Forum Activity for @John Hepler

John Hepler
@John Hepler
09/09/10 21:31:30
5 posts

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51


Posted in: Opinion

Interesting, and pertinent, Samantha. Love that erudition.The marvel to me is somehow from those original cacaos somewhere near the confluence of what is today Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil; some of it travels south, some eastward that become purple, the "forastero" type. I can understand a slow spread like that.But the other trip, north and west where the first indications of its use are in Mexico, south of Tabasco, 2000 rugged miles away-- the white type, the "criollo" appears. Monkeys (they are ubiquitous in cacao country Mexico and Nicaragua) do not eat cacao, luckily for these farmers. Squirrels eat plenty but they tend to eat the pods right on site, as we see from the seeds dropped directly beneath the trees, uneaten.I find it hard to swallow that humans carried it all that way, before the year 2000 BC. [I heard from a learned doctor that pre-Olmecs used cacao.] Seeds do not remain viable very long outside the pod. Pods tend to rot pretty quickly.And Samantha-- in spite of her PhD in Chocolatology uses the word "seed", referring to the same thing the hifalutin text refers to interchangably as "cotyledon" and seed.
John Hepler
@John Hepler
09/07/10 05:53:56
5 posts

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51


Posted in: Opinion

Thank you for this Brian. Where are you, and what is the (suspected?) pedigree of this cacao?
John Hepler
@John Hepler
08/31/10 07:08:09
5 posts

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51


Posted in: Opinion

> possible to have a cross where 50% will be white and 50% purple also. Basic Medellian >genetics.Possible no doubt. I've never seen it but will be looking closely at a lot of cacao pretty soon.
John Hepler
@John Hepler
08/30/10 19:28:46
5 posts

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51


Posted in: Opinion

Yes, thanks we agree as to what a cotyledon is. I have seen various writers talk of the color of the "cotyledon" when the CONTEXT told me they meant SEED. That is, the inner seed inside the hull.I find it odd that I have rarely if ever, in my rustic research, that writers remark the color of the seed. From my experience in the field, in Mexico, the "criollo" has pink seeds. I think that otherwise pink or white seeded cacaos are very rare. I'm thinking that perhaps one of the first traits the forastero shares in a cross is its purple color. As I have rarely seen seeds other than purple colored in a region whose original stuff was the criollo.Please correct me in this...
John Hepler
@John Hepler
08/29/10 09:29:53
5 posts

Chocolates of Ecuador -- Arriba, Nacional, CCN51


Posted in: Opinion

A fine and learned discussion here. Not sure if this matters much, but it is a piece of the puzzle: the USDA offers free testing to determine the percentage of criollo-type genes, and forastero genes. The guy I've been discussing this with at USDA is Mr Dapeng Zhang,Dapeng.Zhang@ARS.USDA.GOVAnother piece of the puzzle-- the color of the cacao seed. As far as I can tell almost all cacao seeds are purple, which is a forastero trait. This of course does not mean that all purples are mainly forastero. I know one purple seeded variety that tastes (to my rustic palate) very criollo, very mellow.However, I'd guess that the white and pink seeded varieties (pretty rare I think) are either all or mostly criollo.I intend to find out more in the coming harvest in NicaraguaWhenever I've seen seed color referred to, wirters use the word "cotyledon." I believe this is incorrect: the cotyledon is the first LEAF out of the seed, here's an official definition: "A leaf of the embryo of a seed plant, which upon germination either remains in the seed or emerges, enlarges, and becomes green. Also called seed leaf."I'm no expert, JS Hepler