Chapter · Ecuador · At the table
The cacao that made the country
How you prove a five-thousand-year-old chocolate
The cacao tree does not come from Mexico: it comes from Amazonia, and the variety Ecuador is known for is native to the south-east of the country. This path rests on two open-access studies, one on the DNA found in pre-Columbian sherds, the other on the wild origin of Nacional, and on the official list of the International Cocoa Organization.
Context first
A lesson to read before the others, to set the scene.
- The place
- The era
- The people
The lessons in this chapter
- 1Proving a five-thousand-year-old chocolateThree hundred and fifty-two items, three molecules, a 700 picogram threshold against the coffee dust of museum stores, and DNA to name the species. Neither method is enough on its own.10 min
- 2The tree already travelledAround 2950 BC, cacao from the Peruvian Amazon was already being cooked on the Ecuadorian coast, carried by river navigators. And Criollo never reigned alone in Mesoamerica.10 min
- 3Arriba, a taste nearly lostArriba means upstream: the name of Ecuadorian cacao is a direction on a river. The variety comes from Amazonia, and since 1910 seedlings imported against two fungi have thinned its aroma.10 min
How these lessons are written
Each lesson starts from first-hand sources: Wikisource, Gallica, Persée, archives, museums and institutes. A fact without a source does not get written, and every lesson lists its own as direct links.
The rhythm
A lesson is five minutes of cards and four questions. Those questions then come back the next day, then at 3, 7, 21 and 60 days, and that return is what makes it stick. One a day is enough, and you can do several in a row.