ENRICO MARTINO

Since prehispanic times, cacao his part of Mexico's history, culture and gastronomy. Its scientific name, Theobroma cacao means "food of the gods." The tradition of cultivation of cacao was starting with the Olmecs, the first Mesoamerican culture, was depeloped by to the Maya who used the cacao as a beverage for the elite class, a ritual offering and a form of currency. The Maya developed trade routes and passed along their use of cacao to the Aztecs. Cacao was introduced into Europe after the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadores in Mexico in 1519 and became their favorite drink after they began adding sugar to the beverage. Cacao was considered one of the treasures of the New World and in the early-16th century spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world. Mexico has been producing cacao for more than 3,500 years but today produces less than one percent of the world's cacao, but there are still thousands of tons of cacao grown and processed each year in Mexico and Tabasco, approximately 80% of Mexico's total production. Today in Tabasco small cacao farms and old ranches from colonial times are now home to cacao farms. Mature cacao trees are harvested several times each season, between October and April. Today, chocolate is available in countless forms all over the world, but there's nothing like pozol, known as the poor man's drink of Tabasco because people of the lower classes mixed ground cacao with corn to have the taste of chocolate. Still today street venders sell pozol in the markets and small shops, pozolerías. Near Comacalco Doña Sebastiana Juárez Broca, popular as Tia Tana and winner in 2002 of the Slow Food prize, founded 7 cooperatives, 4 of men and 3 of women. 1104 of Chontalpa area, between workers and families are involved. The sustainability of cacao is a matter of urgency of Tabasco because the recuperation of the plantations is slow and many farmers have switched to more resistant crops like sugar cane.