The origin of cacao and chocolate When I first brought chocolate from Ecuador back to the Netherlands, some people would ask me: Chocolate from Ecuador, is that any good?” When you know the answer, it seems a strange question, but before I went to Ecuador, I might have asked the same question. In Europe we refer to Belgium and Swiss chocolate as being the best chocolate. But when you think about this, it is actually odd. The main ingredient of chocolate is the cacao bean, which doesn’t grow in Belgium or Switzerland. So where does cacao come from? The origin of cacao Although there were genetic signs that the cacao tree comes originally from South America, it was long thought that the Central American cultures were the first to consume the cacao bean. This was until 2018 when archaeologist Sonia Zarrillo was looking for evidence of starch grains at the ancient site of Santa Ana-La Florida in Ecuador. This is an archaeological preserve of the ancient Mayo Chinchipe culture (5500 – 1700 B.C.). Sonia Zarrillo had already found evidence of maize, beans, manioc, and chilli pepper in ceramics recovered from the site, when fellow researcher and anthropologist Michael Blake asked her to check for traces of T. cacao. Not only they found DNA evidence of T. cacao starch grains, but also residues of biomolecules found in the plant (including theobromine, theophylline, and caffeine)! The evidence shows that the Mayo-Chinchipe people were definitely using the seeds (because these contain the starch grains) and very likely the sweet pulp that surrounds the seed as well as early as 5450 years ago! This is almost 1500 years before known cacao consumption in Central America! The importance and mysteries of the cacao bean Since the ceramic vessels were found in ceremonial locations at the
The origin of cacao and chocolate When I first brought chocolate from Ecuador back to the Netherlands, some people would ask me: Chocolate from Ecuador, is that any good?” When you know the answer, it seems a strange question, but before I went to Ecuador, I might have asked the same question. In Europe we refer to Belgium and Swiss chocolate as being the best chocolate. But when you think about this, it is actually odd. The main ingredient of chocolate is the cacao bean, which doesn’t grow in Belgium or Switzerland. So where does cacao come from? The origin of cacao Although there were genetic signs that the cacao tree comes originally from South America, it was long thought
