Last month the World Cocoa Foundation issued a stern statement that the measures taken by the cocoa and chocolate industries and by the United States and West African governments, “have not been sufficient to achieve significant reductions in the number of children working in unacceptable conditions in West Africa, often in circumstances defined as child labor.” […]
Read More… from Peruvian Chocolate’s secret ingredient: more kids in class, not on the cocoa farm
In our last blog, Lourdes Páez explained the history of cocoa in Ecuador, and the challenges and opportunities in its production today. Here, we introduce you to some native Amazonian cocoa producers, and to the hope that proper cocoa production holds for them, as well as for the futures of chocolate and conservation. […]
Read More… from Cocoa: From Native producers in its Native Land
Canopy Bridge recently had a chance to sit down with Lourdes Páez, an outstanding social entrepreneur working to enhance appreciation for Ecuador’s excellent cocoa and create more value for farmers of the country’s fine flavor beans. Lourdes heads the Academia del Chocolate, an organization dedicated to training and research to improve the quality, recognition and benefits of fine cocoa, and she recently launched a beautiful book dedicated to Ecuador´s rich cocoa heritage, Ecuador tierra del cacao.36″ height=”111″ />
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Read More… from From chocolate lover to chocolate expert: a personal story
Virtually unknown outside its native Amazon rainforest home, ishpingo (or American Cinnamon) has a deep, earthy, fruity flavor that adds a surprising and hard-to-place dimension to both sweet and savory dishes. Once a promising spice that moved the dreams of adventurers, isphingo deserves to be rediscovered and better known. […]
Read More… from Rediscover ishpingo: the Amazon’s hidden treasure
When Columbus stumbled upon the New World, its indigenous people became known as “Indians”, a misnomer of historical magnitude. Then, too, a fruit until then unknown outside of the Americas received a name that belonged to another: the pepper. To the Spaniards who tasted this fruit for the first time, its heat brought to mind the peppercorns that had been known and traded in Eurasia, and so the fruit of the Capsicum received the name of an entirely different species. […]
Maybe it’s globalization, maybe it’s development, or perhaps digital innovations and social media; but while we are ever more connected to each other, we find ourselves more disconnected from the very things that keep us alive. Amidst our computers, phones and other devices, with so much information, I find it staggering that I need to be reminded of my connection to Earth: the origin of the water I use, how the air I breathe has come to be, where my food comes from. […]
This Article was originally published by Mater Iniciativa. Recently, Latin America continued its rise to prominence on the global gastronomy scene, with nine restaurants from Mexico, Peru and Brazil joining the ranks of the world’s Top 50. The success of these leading chefs is a credit to their creativity and hard work and draws – as they frequently acknowledge – on the rich biology and diverse cultural traditions of their countries. […]
Tenemos el honor de tener a Ignacio Medina como escritor invitado. Ignacio comparte nuestro compromiso con el poder transformativo de la comida y comunica su pasión con excepcional claridad y talento instintivo. Un día en Panamá cenando en un restaurante muy fino, al día siguiente dando una conferencia en un festival gastronómico en Santiago. Un par de días de regreso en casa, Perú, para cruzar el desierto y enseñar en Pachacutec –su proyecto en conjunto con el chef Gastón Acurio […]
We’re honored to have Ignacio Medina as a guest contributor to Canopy Bridge as someone who shares our commitment to the transformative power of food and ingredients and communicates that passion with exceptional clarity and flair. One day in Panama dining at a fine new restaurant, […]
This Article was originally published on the HuffingtonPost.com website. There is a type of river snail — a churo — in the Peruvian Amazon, large and meaty, that is especially delicious when slow-braised and served in the shell with a bright sauce of golden tapioca pearls. Indigenous people harvest the giant snail when the forest is flooded and transformed into an otherworldly realm where, because of the rising water level, fish swim among the majestic kapok tree and through the umbrella-like branches of the cecropia tree. […]
