peru is a country that s historically driven men mad, mad for gold, for coca, for its magical, ancient history. but now, there s something else drawing outsiders to its hidden mountain valleys. we love this stuff. we obsess about it, gorge on it, and fetishize it. i m talking about chocolate. once a common treat, it s now becoming as nuanced as fine wine, making the pursuit of the raw, good stuff all the more difficult. i m joining that hunt in remotest peru, but not before i ve re-immersed myself in the booming lima food scene. i took a walk through this beautiful world. felt the cool rain on my shoulder. found something good in this beautiful world. i m in peru with this guy, eric ripert. the guy was looking at us. he went into the tree. that s funny. chef of the world-famous restaurant, le bernardin, in new york, to look at where chocolate comes from, particularly our chocolate. so that s why we re in peru. but before we get all indiana jones, we re spending so
that ll that ll shoot through an engine block. actually, i don t really know, but i m assuming. [ thunder claps ] at this time of year, there s also the rain and mud, which can mean flooded streets and streams that cut right across the roads. and there s this, the river. in the best of circumstances, a fairly adventurous way to get your vehicles across, a long line across a fast-moving current, the ferry propelled only by the flow of water. but today, the river is too high and the current too fast. the river running a little high. it s these smaller boats or nothing. we re dealing with complex transportation issues. the best thing to do is, uh, hole up with a cold beer and let somebody else figure it out. eric: yeah, so let s go in the boat. anthony: to my crew, i say
good luck. we re headed for what looks like a bar on the other side. i would like to do to punta cerveza, por favor. [ eric laughs ] anthony: and let me tell ya, it s quite a ride. eric: i ll go the last. chris: yeah. eric: hey, water inside the boat, look, look, look. the boat is sinking. oh. oh. anthony: you gotta go down and then up just right. we make it to the other side reasonably dry. beer? the maranon canyon is home to a wide range of species,
eric: wow. anthony: a torrent, a deluge of traditional peruvian favorites. marissa: this is a causa with crabmeat, the yellow potato, and avocado, and we love avocado. anthony: causa de congrejo is like a tureen of crabmeat, eggs, avocado, and mashed yellow potatoes. eric: okay. marissa: this is a tiradito, ceviche from the coast. anthony: beautiful. tiradito de pejerrey, basically raw king fish filets dressed with aji amarillo and lime juice. perfect. marissa: and that s scallop ceviche. coque: a ceviche. eric: ceviche for sure. anthony: ceviche de conchas, fresh scallops with lemon juice, garlic and aji limon. [ coque speaking spanish ] anthony: drum fish braised in chichi de jora, a corn-based beer. eric: they look fantastic, huh? marissa: this is a rocoto. eric: spicy or not? marissa: it is very spicy. eric: very spicy, okay. anthony: oh, that sounds good. oh, and stuffed rocoto peppers filled with ground beef and raisins served with parilla chee
you got to go down and then up, just right! we make it to the other side, reasonably dry. beer? the maranon canyon is home to a wide range of species including and most interesting to us a strain of the cacao previously thought to be almost extinct. a few years ago, the valley s cacao trees were dna tested at a u.s. lab and had dna of the rarest form of cacao in the world. this stuff. pure national. don fortunato is our cacao connection, a farmer whose family has been working these mountains over 40 years. they re just absolutely beautiful when they start out.