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
where does it come from? columbus was the first european to encounter cacao beans on a mayan trading canoe off the coast of honduras. he s said to have grabbed both crew and cargo, and brought them back to spain. a few decades later, a spanish conquistador, hernando cortes, came across aztecs using the sacred beans in a drink. it was considered the drink of the gods. like most expensive, delicious things from abroad, the largely inbred and frequently syphilitic european royalty did their best to keep what was fast becoming a craze for hot chocolate to themselves. but it soon found its way to america. and, in 1765, the first chocolate factory opened in new england. chiclayo s main market is a massive, one-stop shop for all things chocolate, as well as just about everything else under the sun. ooh, what, man, you ve got your,
about 400 miles northwest of lima. it s peru s fourth largest city, with over a half million people living there. it s our next stop, the staging area for our trip to the mountains to find our cocao. chocolate. we know we like the stuff. how is it made? where does it come from? columbus was the first european to encounter cocao beans on a mayan trading canoe off the coast of honduras. he s said to have grabbed both crew and cargo and brought them back to spain. a few decades later a spanish conquistador, hernando cortez, came across aztecs using the sacred beans as a drink. it was considered the drink of the gods. like most expensive and delicious things from abroad, the largely inbred and frequently syphilitic european royalty did their best to keep what was fast becoming a craze for hot chocolate to themselves.
mayan trading canoe off the coast of honduras. he s said to have grabbed both crew and cargo, and brought them back to spain. a few decades later, a spanish conquistador, hernando cortes, came across aztecs using the sacred beans in a drink. it was considered the drink of the gods. like most expensive, delicious things from abroad, the largely inbred and frequently syphilitic european royalty did their best to keep what was fast becoming a craze for hot chocolate to themselves. but it soon found its way to america. and, in 1765, the first chocolate factory opened in new england. chiclayo s main market is a massive, one-stop shop for all things chocolate, as well as just about everything else under the sun. ooh, what, man, you ve got your, uh, animal skulls. eric: whoa. anthony: that s tempting. haircut? eric: uh, no, i m good.
where does it come from? columbus was the first european to encounter cacao beans on a mayan trading canoe off the coast of honduras. he s said to have grabbed both crew and cargo, and brought them back to spain. a few decades later, a spanish conquistador, hernando cortes, came across aztecs using the sacred beans in a drink. it was considered the drink of the gods. like most expensive, delicious things from abroad, the largely inbred and frequently syphilitic european royalty did their best to keep what was fast becoming a craze for hot chocolate to themselves. but it soon found its way to america. and, in 1765, the first chocolate factory opened in new england. chiclayo s main market is a massive, one-stop shop for all things chocolate, as well as just about everything else under the sun.