Looking at the origins of Cocoa and Chocolate

Photographs by Nicholas Hel lmuth and Sof ia Monzón www.Maya-ethnobotany.org

CACAOand its exotic flavorings

(for the Maya and Aztec)

Chocolate is a beloved drink and food of millions of people around the world. Cacao drink was the royal beverage of the Aztec emperor and the Maya kings and High Priests.

But there are many fascinating aspects of cacao that would delight people in St Louis and neighboring states. For example,

• Thewordscacaoandchocolatehaveoverathousandyearsoflinguistichistory.Youcaneven write cacao in Mayan hieroglyphic writing.

• Cacaopulpisdelicious(Ieatitfrequently).Butthereisnowaytopreservethisforshipment;you have to harvest the pod direct from the tree, and eat the pulp while you are still in the cacao or

chard.

• ThemostfrequentflavoringforcacaofortheAztecandMayawerehotpeppers!Wehavelo catedtwovarieties;oneofwhichisstillusedtoflavorcacaobeveragesinruralGuatemalavil lages today.

CACAOand its exotic flavorings

(for the Maya and Aztec)

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Theheartofthisexhibitwillbe

• Toshowthegrowthcycleofcacaotrees

• Toexplainthedifferencesbetweenregularcacaoandothercacaospecies(suchasTheobroma bicolorvsTheobromacacao)

• WewillalsoshowalltheotherfruitsofGuatemalawhicharevisuallysimilarinsizeandshape. Thereisevenonefruit(samesizeandshapeasacacaopod)whichevenfruitsdirectlyfromthe

treetrunk(asofcoursedoescacao,butthisfauxcacaoisnotrelatedtocacaoinanyway whatsoever).

• Wewillalsorevealtheoverdozenflavoringswhichwereusedforcacaoovertwothousandyears ago.Wehavespentthelastseveralyearsidentifyingtheflavoringsandthenfindingeachspecies in situ in Mesoamerica in order to do extensive photography.

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CACAOTheobroma cacao

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CACAOTheobroma cacao

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CACAO flawer

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Background: familiarity with cacao

Thisthemeforaphotographyexhibitisbasedondecadesof studying 4th through 9th century Maya representations of cacao in ceramic art and stone sculptures. Additional background comes from raising cacao trees from seed, and watching the entire life cycle of cacao.

PlusIhavebeeninthecacaoareasofTabasco(AtlanticcoastofMexico),inthecacaoareasofSoconusco(Pacificcoastal areas of Chiapas, Mexico, and in the heartlands ofcacaoproduction inseveralkey locationswithinGua-temala.

Photographs of cacao from FLAAR have been used by Dr MichaelCoeandbyDrYoshihoYasugi intheirseparatepublications on cacao.

CACAO flawer

Pataxte Theobroma bicolor

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Pataxte Theobroma bicolor

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Pataxte Theobroma bicolor

roots seeds development

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Pataxte Theobroma bicolor

fruitbeginningtogrowfromflower.Noticethehelpfulants.

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Pataxte Theobroma bicolor

Flower

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Pataxte Theobroma bicolor

Flower

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CACAOand its exotic flavorings

Chile Chocolate

Orejuela

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Cordoncillo

Pimienta Negra

Zapote-seed

CACAOand its exotic flavorings

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CACAO flawer

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CACAOand its exotic flavorings

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Manita tree canak chiranthodendron pentadactylon

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Manita tree canak chiranthodendron pentadactylonMonkey’s Hand Tree

CACAOand its exotic flavorings

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photographs of cacao trees and cacao fruitClose-up(macro)photographsofminusculecacaoflowers

photos of pataxte trees and fruitClose-up(macro)photographsofminusculepataxteflowers

photographsofallothernativeGuatemalanfruitswhichfruitfromthetree

photographsoffauxcacao(thethreetofivefruitswhicharesimilarsizeandshapetocacao,includingone(cuajilote)whichalsofruitsfromthetreetrunk).

photographyof31cacaoflavorings

sendingoutbotanyscoutstophysicallyfindeachspecies(botanicalcollectionsarewoefullylackinginfoonwheretofindspecies).Ourexperienceineightyearsofdoingbotanicalphotographyisthatwe have to network and usually we have to send our trained scouts out around the country to villages andnaturepreservesandfindeachspeciesonebyone.Weknowwhereabout30%oftheplantsandflavoringsare;wearepreparingourscoutstofindtheremaining70%).

sendingoutphototeamtophotographtheplantwhenflowering(afterthescoutsfindthetree,welearnwhenitflowers,andthensendaphototeamouttodothephotography).

Weprefertoavoidtousestockphotosforseveralreasons:

• Weneedoriginaldigitalphotos;notphotosscannedfrom35mmpicstakenyearsago• Weneedhighresolutionoriginaldigitalphotos:notsnapshotswithpoint-and-shootcamera• Ithelpstohavegoodlightingequipment:manystockphotosarepoorlyilluminated.

Suggested budget for photography of cacao and its flavorings

CACAO

Thecostsherearebasedonactualphysicalcosts

Photographyoutinthefieldincludesthefollowingcosts• Security• Insurance• Hotelandmeals• Carrental• Stafftime

HandlingthephotographsrequiresRecentmodelcomputer(soitcanhandlehighresphotos)Recentmodelsoftware(morethanjustPhotoshop)Salary for the photography processing specialist

PrintingthefinalphotosInkandmediaandprinting;roughestimateMain cost is mountingShipping or moving the mounted photos to exhibit locationOurstafftosetuptheexhibitOurstafftotakedowntheexhibit

Botanist(wehavetwoavailablelocally)Cameraassistant(availablelocally)Photographer(ittakesmorethanDrHellmuth;availablelocally)3Dphotography(availablelocally)

Operatingoverhead,Especially the manager and secretary to handle all this

Option:Creating short animations for children

Wecanoffertwolevels:First level would be characterization as an original cartoon character for childrenSecond level would be characterization as an original cartoon character for adults

Characterization of cacao and pataxte for child visitors

Characterizationofvanilla,pepper!andchile!asflavoringsforcacao

CharacterizationoftheespeciallyphotogenicflavorssuchasManitasandpuff

CharacterizationoftheflavoringswhichspecificallywouldbeunknowntoaNorthAmericanaudience.

Options:3D photography and/or 3D scanning

Itwouldbegreattoofferviewsin3D.Thetechnologybecomeseasiereveryyear,andwehavebasicexperience(already)in3Dscanning.Weareperfectingourcapailitiesnowin3D

Options:videos

Includescostofsendingvideopersontothefield,andpreparingashortvideobackinthestudio.

ThesearenotintendedtobeTVdocumentaries(wecandothat,butthatwouldbetooexpensive).Theseareintendedtobeshort,sincetheaverageattentionspanislow.

VideosofcacaoorchardsVideoofcacaoproductionworkflowVideoofpataxteorchardVideoofspices

OptionsBooksonCacaoandflavorings

Withthehighresphotographsthatwillbeavailable,wecouldproduceacoffeetablebookonCacaoanditsFlavorings.WecansignovertoMOBOTallauthor’srightsifthecostsofthisbookwouldbecovered.

Maincostsaregraphicdesign(yes,wecandoagraphicdesignourselves,asgoodasapublisher).

TheprimaryexpenseisgettingDrHellmuthawayfromprojectswhichheworksononaregularbasisandmovinghimtowherehecanwritethebook.Withhisbackgroundandinterestheshouldbeabletoproduce the book text in two months if he is removed from his other assignments. Easiest way to “re-movehim”istohavefundstoenableotherstafftotakecareofDrHellmuth’snormaldailytakssoheisavailable in seclusion to handle the book concept.

Wewouldliketodotwoseparateanddifferentconcepts:Coffeetablebook(foradults)Illustratedbookforchildren

Both books in Spanish and English

ItwouldalsobegreatlyappreciatediffundswereavailabletocreateoneeditioninK’ekchi’Mayanlanguage,thelanguageofthecacaogrowingareaofCajabon,Verapaz.Wewouldprefertodothechildren’sversionforthisarea,tohelpeducateanentirenextnewgeneration.

Optionapp for iPad on the exhibitWecandothepreparationin-house(ifbudgetisavailable)butwouldneedaprogrammer,whichisexpensive.

Photographs copyr ight 2012 FLAAR and FLAAR Mesoamerica

CACAOand its exotic flavorings

(for the Maya and Aztec)