Nibs Inside News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> 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 ...

Including, and most interesting to us, a strain of cacao previously thought to be almost extinct. a few years ago, the valley's cacao trees were genetically tested at a usda lab and proven to have identical dna to one of the rarest forms of cacao in the world, this stuff, the real deal, pure nacionale. don fortunato is our cacao connection, a farmer whose family has been working these mountains for over 40 years. >> chris: so they're just absolutely beautiful when they start out. absolutely beautiful. >> anthony: really kooky looking pods as they just come right off the trunk of the tree. >> c...

>> really kooky looking pods as they just come off the trunk of the tree. they sort of look like someone glued them on to the side of a tree. this is a once a year crop? >> it grows continuously but this is a peak seasons. >> try that. put one in your mouth. bite it and see the nibs inside? those are the cocoa nib. >> where does chocolate come from? >> the bean. okay. here's where chocolate comes from. the trees produce pods. you split open the pods and take out the beans. the buyer sun drys the beans, then roasts them. after roasting, the beans are extracted from their shells and ground up, p...

>> anthony: they sorta look like somebody, you know, glued them to the side of a tree, you know. this is a once a year crop? >> chris: it goes continuously, but this is the peak season. >> eric: see the way it comes out? try that. like take one in your mouth. bite it, and you see those -- the nibs inside? those are the cocoa nibs. >> anthony: so, where does chocolate come from? >> eric: um -- >> anthony: the bean. okay. here's where chocolate comes from. the trees produce pods. you split open the pods and take out the beans. the buyer sun dries the beans, then roasts them. after roasting, the ...

>> chris: it goes continuously, but this is the peak season. >> eric: see the way it comes out? try that. like take one in your mouth. bite it, and you see those -- the nibs inside? those are the cocoa nibs. >> anthony: so, where does chocolate come from? >> eric: um -- >> anthony: the bean. okay. here's where chocolate comes from. the trees produce pods. you split open the pods and take out the beans. the buyer sun dries the beans, then roasts them. after roasting, the beans are extracted from their shells and ground up, producing chocolate liquor. mix this concentrate with milk, sugar, cocoa...