Farmers from this Aragonese town preserve the genetics of this fruit planted for the first time 400 years ago.
The Comuna del Eje Norte Costero Agroturística de Aragua (Cenca), located within the Henri Pittier National Park, in the Araguan town of Ocumare de la Costa, produces 100% native cocoa fruits with agricultural practices that minimize the impact on the ecosystem.
And it is that in colonial times, 400 years ago, there were large farms producing cacao throughout this area that have been maintained over time with the work of local farmers. .
Through a press release from the Ministry of Communes, it was learned that Cenca has a cocoa seed production unit in which it applies ancestral methods such as artificial (manual) and natural pollination with insects to obtain and maintain its our own variety of cocoas, including Ocumare 61 and 73.
According to Cacaos Caracas, a company that produces and markets Venezuelan cocoas of the Ocumare, Cuyagua, Sur del Lago, Porcelana and Carenero Superior varieties, Ocumare 61, which is considered a Nuevo Criollo, is one of the best cocoas in Venezuela and the world.
"High production, earliness, high resistance to pests and diseases and as if that were not enough, very well valued in international markets," he says about this variety on his Instagram account.
The French chocolate house Lucifèves d'Aubrac produces chocolate bars with cocoa ocumaré, produced in Ocumare de la Costa.
“In the north of Venezuela, near Caracas in the town of Ocumare, Pedro Churion, his wife and their family have embarked on the cultivation and production of exceptional cocoa beans.
Its production is very limited, 5 tons per year of Creole and Creole Trinidadian beans recognized with a denomination "Grand cru Sélection Costa de Oro".
An agronomist by training, Pedro Churion controls the entire cultivation, fermentation and drying process to offer us beans that are a real pleasure to handle and smell throughout our process from bean to bar.
Through roasting, conching, maturation, we seek to highlight the assertive and perfectly balanced cocoa flavor of these beans, which reveal an aromatic flavor with notes of candied yellow fruits.
A creation full of subtlety that was chosen by the Maison Bras de Laguiole for its reception in the bedroom this season”, says this French chocolatier on its Instagram account.
