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Che Guevara and the chocolate factory
2013.12.13. 13:38
CHE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
To this day, you can nibble on the edible legacy of Cuba’s freedom fighter
Ernesto (Che) Guevara’s legacy as a freedom fighter is woven firmly into Cuba’s cultural fabric, much as his fearless gaze is firmly rooted on T-shirts and college dorm walls around the globe. But in Baracoa, Cuba’s oldest and most remote city, Che Guevara’s legacy is based on something sweeter. In the early days of Fidel Castro’s revolutionary government, El Che, then Cuba’s minister of industry, came to Baracoa to deliver stimulus to the local economy in the form of a shiny new chocolate factory.
Coastal Baracoa is unique among Cuban cities due to its hemmed-in location at the island’s eastern extremity. For a brief period it was Cuba’s capital, but as the country was settled, other regions flourished and Baracoa languished in isolation for more than 400 years. Its fortunes changed dramatically after Castro and his revolutionaries overthrew the government in 1959. One of their first nation-building accomplishments, and still regarded as one of Cuba’s great engineering feats, was the construction of a concrete highway known as La Farola — “the Lighthouse” — over the jungle-covered mountains that had isolated Baracoa for centuries. [...] Next I got on my bike and rode north toward Duaba beach. Before I reached the outskirts of the city, I passed a monument featuring Guevara’s beret-clad profile next to the words “Fabrica de Chocolate.” The monument marks the entrance to Baracoa’s chocolate factory, which still churns out Cuba’s best chocolate. I asked at the gate if any was for sale, but the attendant shook his head. It is not available in any of the common shops in town either, as it is considered a luxury item, sold only in high-end stores, priced well out of reach of average Cubans. [...] Before my teeth had pierced the bar, I could tell it was far superior to the coarse chocolate I had previously encountered in Cuba. Its rich flavour and smooth texture were comparable in quality to American milk chocolate, but perhaps not quite as good as European varieties. However, locally grown cocoa beans are coveted in Europe and most are exported to Switzerland.
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