From Cocoa to Chocolate is the route taken by this issue of stamps from the CTT - Correios de Portugal, which will allow the reader to follow the magical transformation of the fruit of the cocoa tree into a product enjoyed throughout the world for its velvety texture, glossy shine and unmistakeable flavour, which transport us to gastronomical heaven. There are few who can resist the attraction of chocolate, which sometimes becomes a passion or even an obsession.
It is hard to imagine that bitter cocoa beans, which are hidden inside the white soft pulp of the cocoa fruit, could be the origin of chocolate as we know it. This mystery appears on the €0.53 stamp, which shows the pod and its beans with a cocoa tree in the background. More than just a gift of nature, chocolate was the fruit of the imagination of men over the course of the centuries. The inhabitants of Mesoamerica were the first to realise the potential of the beans of the cocoa tree, transforming them into a sacred and energetic drink, the food of the gods, and using them as money. The €0.70 stamp celebrates these people with a beautiful vessel for chocolate, originating from the Colima culture (Mesoamerica, 2nd century B.C. - 3rd century A.D.).
On the €0.65 stamp, the elegant Dutch lady in the painting by Jean-Étienne Liotard (c. 1756) begins her day with a hot chocolate, symbolising the Europeans’ passion for cocoa, brought back from the colonies in South and Central America for the old continent by the Spanish and the Portuguese.
In Europe, chocolate was gradually modified until it acquired the solid state and iconic status that it has in gastronomy nowadays. The truffle is probably the most luxurious chocolate-based confection, in terms of both
taste and symbolism, which is what led us to present it on our €0.86 stamp, against a background in which you can see an old chocolate factory.
We the Portuguese also fell in love with chocolate. Our souvenir sheet, with a face value of €1.50, evokes this attraction with a miniature oil painting on ivory that portrays John V of Portugal being served chocolate by the Duke of Lafões (Castrioto, 1720). By the 16th century, the Jesuits were already collecting cocoa from the natives of the Amazon region. From there, cocoa was exported to Bahia where it acclimatised to the region that came to be known as the Land of Cocoa. When Portugal’s King John VI saw Brazil’s autonomy approaching, he decided to send several botanical species to other Crown colonies, especially the cocoa tree, which was transferred from Bahia to São Tomé and Principe. Such was its development in this archipelago that in the 1910s Portugal became the biggest global producer of cocoa.
To the left in the same souvenir sheet, cocoa’s Mesoamerican origins are recalled with the image of a beautiful stone sculpture of an Aztec carrying a giant cocoa pod (1440-1521). However, the true homage is paid to the vibrant and colourful cocoa tree. Indigenous to the tropical belt, it cannot be cultivated outside a range of approximately 10o of latitude to the north or south of the equator, because it only grows well with heat and humidity. As can be seen in this beautiful lithograph by Étienne Denisse (19th century), the cocoa tree simultaneously shows off flowers and fruits in various stages of development that correspond to their various colours.
A stamp issue which is both emotional and delicious.
Fátima Moura
