SUSANA CARDENAS

Susana Cárdenas A. masterfully brings together her own life story and that Ecuadorian cacao and chocolate, her deepest passions.

“Tierra Hermosa: an Ecuadorian tale of chocolate” is not just another book about cacao – it is the chronicle of a journey, the intimate and fervent relationship of the author with the “Golden Bean.” This book-object gives prominence to the voices of historians, archeologists, farmers, artisans who have contributed and continue to contribute from the different fields to bringing prestige to Ecuadorian “Gran Cacao.”

Across 21 chronicles, the reader is carried back to the origins of cacao, where the Ecuadorian Coast takes centre stage. The revival of “La Providencia,” an ancient cacao estate in Manabí, Ecuador, that now thrives under new stewardship, is one such a tale to rebirth. Guayaquil, the cacao capital of Latin America, unfolds its millenary and current history perfumed with cacao. The author describes the archeological discovery of Santa Ana – La Florida, that shed new light on the supposed origins of a Mesoamerican origin of cacao, and highlights the link between pre-Hispanic cultures. It is a journey from Ecuador’s golden age of cacao the birth of the artisanal chocolate movement and the rise of the bean-to-bar and tree-to-bar in the world.

Rooted to her commitment to her land and her people, the author has brought to this work her journalistic experience to perform a curation of cacao and create an exquisite chocolate in Ecuador. She has made her way with silk gloves in a particularly masculine space, enhancing the status of women, her region and her country of origin.