点评:I visited the Finca Sampaca historic chocolate farm with my excellent local guide Simplicio Jordan (whatsapp +240 222581959). There were two times for tours, 10AM and 3 PM so we went at 3 PM.
Vinhinio, a third generation cacao farm expert took us on a tour of not only the cacao trees, but also showed us green pepper hot pimiento vines (like grape vines), passionfruit trellis, pineapples, coffee beans (thailand, india and equatorial guinea) and ornamental plants. It was interesting to hear about their traditional growing practices and how they harvest the pods by hand.
What was truly impressive was
the roasting process. Done the same way from over a century ago over 3 massive 30 long by 10foot wide stone ovens, the ovens are packed with wood underneath and the beans slowly pushed over the heated stone manually. The process is so labor intensive I will never again look at a bar of chocolate in the same way.
The reasonable tour fee was 10,000 francs and that went towards products we purchased in the gift shop. You can taste the rich earth in the chocolate and I especially liked the chocolate spread yummy yum yum.
翻译:我和当地优秀的导游Simplicio Jordan(WhatsApp:+240 222581959)一起参观了历史悠久的Finca Sampaca巧克力农场。农场有两个参观时段,上午10点和下午3点,我们选择了下午3点的时段。
Vinhinio是一位第三代可可种植专家,他不仅带我们参观了可可树,还向我们展示了青椒藤(类似葡萄藤)、百香果棚架、菠萝、咖啡豆(产自泰国、印度和赤道几内亚)以及观赏植物。了解他们的传统种植方法以及手工采摘可可豆荚的过程非常有趣。
真正令人印象深刻的是
烘焙过程。烘焙方式与一个多世纪前完全相同,在三个巨大的石炉中进行,每个石炉长30英尺,宽10英尺,炉底堆满木柴,咖啡豆被手工缓慢地推过加热的石板。制作过程如此费时费力,我以后再也不会用同样的眼光看待巧克力了。
合理的参观费用是10000法郎,这笔钱可以用来在礼品店购买商品。巧克力里能尝到浓郁的泥土气息,我尤其喜欢巧克力酱,真是美味极了!