Seattle Chocolate

One of the best things to do while travelling is tasting the local cuisine. And if the local cuisine includes great coffee and great chocolate, all the better!

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Politics and Cocoa: Maybe I should be stocking up

Ivory Coast and Cocoa

400 years of addictive debates

In my research on the history of chocolate, I inevitably came across information on other plants and commodities that were introduced to Europe from the New World in the 16th and 17th centuries. One of the major written works introducing and cataloguing these plants was written by Jose de Acosta (1539-1600), a Jesuit missionary who spent twenty years in the New World. His observations from his travels were first published in Spanish in 1590, and appeared in an English translation in 1604, as "The Naturall and Morall Historie of the East and West Indies". The work is a detailed compendium of information related to the flora, fauna and minerals he encountered. In Chapter 22, Acosta turned his attention to cacao, as well as another, more potent, addictive substance: coca, the plant from which cocaine is derived. Acosta notes that the natives say, "...it gives them great courage and is very pleasing unto them." He also notes"...it is like the taste of leather." How chewing on leather is a pleasurable experience is beyond me, but to each his own!

I find it interesting that 420 years later, these New World plants are still grabbing our attention and creating controversy and debate on their appropriate, and sometimes inappropriate, uses. One could also get into a debate about 1st world vs. 2nd or 3rd world economics, post-colonial power struggles and cultural differences. Any way you look at it, some of the debates haven't  changed in more than four centuries.

Check this article out:

Bolivia hopes for buzz with coca campaign