mouth or more hygienically peeling).  The lustrous coffee coloured pebbles are then air dried before being roasted and the now blackened crusty outer layer cracked open.  The significantly smaller nugget is then ground to a powder before being mixed with oil and water to become a silky, fragrant liquid.  The warm and soothing drink was vastly different to the hot chocolate we are accustomed to in Europe; not only is it thicker and smoother but without sugar or milk it is bitter but without being uncomfortably sour.  In fact milk wasn’t added until 1689 (by the doctor Sir Hans Sloane), although the Cadbury brothers are more frequently credited with this transformation over two centuries later.  

Adding oil and water

After a relaxing day at the homestead I set out to explore the surrounding rainforest, which in most places seemed completely void of human contact.  The stillness gave the impression of silence, yet the air was thick with the sounds of creaking braches and busy insects.  The trail was narrow and descended steeply.  The trees so thick I could have been tunnelling through the centre of the earth.  I was headed towards the mysterious ‘Green Waterfall’.  The lagoon nestled in the heart of dense foliage and boasted a shoreline of vibrant turquoise rocks.  The cascading water caught the fine stream of light piercing the canopy, shedding a soft blue glow onto the surface of the pool- a just reward after long and sweaty trek.

The finished product

My final morning in the village arrived and I was invited to the small, single room school situated on the main road out of town.  A frantic lesson attempting to teach the children the geography of South America ensued.  Every time I opened my mouth the whole room would descend into fits of giggles, my rudimentary Spanish the source of the hilarity.  Despite the prospect of another two days on the road I was happy to leave, encouraged by the thought of a hot shower and flat bed.