Rafael Urbina places a board of four elegantly arranged edible squares in front of me, each one representing a different flavour of Theobroma, the cacao-producing tree species native to the upper Amazon.
asserted
one → place → Amazon
As each morsel slowly melts on my tongue, I’m not just experiencing the “food of the gods” – I’m tasting Peruvian history, culture and terroir one small nibble at a time.
asserted
I → melt → time
From a dark chocolate made with alpaca milk to a square with the grassy herbal flavour of cacao leaf and unique combinations of little-known cacao species, Urbina is on a mission to find and celebrate the flavour compounds unique to Peru, one of the world’s most biodiverse countries and its eighth-largest cacao producer.
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Urbina → make → countries
I’m at the Theobromas Lab, the high-tech, high-spec laboratory at Casa Tupac in Barranco, Lima, that produces chocolates for four of the country’s world-renowned fine-dining restaurants – Central, Kjolle, Mil and Masi, where Urbina is the director.
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Urbina → ’m → restaurants
While securing a table at any of those restaurants can mean booking weeks or months in advance
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securing → secure → advance
, the Theobromas experience, launched in 2025, is a more affordable and accessible way to connect with the philosophy behind the food.
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experience → launch → food
A two-hour sensory immersion exploring cacao from seed to bar, it’s also a chance to see the science behind Urbina’s unique flavours.
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it → explore → flavours
Before anything touches my mouth, I’ve observed, touched and smelled every part of the cacao plant and watched the lab’s state-of-the-art machinery transform ingredients into fermentations, emulsions, powders, oils, syrups, pulp, nut and seed butters, and even bread.
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machinery → touch → fermentations
All of these are being tested for the restaurants, and you can also now buy a small range of chocolates at Casa Tupac.
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you → test → Tupac
Peru is known for its high-quality cacao – it’s often referred to as the finest in the world – but most of the country’s production is exported unprocessed to global brands.
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most → know → brands
We may be eating it in Australia, but we probably wouldn’t know it.
uncertain
we → eat → it
And while there are plenty of mass-produced chocolate brands in Peru’s supermarkets too, outside and even within the country its artisanal producers aren’t well known.
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producers → be → country
That’s something Urbina is hoping will change.
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Urbina → ’ → ?
“When I started working with cacao more than 10 years ago, [the industry] almost didn’t exist,” he says.
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he → start → cacao
Peru-based American anthropologist Amanda Jo Wildey is also on a mission to change that perception.
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Wildey → base → perception
Her passion is tree-to-bar chocolate – the chocolate produced by the farmers who grow the cacao.
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who → produce → cacao
At her chocolate studio El Cacaotal, just a short walk from Urbina’s laboratory, chocolates are displayed on open shelves, each producer in their own section.
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chocolates → display → section
Wildey likes to call it an “edible library”.
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Wildey → like → it
“When you go to a bookstore or a library you have a bunch of books, but by different authors,” she said.
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she → go → authors
“That’s the same philosophy that we manage here.
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we → ’ → that
We have a bunch of different chocolate bars by a bunch of different chocolate makers, each with their own style, each with their own story.
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We → have → story
While the minimum requirement at El Cacaotal is bean-to-bar, half of the collection is actually tree to bar and it’s this level of quality control that she believes makes this chocolate some of the best in Peru today.
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chocolate → ’ → Peru
As well as selling chocolate, El Cacaotal offers curated tastings of 45 minutes, or 90 minutes for a complete Peruvian experience.
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Cacaotal → sell → experience
Wildey recommends I taste chocolate from a wide range of regions: I buy a block of dark Paytiti chocolate, made by third-generation cacao and coffee farmers in the Cuzco province, Miroshnik milk chocolate from Ayacucho province, and an Elemento white chocolate and pistachio bar from the Amazon.
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I → recommend → Amazon
Wildey says although the tree to bar movement is very small, it’s important.
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it → say → bar
“They are the farmers that really are taking care of the ecosystem where the cacao is growing,” she says.
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she → take → ecosystem
“And the cacao tastes better when it’s in this multi-species ecosystem.”
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it → taste → ecosystem
Urbina agrees.
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Urbina → agree → ?
“It’s still a small, niche thing that a lot of people consume very high-quality chocolate, but that is changing every year,” he says.
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he → ’ → chocolate
That makes sense: once you start exploring Peruvian cacao it seems it’s impossible to stop.
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it → make → cacao
“It’s like, ‘Oh, there are 10 different cacaos in this region’, so every time you go deeper, it just gets more complex.”
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it → ’ → region
The writer travelled to Peru as a guest of TravelMarvel, but visited Theobromas and El Cacaotal independently.
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writer → travel → Theobromas
The Aporia
