Cocoa Connections

Location: Trinidad - god knows where.

One of the things I love best about chocolate is all the connections you make. Chocolate really is a universal language that connects us to past civilizations, transcends cultural barriers and brings a variety of people with different skill sets together. Today was a perfect case in point.

Our amazing guide and fearless leader Sarah once again put together an exceptional day. (I could write a whole blog about Sarah alone. She has a Masters Degree in Germ Plasm specifically dealing with chili peppers, speaks several languages, is well traveled and has the most delightful and upbeat personality. Not to mention she is so brilliant. Yeah, I'm a little in love with Sarah...) Our first meeting today was with Davinan Ramnath of the Ministry of Food Production. He spent the better part of the morning giving us an overview of the history of cocoa in Trinidad and the Ministry's current role. Cocoa production in Trinidad is declining at an alarming rate mainly due to the spectacular success of the energy business in the country. (Trinidad is only 7 miles off the coast of Venezuela). Trinidad has moved from a agricultural society to an energy and finance industry and as a result there is very few laborers available to work in the fields. At its height, Trinidad produced 350,000 tons of cacao a year and is currently shipping 700 tons. Approximately, 75,000 to a 100,000 acres of cacao estates are abandoned. Wowza. The Ministry's role is trying to help farmers develop standards and best practices and obtain various certifications. Also at the meeting were two cocoa farmers, Dr. Liz Johnson, who has a doctorate in Crop Science and Biotechnology and a masters degree in Agronomy, and Mario Alfonso a retired bank manager. What a great spirited discussion between all of us! We had the cocoa farmers, the cocoa broker, the chocolate makers and the government agency helping farmers improve their crops. We all want the same thing, which is to produce great chocolate from consistent cocoa beans, but each of us has our own challenges.

The next stop was taking a field trip to see cacao harvesting and the beginning stages of fermenting the beans. It's one thing to see pictures of this, but it's another to experience it first hand. It was so cool to see the red, orange, yellow and green vibrant colored cocoa pods being split open and their slimy contents being scooped out. And how fantastic to just pick up a cocoa pod and suck the sweet pulp off the seeds. The heady aroma from the fermented beans reminded me of a winery or touring the Jack Daniels plant! Really amazing. Davina also showed us the different fermenting and drying techniques at their processing facility. So fascinating!!!

A side note and observation about Trinidad. Nothing gets accomplished going from A to Z. The best laid plans always seem to take a circuitous route. Case in point, after leaving the Government Processing Facility we were going to visit Liz and Mario's farms. However, we all ended up at Mario's house, with some alcohol sampling taking place, then everyone took a side trip to a street vendor for "doubles" and "alloo". YUM!! I could become addicted to these spicy treats. Finally we were off to the farms, which involved driving on dirt roads, over pot holes, through villages, up and down valleys and into the tropical forest. Liz's property is very mature and she has great plans one day to build a home there. We spent quite lot of time sampling more ripe cacao, eating passion fruit as it dripped all down our chins, trying out "portugals" a local version of tangerine, several wild pepper plants and fresh mace and nutmeg. Mario (who is a very gregarious soul of Portuguese descent and immediately picked up on me being Portuguese and therefore became my new best buddy), has a new farm. He planted thousands of trees that are now 5 to 8 years old. It was really interesting to see the juxtaposition of the two farms.

After another trip to Mario's house we finally returned to our lodgings. We decided that a trip back to the street vendors was the best way to go. This of course took place later, after several rum punches and beer. Tonight I agave the cow heel soup a try. Meh. Not my fave, a bit too gamey and gelatinous for my taste. I should have added one of the spicy sauces to it. Ned settled on corn soup. The doubles and alloo (a potato like pancake smothered in hot, spicy sauce) are much more my style.

I loved meeting all these different players in the local cocoa scene. Mario is so outgoing and dramatic, Liz is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about producing better foods, Sarah is our go to person for explaining everything Trinidadian, Sam is just friggin' hilarious, and Gino is completely good natured and easy going. Ned and i came to learn more about the origin of cocoa and feel blessed with meeting all these new friends. Lucky me.