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Criollo (cocoa bean)

Criollo is an important cultivar of Theobroma cacao, the species of trees from which cocoa beans are harvested. Criollo is one of the three main cultivars, the others being Forastero and Trinitario. Current world production is 95% Forastero, 5% Criollo, and under 1% Trinitario.

Distribution

Criollo is grown in Mexico, the northern tier of South American states, and the Caribbean islands. Its origin is thought to be in Mexico.

Drying cocoa beans in Chuao, Venezuela

Venezuela is one of the largest producers of Criollo, mainly in Chuao near Maracay and in an area south of Lake Maracaibo. A small village founded in the 16th century, Chuao is noted for its plantations of pure Criollo and hybrids. Criollo from near Lake Maracaibo is known as Maracaibo, Porcelana, and Porcelana Blanca. It is grown along the Catatumbo River and Escalante River, south of the lake. The television documentary films, Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory and Willie's Chocolate Revolution: Raising the Bar, follow efforts by Willie Harcourt-Cooze to develop a Criollo cocoa plantation in Venezuela and his own brand of luxury chocolates in England. Hacienda San José, located in Paria/Venezuela, cultivates Criollo beans. The total area of this hacienda is 320 hectares, of which 185 hectares are devoted to cacao with a density of 1.000 plants per hectare. The American chocolate manufacturer Scharffen Berger used Criollo beans in its first batch.

Samoa produces Criollo-Forastero hybrid beans, used in New Zealand chocolates.

Selection

Representing 5–10% percent of all cocoa beans grown, Criollo is more expensive than most other cultivars, including Forastero. This reflects both its quality and its higher cost of production.

Overall, the highest quality cocoa beans come from the Criollo variety, which is considered a delicacy [2]. The flavor of Criollo is described as delicate yet complex, low in classic chocolate flavor, but rich in "secondary" notes of long duration. It has a distinctly floral aroma. Many consumers dislike chocolate that is pure Criollo, but prefer chocolate that is part Criollo.

Concentration (mg/g) of theobromine and caffeine in defatted cocoa beans

Cultivar	Theobromine	Caffeine
Criollo	12.4	11.3
Forastero	36.2	1.3
Trinitario	33.2	6.3

Compared to Forastero and Trinitario, Criollo has less theobromine and more caffeine. Criollo may have notable amounts of theophylline. Total alkaloid content is lowest in Criollo, highest in Forastero.

Criollo plantations have lower yields than those of Forastero, and also tend to be less resistant to several pests that attack the cocoa plant, hence very few countries still produce it. Criollos are particularly difficult to grow, as they are vulnerable to a variety of environmental threats and produce low yields of cocoa per tree.

There is some dispute about the genetic purity of cocoas sold today as Criollo, as most populations have been exposed to the genetic influence of other varieties.

Trinitario is a hybrid between Criollo and Forastero. Trinitario grown in Saint Lucia is a feature of the Hotel Chocolat brand.

What is it

Nacimiento Formation San Juan Basin

Ceja Pelon Mesa lies just a few miles west from the Penistaja Badlands

Other

New Hampshire earthquakes

While not known for earthquakes, New Hampshire as a whole has been dotted with both major and minor events.

The first recorded earthquake to strike the state was in February 1663, originating in the Saint Lawrence River fault zone. Though the extent of the earthquake is not firm, at least in the state, as the population was composed largely of colonial settlers (who had left the east coast), accounts from the New England region are more reliable. Reportedly, the 1663 earthquake felled chimneys, oscillated houses, and threw pewter from shelves in the Massachusetts Bay area.

Earthquakes have also been associated with ring dikes in the state.

• 1727
• 1755; cracked wall of a house in Greenland, New Hampshire

• 1800 Hanover
• 1801 Portsmouth
• 1827 Hampton Falls, New Hampshire

• 1845, vicinity of what is now Pawtuckaway State Park
• 1891 Pepperell
• 1846

• 1940 New Hampshire earthquake, near Ossipee

• 1982 north of Tilton (near Franklin)

Thebaine/ P. bracteatum

In recent decades, commercial demand for the opiate thebaine, and declining supply from traditional sources, has led to development of another species as a crop: Papaver bracteatum. Thebaine is found in the opium poppy in relatively small amounts. It is produced in the capsules, but as the capsules mature the thebaine is moved into the maturing seeds. Hence, thebaine can be extracted from raw opium, but is not present in commercially useful amounts in opium poppy straw.

Opium poppy cultivars

Agricultural cultivars of Papaver somniferum vary greatly, with "pharmaceutical" cultivars being selected for production of opiates, "culinary" cultivars being selected for production of seeds, and ornamental cultivars being selected for appearance. One study of P. somniferum cultivated in Sicily, apparently for culinary use, found opiate production was so low that pharmaceutical use would not be economical. A comparative study of two cultivars, an elite pharmaceutical opium cultivar and a culinary poppy seed cultivar, found less total alkaloid in the poppy seed cultivar, and very large differences in the relative proportions of alkaloids that were present. In the opium cultivar 91% of the latex alkaloids were morphine, codeine, and thebaine; in the poppy seed cultivar 80% were narcotoline and noscapine.

There is speculation that one side effect of the opium trade is the sale of seeds from these pharmaceutical cultivars into the culinary market.

Opium in poppy seeds

Poppy seeds are legally sold and widely consumed as food. Although generally regarded as not a source of morphine and other opium alkaloids with narcotic properties, poppy seeds can be a source of opiates in quantities sufficient to result in a positive drug test. This is a true positive in the sense that the substance detected is an opiate, but it is not indicative of drug abuse. Opiates are neither produced nor accumulated in poppy seeds. They are produced in the walls of the seed pod (fruit), in cells that line special tissues called laticifers, and they are accumulated in the laticifers. The presence of opiates in poppy seeds is regarded as due to the combined effects of contamination during harvesting and inadequate processing to remove any contamination. In some recipes, poppy seeds are first rinsed with water that is discarded. When morphine and codeine are present in raw seeds, grinding and/or cooking the seeds significantly reduces the quantities of both alkaloids.

Positive drug tests not indicative of drug use

Consumption of poppy seeds is particularly high in some cultures and cuisines. To distinguish between licit consumption of poppy seeds and illicit use of morphine, it may be useful to measure the ratio of morphine to other opiates in a sample. However, this approach has been shown to be unreliable in Taiwan, where an opium-containing preparation is legal and widely used. Instead, a morphine concentration above 4000 ng/mL in urine was suggested to distinguish heroin users from users of the legal preparation.

Poppy seed defense

Poppy seed defense is a defense against accusations of illicit use of opiate drugs.

Fiador

The more recent equestrian sense of fiador, meaning an optional accessory on a bridle, is used in the United States and Canada and sometimes is regarded as originating in Mexico.

One 19th Century historian of the gaucho claims that the (South American) fiador predates invention of the halter (bozal), and once the halter was invented the fiador had no more reason to exist. Less than twenty years later, however, another historian describes the fiador as an integral part of a halter.

keep the bosal in place, no mention keeping the hackamore on the head; show good example

The origin of the fiador also appears to be in Argentina, where it is considered to precede the modern Argentine halter.

Don Segundo Sombra

Don Segundo Sombra by Ricardo Güiraldes

Page 88

-dor: office or occupation; nombres de objectos, eg fiador, maniador

Page 199, footnote 14: fiador: Arg. "El fiador, que precedió a los bozales modernes, es un anillo de cuero que se coloca en la parte superior del pescuezo de los animales... Una correa o tiento que pasa por la frente del animal —frentera o testera— evita que el fiador se descoloque, corriéndose hacia abajo. El verdadero nombre de esta prenda es cogotera; se usó para prender o apresillar el cabestro o la soga con que se ataban las cabalgaduras en los palenques de las casas o en las estacas, en medio del campo. Por eso la denominación de fiador...: a ese anillo... fiaba el gaucho su seguridad de tener caballo a mano en el momento necesario..." (Inchauspe, Más voces, 130-131)

"fiador del bozal"

Nuevas coplas de Martín Fierro

p 336: bozal: Aparejo de sogas que se cruzan en la frente del animal. El bozal está compuesto de cogotera o fiador, frentera o testera, ramales transverales y laterales, hociquera, travesaño y argolla para prender el cabestro. Puede ser liso o trenzado. El bozal y el cabestro se utilizan para sujetar los caballos. Con el cabestro, se los ata al palenque.

p 339: fiador: Soga que, rodeando el cogote del caballo, remata en la garganta.