experience Archives | Canopy Bridge

From chocolate lover to chocolate expert: a personal story

Posted on July 22, 2015 (November 10, 2022) by Canopy Bridge

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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Rediscover ishpingo: the Amazon’s hidden treasure

Posted on July 14, 2015 (November 10, 2022) by Canopy Bridge

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. […]

Amazonas picante: Los ajíes de la selva

Posted on July 8, 2015 (November 10, 2022) by Canopy Bridge

Cuando Colón se encontró con el Nuevo Mundo, sus pueblos indígenas recibieron el nombre de “indios”, una designación errónea de magnitud histórica. Una fruta hasta entonces desconocida fuera de las Américas también recibió un nombre que pertenecía a otra: el pimiento. Para los españoles que probaron esta fruta por primera vez, su picor trajo a la mente los granos de pimienta que habían sido conocidos y comercializados en Eurasia, y así el fruto del Capsicum recibió el nombre de una especie totalmente diferente. […]

Amazon Heat: Chilies from the Rainforest

Posted on July 8, 2015 (November 10, 2022) by Canopy Bridge

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. […]

Los ajíes más picantes en Edén

Posted on June 30, 2015 (November 10, 2022) by Canopy Bridge

Tal vez es la globalización, tal vez el desarrollo, o quizá sean las innovaciones digitales y las redes sociales, pero mientras estamos más conectados unos con otros, más desconectados nos hallamos de aquello mismo que nos da vida. Entre ordenadores, teléfonos inteligentes, y otros equipos, en medio de tanta información me parece alucinante que yo requiera “recordatorios” de mi conexión con la Tierra: el origen del agua que uso, como el aire que respiro ha llegado a ser lo que es, de dónde proviene mi comida. […]

The Hottest Chillies in Eden

Posted on June 30, 2015 (November 10, 2022) by Canopy Bridge

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. […]

Lupinus of Ancash

Posted on June 22, 2015 (November 10, 2022) by Canopy Bridge

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. […]

Feast in the Forest: Shiwi and its Brazil Nuts

Posted on April 6, 2015 (November 10, 2022) by Canopy Bridge

I was in the Amazon rainforest of Peru to see how Brazil nuts make the long journey from forest to nut mix. I wasn’t expecting a gourmet treat, but they tend to show up in unexpected places. Harvesting Brazil nuts is hard manual work, in remote areas, deep in the jungle. Harvesters spend long weeks in the forest gathering the cannonball-like fruit from the forest floor, shelling them on site and then hauling them in heavy loads miles through the forest. The harvest is intimately […]