From Coca To Cacao
February 5, 2010
In a surprise to many in the chocolate world, the October 2009 Salon du Chocolat in Paris, awarded “most aromatic” to chocolate made from cacao beans from Peru. The event is an annual summit of master chocolatiers. About a decade ago in Peru a program was started to help farmers replace their coca plants (used to make cocaine) with cacao plants (used to make chocolate). While the start of the program was meager with only 12 farmers, there are currently hundreds. The lush tropics with rainforests and the Andes mountains make perfect growing conditions for the bean. Peru is now hoping to be known for chocolate like Colombia is known for coffee. click here for limerick