Welcome to this journey through history and food. Today we will go to the deepest roots of the Cacao plant, from its origins to its transforming powers in today’s Latin American society. We will travel from Mesoamerica to the deepest Colombia, a Colombia that bets in the XXI century, for peace, and sustainability and believes in the sacred powers of cocoa to rebuild society, where conflict has cast a shadow for over 50 years thousands of lives in the Colombian society. Cocoa for peace, cocoa instead of coca.
History and Origin of Cocoa
Once again I want to start this blog telling you about an ingredient native to the American continent: Cacao. Researchers from different disciplines such as anthropology, history, and archeology have found ceramic horizons with carbon 14 evidence that locate traces of cocoa consumption from more than 5,500 B.C. Here one of the amazing ceramics that nativ The Moche civilization located in in northern Peru with its capital near present-day Moche, Trujillo, Peru.
LOCATION: Larco Foundation Museum. Lima Peru.
“It is a form of ceramic drinking vessel, developed before 500 BC by indigenous groups on the Peruvian coast.
Cocoa has a chemical composition of more than 500 compounds, and theobromine is decisive in identifying its presence in pre-Hispanic objects.” took from: https://museodelchocolate.com.co/botella-de-doble-pico/
However, the first traces of cocoa come from the Mesoamerican region, where the Mayas and Olmecs were located. Most of the ceramic vessels that have been found in archaeological explorations correspond to pre-Columbian ceramic vessels for drinking cocoa.
uses and preparations in ancient America.
According to the book of the National Institute of Anthropology and History, Tradition, and Food Heritage, published in 2021, cocoa was prepared in different ways: kaaktah” to roast in the fire”, kelah eb “to roast dry in a pan or cauldron”, takan keltah-te means “to roast in a pan or cauldron”.takan keltah-te means “to roast the cocoa very much so that the chocolate foams” Sa’ al kakaw cocoa-based drink with the consistency of a liquid mass to which some corn is added.
This wonderful fruit, cocoa has a religious connotation for the Mayas and Olmecs, because besides being a special food for the elite, cocoa represented a connection with the divine and a symbol of status in society, and was served in various ways in initiation ceremonies, marriages and was even a fundamental part of burial practices, since several of the ceramic vessels have been recovered from tombs. Here is one of the masterpieces of the Maya Civilization from the Late Classic Period (600 – 900 AD)
“Ancient Mayan artists carved images of monkeys in stone and bone, they also painted them on ceramic vessels such as bowls, cajetes, plates, and glasses.
Monkeys appear frequently in ancient Mayan art, appearing in many images carrying objects such as cocoa pods.
Cocoa was considered a luxury good, used as currency, and was associated with the god Ek Chuah.
This divinity with the appearance of a spider monkey was the god of cocoa.
The association with cocoa gave the monkeys another positive symbolism, related to abundance and the tasty chocolate that the Mayans appreciated so much.” took from https://museodelchocolate.com.co/arte-maya/
COCOA NOT COCA.
Join me on a deep journey into the Colombian cocoa crops. Did you know that the conditions for the growth and development of cocoa crops are very demanding? Yes, they are. The sacred character of cocoa for our great civilizations such as the Mayas and the Aztecs, comes from the awareness they had about this beautiful fruit of the earth.
According to Finagro, the cocoa plant is very sensitive to the environment, as the coca plant is as well. The crop requires deep soils, loamy textures with good aeration, moisture retention, drainage and fertility in a climate with average temperatures between 22°C – 30°C and rainfall between 1,500 mm – 2,500 mm per year. In Colombia The largest grain volumes are obtained are obtained in November-December November-December and May-June. Cocoa and coca need pretty similar environments, which is why cacao instead of coca has replaced the illegal economy for a legal and competitive economy.
Impact on the Colombia society
Cocoa, besides being delicious, delicate, and special, has a very important social function in Colombia, it has been called in the international community as “cocoa Cultivation of Peace”, as confirmed by former President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Juan Manuel Santos , during the 4th International Seminar on Cocoa Marketing and Quality. Since the signing of peace in Colombia in 2016 until 2022, 25,000 hectares of illicit crops have been replaced by cocoa in Colombia, Cocoa instead of coca, benefiting 99,097 peasant families who voluntarily changed their illicit activities for prosperous productive projects such as cocoa.
Cocoa is an environmentally sustainable crop that has contributed to the rehabilitation of deforested areas, enriching soils, and also giving another sense of hope to communities affected by the armed conflict who were the most affected people in Colombia, Cocoa instead coca has impacted the Investment in the agricultural sector in Colombia, specifically in cocoa, has generated structural changes in the communities, implementing social justice policies, and creating development and research funds for the improvement of cocoa production, to reach markets such as Europe where we recently conquered the hearts of many by winning the Gold Award at the Cacao of Excellence Awards 2023 on February 8, 2024, in Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands. The cocoa sample of the Agroguamal association, belonging to the WORKAKAO cooperative, from the municipality of Guamal, in the department of Meta.
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