peru is a country that s historically driven men mad, mad for gold, for coca, for its magical, ancient history. but now, there s something else drawing outsiders to its hidden mountain valleys. we love this stuff. we obsess about it, gorge on it, and fetishize it. i m talking about chocolate. once a common treat, it s now becoming as nuanced as fine wine, making the pursuit of the raw, good stuff all the more difficult. i m joining that hunt in remotest peru, but not before i ve re-immersed myself in the booming lima food scene. i took a walk through this beautiful world. felt the cool rain on my shoulder. found something good in this beautiful world. i m in peru with this guy, eric ripert. the guy was looking at us. he went into the tree. that s funny. chef of the world-famous restaurant, le bernardin, in new york, to look at where chocolate comes from, particularly our chocolate. so that s why we re in peru. but before we get all indiana jones, we re spending so
you re not loving that, are you? eric: no. anthony: imagine you took a lot of acid and then you ate that whole bowl of ants, and then you go home and you experience violent diarrhea. and, like, you re tripping and it s like, 4:00 in the morning, and you turn around and you look at the toilet and like, all these ant heads floating around in there. it d be cool. eric: yeah, it would be super cool, tony. i can t wait. [ anthony laughs ] anthony: so now that we ve confirmed what we already knew, that peru s food is unequivocally awesome, it seems proper that we take a trip back in time to meet the forebears of this country s rich cultural legacy. the larco herrera museum in lima has a massive collection of pre-columbian artifacts. and, looking at them, you get an idea of what these ancient peoples were like, how they lived.