Ahhh, CHOCOLATE! We went to one of the family-owned cacao farms. Juan and his wife, Abelina, have taken the farm over from Juan’s family. It is strictly organic, and Juan took us through some of the fields and pointed out how they have done sustainable farming, using natural “enemies” to work for them. It was fascinating. They have around 1,500 trees in addition to oranges, papayas, wild vanilla, allspice, and a host of other plants.

Cacao (ka-COW) is where we get chocolate. Here are the pods on the tree.

Another plant is the Waha, whose leaves are used to not only wrap presents, but to wrap fish in and bake it in a pit fire.

After touring the farm, we went to Juan and Abelina’s chocolate center where we were given samples of their chocolate (yummm) and hot chocolate. We sat around, sipping our chocolate and shelling cacao beans. Abelina showed us how to thresh them, but with our inexperience, many landed on the floor.

We gather around as Abelina ground the chocolate beans in the family metlatl that has been passed down through several generations. The grinding turns the beans into a lovely, thick liquid.

As you can see, Abelina puts an amazing about of energy into grinding the beans.

We put the metatl over on the table to we could photograph it with a more interesting background. Don’t you want to dip your fingers into the chocolate?

It was a wonderful afternoon day with Juan and Abelina. They were the most charming hosts, and we laughed a lot with them, kidding back and forth, finding that some things in our different cultures are universal.

On the way out, I grabbed this quick portrait of them with their two children. As Juan and Abelina said, “Two’s enough.” Sustainable farming at its best!

Same time tomorrow …

We Love Your Comments
It lets us know you are reading and enjoying our blog. It’s hard to write in a vaccuum!

Meanwhile, check out our BCPA News page.