Quito.- The Middle of the World City, in Ecuador, was accredited Monday as the Ibero-American Capital of chocolate, a distinction awarded at the recent International Tourism Fair in Madrid, Spain, where Andean cocoa conquered European palates.
In a ceremony held in this complex where the monument to the equatorial line is located, which divides the world’s hemispheres, the Ibero-American Gastronomy Chain confirmed the delivery of the distinction to this tourist area administered by the Prefecture of the province of Pichincha.
The prefect of the province of Pichincha, Paola Pabon, led the ceremony that puts the finishing touch to the exhibition of the chocolate produced in this Ecuadorian jurisdiction, whose capital is Quito, and which was presented by her at the fair in Madrid.
The distinction is the result of an effort developed to «place Quito and Pichincha as a tourist destination par excellence» and with chocolate as a magical ingredient to attract visitors, Pabóon told EFE.
With this distinction – she added – visitors from around the world, who love chocolate will be «motivated to get to know Quito and Pichincha but, above all, to taste the chocolate from the Middle of the World,» among the best on the planet.
Pichincha, in addition to having the subtropical forest of the Choco Andino, is where many entrepreneurs have generated a true chocolate industry, manufacturing based on cocoa.
Some 72 percent of the chocolate produced in Ecuador is from Pichincha, where the use of the best cocoa in the world has been refined, a product originating from the Ecuadorian Amazon, where the oldest vestiges of the domestication of this fruit were found, which date back 5,000 years.
Choco Chocolate is produced here, but also cocoa that comes from many regions of Ecuador, especially the ‘fine aroma’ variety, cataloged in Europe as the best seed for making fine chocolate.
