Peruvian Chocolate: The Ultimate Cacao Lover’s Guide

 If you are a chocolate lover, Peru is the perfect place to visit for a dose of sweet, melty goodness. Theobroma cacao, the small evergreen tree that bears cocoa beans, grows in abundance in Peru. In fact, the very origin of cacao is the Amazon basin and Andean lowlands of Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. 

Peruvian chocolate has been enjoyed by local people for centuries – used ceremonially initially and gradually enjoyed as the sweet confection it is today. Peru has some of the most delicious chocolate in the world, as illustrated by its 17 medals at the 2019 International Chocolate Awards, and its continual praise by just about all who taste it.  

Table of Contents

History of Peruvian Chocolate

South American Origins 

Chocolate is endemic to the rainforests of South America, specifically of Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. There is some debate that it grew at the same time in Mesoamerica (present-day Mexico and Central America), but the strongest paleobotanical and phytogenetic research finds its origins in the Amazon basin. In fact, it has been cultivated for more than 3,000 years by local indigenous communities of the Amazon Rainforest. In Peru, the Incas, and even their predecessors, cultivated cacao and made it into a brew. The beverage was considered medicinal and often used ritualistically. 

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Its Arrival in Central America 

It was later transported to Mexico and thereafter cultivated for thousands of years. In Mesoamerica, it was central to Mayan and Aztec culture, who believed cacao was a gift from the gods. Specifically, from a feathered serpent god known as Kukulkan to the Mayans and Quetzalcoatl to the Aztecs. It was in Mexico that it got its name chocolate from the Aztec word xocolātl, which is a mix of xococ or sour, and atl or drink. The bean made a bitter-tasting beverage at rituals and feasts. Additionally, the Aztecs used it as currency.