We Need to Talk About Chocolate
We Need to Talk About Chocolate
Podcast Description
Welcome to We Need to Talk About Chocolate, the podcast where we unwrap the rich, sticky, and sometimes bittersweet history of the world’s most beloved treat.From the sacred rituals of the Mayans and Aztecs, to the shelves of modern supermarkets, chocolate has always been more than just mere confection. It’s a symbol, a currency, a craving, and a billion-dollar industry with a not-so-sweet side.I’m Ed Easton - writer, journalist, and lifelong chocoholic - and I’m joined by a man who truly lives chocolate: Andrew Nason is the visionary behind Melt Chocolates. He’s a master chocolatier, a flavour obsessive, and someone who can tell his Forastero from his Criollo with just one sniff.Together, we’ll be digging deep. Tracing the rise of cacao from sacred bean to global obsession. discovering how chocolate has shaped and been shaped by the world around us. On today’s episode, we’ll travel back over 3,000 years to meet the world’s first chocolatiers, discover the ancient civilisations who gorged on cacao before performing human sacrifices, and visit the ruins of a place dubbed the ‘chocolate Pompeii’.Because trust us... we need to talk about chocolate. Brought to you buy MELT Chocolates! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast delves into a variety of themes surrounding chocolate, such as its historical role in ancient civilizations like the Mayans and Aztecs, the socio-economic impact of the cacao trade, and the dark realities behind the chocolate industry today. Episodes feature topics like the sacred rituals of chocolate consumption, the evolution of chocolatiers over the centuries, and unique recipes that tie back to historical uses of cacao.
Welcome to The Chocolate Podcast, the podcast where we unwrap the rich, sticky, and sometimes bittersweet history of the world’s most beloved treat.
From the sacred rituals of the Mayans and Aztecs, to the shelves of modern supermarkets, chocolate has always been more than just mere confection. It’s a symbol, a currency, a craving, and a billion-dollar industry with a not-so-sweet side.
I’m Ed Easton – writer, journalist, and lifelong chocoholic – and I’m joined by a man who truly lives chocolate: Andrew Nason is the visionary behind Melt Chocolates. He’s a master chocolatier, a flavour obsessive, and someone who can tell his Forastero from his Criollo with just one sniff.
Together, we’ll be digging deep. Tracing the rise of cacao from sacred bean to global obsession. discovering how chocolate has shaped and been shaped by the world around us.
Brought to you by MELT Chocolates!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What if everything you’ve been told about the Inca… is wrong?
In this episode, Andrew and Ed go deep into one of the most fascinating civilisations in history – not through war or politics, but through food, science, and chocolate.
From 4,000 metres up in the Andes, the Inca built an empire that could transport fresh fish from the Pacific in under 24 hours, engineer vast agricultural systems with thousands of crop variations, and store food on a scale that rivalled anything in the ancient world.
But here’s the question that sparked this episode…
Did the Inca really NOT eat chocolate?
The common answer is no. But after boots-on-the-ground research in Peru, conversations with locals, and digging into recent scientific findings, we’re starting to question everything.
In this episode, we explore:
- How the Inca fed millions in one of the harshest environments on Earth
- The genius behind their roads, storage systems, and agriculture
- Why your fish and chips might actually be mostly “Inca food”
- The role of cacao, coca, and other powerful plants in their society
- And the growing evidence that cacao may have been far more important to the Inca than we’ve been told
We also taste some of the rarest Peruvian chocolate in the world – and try to understand why Peru might be home to the original cacao.
This is part history, part investigation, and part theory… but it might just change how you think about chocolate forever.
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If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to follow along as we continue the journey into the origins of chocolate.
Next episode: we head into the Amazon to uncover where cacao really began.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Disclaimer
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