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Baracoa, cocoa for glory

BY: JOSÉ ENRIQUE FLOIRIÁN FLOIRIÁN PHOTOS: RUBEN AJA, ROLANDO PUJOL

THE AGROECOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF THE MOUNTAINS OF BARACOA IN THE EASTERN PROVINCE OF GUANTÁNAMO PROVIDED THE IDEAL SETTING FOR PLANTING CACAO, TODAY A SIGNIFICANT INGREDIENT OF THE LOCAL CULTURE

In July 2011, with the aim of protecting the mountainous areas of Baracoa in the northeastern province of Guantánamo, where cocoa has traditionally been grown, 243.7 caballerías located northeast of the municipality were declared by the National Monuments Commission of the Ministry of Culture a Protected Area, management category that underlines the heritage values of this rural area where many of the customs and traditions distinguishing the municipality within the national context are preserved.

About 10,000 inhabitants live here, distributed in 32 settlements and scattered dwellings of the People´s Councils of Mosquitero, Jamal, Paso de Cuba, Cabacú and XXX Aniversario.

Researchers affirm that cocoa was introduced in Cuba in the mid-16th century by the Spanish. Its consumption became widespread between the second half of the 16th century and the mid18th century, a period in which it developed as the most important drink for breakfast.

A decisive boost to the activity was given at the beginning of the 19th century due to more than 100 families of French settlers the arrival who arrived as a consequence of the Haitian Revolution and increased production yields of coffee and cocoa based on their experience.

In the 1830s, the decline in international prices led to a significant reduction of harvests, which would not be recovered until the second decade of the 20th century. After a favorable international context, the recovery gradually began in the 1930s, which positioned Baracoa as the first producer of the country with around 65% of the national total production. Cocoa thus began to recover fertile lands that the banana crops had taken over.

However, real progress was made after 1959 with the impetus given by the triumphant Revolution to the demand for diversifying agriculture in the area.

HANDED-DOWN SECRETS

The mastery of activities and practices accumulated over centuries in population groups has been empirically handed down from generation to generation –from family to family–, which has allowed them to survive up to the present. Typical of the cocoa processing, these techniques clearly belong to a sui generis agroindustrial activity which in its evolution transmitted evidence of a consolidated industrial heritage, as in the case of other plantation systems in the Caribbean.

Production takes place in two periods of the year: the large harvest, between the

months of March and June; and the small harvest between September and February, by farmers scattered throughout the local geography.

After the harvest of the cob is completed, the pulp contained in the seed is extracted through a manual process that involves skills and knowledge, with the help of rudimentary handcrafted implements made by the farmers themselves. Most of it is sold to the Coffee and Cocoa Company to be processed in the Processing Center.

The drying of beans is carried out in large open-air dryers, in which weather conditions will have a considerable impact. This requires careful attention since excessive humidity affects the quality of the product.

One of the traditions that identifies the rustic benefit of the small portion destined for self-consumption is the use of huts, to which mobile wooden drawers are incorporated for drying the beans, an adaptation resulting from the heavy rainfalls characteristic of the local climate. This building variant is introduced into rural vernacular architecture as a heritance distinguishing it.

Afterward, the beans are roasted and the husk is removed. While shaking to remove impurities, the farmer is assisted by another natural implement called "lomo", a kind of semi-concave tray made with the hardest part of the leaves of the royal palm.

Once clean, the beans are ground. At this stage, wheat or banana flour is added – using traditional methods– called mananina (bananina), and then the popular cocoa balls characteristic of this area are shaped by hand.

Sumario

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2022-05-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://revistasexcelencias.pressreader.com/article/282699050701232

Exclusivas Latinoamericanas