Chuao

Chuao
Chuao
Coordinates: 10°29′36″N 67°31′38″W / 10.49333°N 67.52722°W / 10.49333; -67.52722Coordinates: 10°29′36″N 67°31′38″W / 10.49333°N 67.52722°W / 10.49333; -67.52722
Country	Venezuela
State	Aragua
Municipality	Santiago Mariño Municipality
Elevation	254 m (833 ft)
Time zone	VST
Climate	Aw

Chuao is a small village located in the northern coastal range of Venezuela, founded in the 16th century. The village is famous for its cacao plantations, Diablos danzantes and San Juaneras. The village is surrounded by mountains and dense rainforests to the south and the Caribbean Sea to the north. The nearby Henri Pittier National Park the oldest national park in Venezuela created in 1937. There is no road access and visitors must come by boat from the town of Puerto Colombia along the coast, or by foot, crossing the mountains and the cloud forest from Turmero near Maracay.

The Chuao plantations has been there for over 400 years growing Criollo and hybrid varieties of cacao. Chuao beans are of very high quality, and are considered Venezuela's finest beans together with Porcelana Blanca beans from Lake Maracaibo. Experts agree that the high quality of the cacao beans of Chuao is not only because the genetic varietal that exists in the plantation but because the intense work of La Empresa Campesina of Chuao during the pre harvest, harvest and post harvest.

The Empresa Campesina of Chuao is a female-run company and the only organization with the right to harvest the Chuao plantation. Their farming, fermenting and drying techniques have been passed on from generation to generation and because of this the high quality of the Chuao cacao beans remains constant through the years.

In November 2000, the cacao beans coming from Chuao region were awarded an appellation of origin under the title Cacao de Chuao, allowing producers to negotiate higher prices and attract investment.^[1]

Since 2014 La Empresa Campesina of Chuao has an exclusive partnership with Tisano - The Cacao Company^[2] and through this partnership they, alongside with chocolate makers such as Roszavolgyi Cscokolade, Soma Chocolatier, Patrice Chapon, Pierre Marcolini, Alain Ducasse, Raoul Boulanger and Idilio, have implemented a Traceability Certificate to ensure that only the Chuao beans that were harvested in the Chuao village make it into chocolate bars that are marketed as Chuao origin. This traceability certificate assigns 1.020 kg per harvest and a unique serial number to each chocolate maker.^[3]

Chuao also prides of mantaining its tradition of Los Diablos Danzantes which is a group of men and boys that during the Corpus Christi celebration dress up with black masks, colorful clothes and do different dances during three days in honor of Jesus Christ and promess made during the year. ^[4]

The other column of the Chuao village are Las San Juaneras this is the group of ladies that take care of the beautiful church in the town square, lead most religious celebration specially the party of San Juan which is celebrated every year to thank San Juan for a good cacao harvest. ^[5]

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  Chuao Bay
• 
  Cacao beans
• 
  Chuao cocoa beans under the sun
• 
  Plaza de Secado. The Church yard where the cocoa beans are sun dried
• 
  Plaza de Secado. Boy helping his mother to collect the cocoa beans. Chuao. Venezuela
• 
  Plaza de Secado. The mother collecting the cocoa away from the sun. Chuao. Venezuela
• 
  Cocoa under fermentation process
• 
  Chuao church
• 
  Chuao Fishers boats
• 
  Chuao new town

Gallery

• 
  Chuao Bay
• 
  Cacao beans
• 
  Chuao cocoa beans under the sun
• 
  Plaza de Secado. The Church yard where the cocoa beans are sun dried
• 
  Plaza de Secado. Boy helping his mother to collect the cocoa beans. Chuao. Venezuela
• 
  Plaza de Secado. The mother collecting the cocoa away from the sun. Chuao. Venezuela
• 
  Cocoa under fermentation process
• 
  Chuao church
• 
  Chuao Fishers boats
• 
  Chuao new town

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chuao.