On our first day in Ecuador we went to the Church de San Francisco. This church was built by a man named Catuña. Legend has it that Catuña made a deal with the devil to help him build the church, the only catch in the deal was that upon completion of the church the devil was going to steal Catuña’s soul. To not meet this fate Catuña stole the final brick of the church so the church was not technically finished. Because Catuña misled the devil, the devil got mad and set mini-devils down to plague the church. This church is still in service today and holds various ceremonies and services. It is a very large and beautify church, that has the main cathedral, a museum, and a gift shop in the catacombs.

We also have gone to two chocolate factories so far on this trip. Yumbo’s and Bios chocolate both located in Quito. At Yumbo’s they explained to us how they use a three step formula to dry out the seed to get it ready for chocolate making. In this formula they need to allow the seed to dry, de-shell the seed, and then grind the seed into cocoa nibs for use. Yumbo’s then explained for a seed to be worthy of chocolate making it must be dry but still have some moisture in it to make the tastiest chocolate. We then tried various types of their chocolate such as 100%, orange chocolate, ginger chocolate, coffee chocolate, brownies (I thought this was the greatest brownie ever), and more. Everything was delicious even the 100% chocolate that has absolutely no sugar in it and is supposed to be extremely bitter was great.

We then went to Bios chocolate. At Bios’ we met with the owner of the company David. David inherited the company from his grandfather who originally created Bios in Germany but due to World War II had to move his shop too Ecuador. At Bios we were taken into his chocolate factory and were able to see the machinery needed. They use various rollers, and wood stoves to blend, grind, and cook the chocolate into optimal form. David also told us about the types of Cocoa beans in the world and that his favorite is the white cocoa bean, which is also the rarest. This bean draws in the flavors of plants growing around it allowing chocolate to have various secondary flavors. After his explanation of the chocolate process we were able to make our own chocolate and try all of his flavors. We tried mint-milk chocolate, chocolate coffee beans, chocolate dried papaya (my favorite), pure milk chocolate, and his speciality non sugar chocolate. David explained to us his secret ingredient to making the non-sugar chocolate taste exactly like normal milk chocolate. The trip to Bios’ allowed me to see the complexities of the chocolate industry, and the struggles it takes to make an optimal chocolate product using optimal beans.