A Chocolate Tour of the Caribbean
来吧，沉浸在巧克力的海洋中

ONE morning on St. Lucia, as I was waking from beatific dreams, I discovered that I had turned into a luscious, ripe cocoa pod.

一天早晨在圣卢西亚(St. Lucia)，我从幸福的美梦中醒来。我发现自己变成了一只成熟丰美的可可豆荚。

Or so I imagined, borrowing freely from Kafka’s opening line in “Metamorphosis.” For three decadent days, I had been eating chocolate-stuffed liver pâté, cocoa-encrusted kingfish and, for breakfast, cocoa-and-cashew granola. At night I drank cocoa Bellinis. I indulged in a cocoa oil massage, hiked through cocoa fields and created my own chocolate bar. Dawn consistently carried the pungent aroma of cocoa trees, because I was staying on a verdant cocoa estate — and sleeping in a cocoa pod.

或者，这只是我幻想出来的，我借用了卡夫卡《变形记》(Metamorphosis)开篇的那个场景。连续三天，我都在大肆享用塞有巧克力的鹅肝馅饼、裹着巧克力的石首鱼，早餐吃的是加了可可和腰果的燕麦卷，晚餐喝的是加有可可的贝利尼鸡尾酒。我享受了可可精油按摩，在可可林中漫步，还亲手制作了我自己的巧克力棒。每天早晨，我都能嗅到可可树浓郁的香气，因为我下榻的酒店设在茂盛的可可庄园之中——况且我还睡在一只可可豆荚里。
 

这些图片依次是巧克力酒店的场景（上方三张图）、圣卢西亚（左下）、可可贝尔巧克力商店的伊莎贝尔·布拉什的一件作品（中）、代夫特可可庄园（中下）、甜香槟庄园（右下）。

Well, sort of: Hotel Chocolat, a boutique property in St. Lucia, features not rooms but “luxe pods,” where even the magnificently minimalist décor (rich mahogany floors, ivory-colored bathroom with open-air shower) evokes the essence of chocolate.

嗯，至少在某种程度上如此：位于圣卢西亚的巧克力酒店(Hotel Chocolat)是一家精品酒店，他们的客房号称“豪华豆荚”。即使是极简风格的豪华装修（昂贵的桃花心木地板，装有开放式淋浴的象牙色浴室），都能让人想到巧克力的芬芳。

Hotel Chocolat’s union of tourism and agricultural development, specifically its devotion to all things cocoa, is part of a budding movement across the Caribbean. You might call it choco-tourism.

巧克力酒店这种将旅游和农业发展结合起来、尤其是时时处处强调可可的做法，反映了最近席卷加勒比海地区的一种新兴运动。你可以叫它“可可旅游业”。

From Tobago to Dominica, Grenada to St. Vincent, the Caribbean cocoa industry, which has roots in colonial times, is being revitalized. This is excellent news economically: With free trade having all but destroyed the islands’ banana and sugar industries, fair-trade farming initiatives are a welcome boon.

从多巴哥(Tobago)到多米尼加(Dominica)，从格林纳达(Grenada)到圣文森特(St. Vincent)，加勒比海地区发轫于殖民时代的可可产业正在复兴。从经济上来讲，这是一件好事：当自由贸易毁灭了加勒比群岛香蕉业和制糖业的时候，以公平贸易原则发展农业的做法自然受到了当地人的欢迎。

And it’s hardly small-change news; the world price of cocoa nearly doubled from 2004 to 2008, with an even greater increase for the rare genre of bean the Caribbean is feted for: fine-flavored cocoa, which makes up just 5 percent of the global market. What grows in the Caribbean is the Champagne of cocoa. It even has its own promotional team: the two-year-old Caribbean Fine Cocoa Forum, a European Union-financed networking vehicle working to bolster production and exports in nine countries.

而且这不是一件无足轻重的小事；从2004年到2008年，全球范围内的可可价格几乎翻了一番。而加勒比海地区特有的可可豆品种，价格的涨幅还要更高一些。这个地区的可可豆味道醇美，产量只占据了全球市场的5%。这种可可豆品种优异，相当于可可豆中的香槟。它甚至拥有自己的推广团队：创建于两年前的加勒比优质可可论坛(Caribbean Fine Cocoa Forum)是一个欧盟资助的传播机构，致力于推动加勒比地区九个国家可可产品的生产和出口。

And then there is the tourism connection. Aficionados flock to Napa or the Loire Valley for wine tasting; why not go to stunning island locales to indulge in sun, sand, sea — and chocolate?

然后就是可可产业与旅游业的结合。喜欢美酒的人大批涌入纳帕谷(Napa)或卢瓦尔河谷(Loire Valley)品尝葡萄酒；那么，为什么不会有人来到风景绝美的加勒比海岛享受阳光、沙滩、海洋和巧克力呢？

There is already, after all, a chocolate-themed Caribbean holiday offered by Silversea Cruises. In Belize, the annual Toledo Cacao Festival celebrates the cocoa-driven culture of the Mayan, Garifuna, East Indian and Creole people from the Toledo district. In Dominica, visitors can stay in the boutique Cocoa Cottage hotel; they can tour the Agapey Chocolate Factory in Barbados. The Grenada Chocolate Company pioneered the trend in 1999, offering tours of its factory, farm and Bon Bon Shop in the island’s rain forest.

毕竟，银海游轮公司(Silversea Cruises)已经在运营巧克力主题的加勒比度假旅行项目。伯利兹(Belize)每年都举办托莱多可可节(Toledo Cacao Festival)，来赞美托莱多地区玛雅人、加里富纳人（Garifuna，非洲黑人和加勒比土著的混血后代——译注）、东印度人和克里奥人（Creole，欧洲白人与加勒比土著的混血后代——译注）的可可文化。在多米尼加，游客可以下榻精品酒店可可木屋(Cocoa Cottage)；在巴巴多斯(Barbados)，游客可以参观阿加配巧克力工厂(Agapey Chocolate Factory)。这种旅行风潮由格林纳达巧克力公司(Grenada Chocolate Company)在1999年发起，那时他们推出的旅行线路包括参观自家工厂、可可林和位于海岛雨林中的夹心巧克力商店(Bon Bon Shop)。

Earlier this year I followed the cocoa trail across four islands and three languages. Not only did it forever spoil Hershey’s for me, my tour also proved to be an eye-opening journey through settings both rustic and grand. It carried me beyond umbrella-studded beaches to far-flung fields, untouched island landscapes and a local culture with a legacy well worth witnessing.

今年早些时候，我走了一条跨越四个海岛和三种语言的可可之路。这趟旅行不仅让我永远放弃了自己对好时(Hershey’s)巧克力的兴趣，还以或淳朴或宏大的不同场景开阔了我的眼界。它将我从支满阳伞的海滩带到遥远的农田和古朴的海岛，并感受了当地非常值得亲眼目睹的文化遗产。

I began in Trinidad, where the cocoa industry is such a mainstay that the University of the West Indies there has a Cocoa Research Center. The journey began in a very un-eco setting: the glinting Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain, a bustling Caribbean capital with some of the region’s liveliest night life. I checked in, watched the sun set over the infinity pool, ate delectably fresh sushi at the sleek lobby bar and took in a few hours of soca at cavernous Club Zen.

我的足迹从特立尼达(Trinidad)开始。可可产业是特立尼达的经济支柱，西印度群岛大学(University of the West Indies)甚至有个专门的可可研究中心(Cocoa Research Center)。旅行的起点是一个非常不生态的地方：西班牙港(Port of Spain)华丽的凯悦酒店(Hyatt Regency)。西班牙港是个繁忙的港市，拥有加勒比地区最有活力的夜生活。我入住酒店，隔着无边际泳池欣赏夕阳西下，在摩登的大堂餐吧品尝鲜美的寿司，然后在形如洞穴的禅宗俱乐部(Club Zen)聆听了几小时的索卡音乐。

The next morning I landed in another world. “Welcome to Gran Couva — Home of Fine Flavor Cocoa,” read the humble sign for one of the world’s most feted cocoa fields, in the Montserrat Hills region of central Trinidad. I had driven 15 minutes from the sprawl of Port of Spain before green erupted everywhere: rolling hills, quaint plant shops, iguanas scurrying across the road.

第二天早上，我到达了一个截然不同的世界。“欢迎来到格兰库瓦(Gran Couva)——美味可可的故乡。”这个谦卑的标语出现在世界上最受推崇的可可田之一，特立尼达岛中部蒙特塞拉山(Montserrat Hills)区域的格兰库瓦。从西班牙港驾车15分钟以后，视野里全是无边无际的绿色——起伏的群山，离奇有趣的植物商店，还有马路上匆匆跑过的美洲大蜥蜴。

Pulling into a driveway, past a green gate, I was greeted by a host of butterflies, thundering squawks from a caged macaw and the outstretched hand of Lesley-Ann Jurawan, owner of Violetta Fine Chocolates and Delft Cocoa Estate in Gran Couva. She wore a shirt marked “Montserrat Cocoa Farmers Co-op” and explained that the co-op, to which Delft belongs, exports some of its beans to the Valrhona company in France, whose Gran Couva bar pays homage to the region. Most Caribbean-sourced chocolate (with the exception of the Grenada Chocolate Company and most of the artisanal small-batch chocolates I tasted during my tour) is produced in European cities, where the climate is more amenable to chocolate making.

我将汽车泊在停车场，走过一道绿色大门，迎接我的是一群蝴蝶、鸟笼中金刚鹦鹉尖利的鸣叫和一片宽阔的土地。土地的主人是莱斯利-安·胡拉万(Lesley-Ann Jurawan)，位于格兰库瓦的维奥莱塔精品巧克力(Violetta Fine Chocolates)和代夫特可可度假村(Delft Cocoa Estate)都是她的产业。穿着印有“蒙特塞拉可可农场主合作社”字样的T恤衫，她对我解释说，代夫特是这家合作社的成员，合作社负责将她生产的部分可可豆出口并卖给法国的法芙娜公司(Valrhona)。法芙娜旗下有一款巧克力以“格兰库瓦”命名，以向其可可产区致敬。大部分以加勒比海的可可豆为原料的巧克力（除了“格林纳达巧克力公司”生产的巧克力，以及我在此行中品尝到的手工制作的小批量巧克力）都是在欧洲城市制造的，因为那里的气候更适合制造巧克力。

“We have a long history, and we piggyback on it,” Ms. Jurawan said. That history goes back to the 1830s. White colonials, East Indians, French Caribbean émigrés and Venezuelan peons fleeing federalist wars all settled in Gran Couva and the north of the island to cultivate cocoa. They bred their own bean, the trinitario: a hybrid that has become one of three main kinds of cocoa trees grown worldwide.

“我们的历史非常悠久，这是我们的依靠。”胡拉万女士说。1830年代，白人殖民者、东印度群岛土著、移居加勒比海的法国侨民和为逃避国内战争而到此地做苦力的委内瑞拉人都在格兰库瓦和特立尼达岛北部定居下来，以种植可可树为生。他们培育出了此地特有的特立尼达可可豆，这种杂交品种后来成为世界三大可可树品种之一。

“Voilà,” Ms. Jurawan said, handing me a shiny, scarlet trinitario pod. It fuses the prized complex and fruit-flavored criollo bean with the hardy forastero, the bulk bean, mostly sourced from West Africa, that accounts for some 70 percent of the chocolate we eat.

“看！”胡拉万女士一边说，一边将一只闪亮的红色特立尼达可可豆荚递给我。特立尼达可可豆融合了克里奥罗(criollo)和佛拉斯特罗(forastero)两个可可豆品种的特征。克里奥罗是可可豆中的珍品，它口感丰富，具有水果清香。佛拉斯特罗可可豆质地偏硬，产量很大，目前我们食用的巧克力产品70%都出自这个品种，而绝大多数佛拉斯特罗咖啡豆都产自西非。

Jude Lee Sam, a cocoa farmer, sliced the pod and handed me half. The pulp had a mild flavor, acidic yet sweet. Then we made our way past vats of fermenting cocoa pulp and metal drying sheds with retractable roofs. On one side of the shed the wet beans smelled like, well, armpits. The aroma of the dry beans on the other side evoked, at last, the sweetness I’d come for.

可可种植者朱迪·李·山姆(Jude Lee Sam)剖开可可豆荚，并将其中一半递给我。果肉有一种轻微的香味，酸中带甜。然后我们穿过发酵可可果肉的大桶，来到装有开合屋顶的金属烘干室。烘干室的一头，潮湿的可可豆闻起来简直就像，嗯，腋窝的气味。但另一头干燥的可可豆散发出我此行追寻的甜美芳香。

THE ultimate reward came when Ms. Jurawan presented me with one of her own bars. “You’ll do a five-senses tasting,” she instructed. Obliging, I smelled the bar. I admired its style: a cocoa pod was imprinted on the chocolate. I felt its cool temperature. I broke it in half — “it should break cleanly, with a proper sound,” Ms Jurawan said.

当胡拉万女士拿出一只自家生产的巧克力棒时，我这趟旅行算是圆满了。“来，用五种感官一起品尝。”她说。按照她的指示，我先闻了闻巧克力棒，接着欣赏了它的外形设计：巧克力上印着可可豆荚的图案。然后感受了一下它清凉的手感。我将它掰成两半——“断面应该干净，断裂时有一种清脆的响声。”胡拉万女士说。

Finally, I tasted; the fruity, spicy sensation made me momentarily understand why the Mayans, considered inventors of chocolate, were said to sacrifice humans in exchange for a good cocoa crop. This was to-die-for chocolate.

最后，我将它放进口中。带有水果清香而微辣的味道让我瞬间明白，为什么被认为“发明”巧克力的玛雅人愿以真人献祭来换取可可豆的丰收。这种巧克力确实值得用生命来换取。

I got back into the car and ventured south, through the heart of Trinidad’s East Indian community, past homes decked out in Hindu prayer flags and temples resembling giant birthday cakes. I stopped at a roadside stand for sahina, a fried spinach-and-breadcrumbs patty. Eventually, I landed in the heart of the country’s oil belt, where flocks of white egrets encircled immense derricks, surreally protruding from the jade landscape. At the Rancho Quemado Estate, a cocoa cultivator and Agro-Eco Tourism Park, I meandered through a tilapia farm, an apiary and a mini-zoo featuring yellow-head parrots, boa constrictors and tortoises. The trails, lined by citrus and cocoa trees, proved the perfect place to linger in the light Caribbean rain.

我回到车里，继续向南驾驶。穿过特立尼达东印度社区的中心区域，路过装饰着印度教彩旗的民居和恍如巨型生日蛋糕的寺庙。途中，我在一个路边摊前停下来购买萨西纳(sahina)。萨西纳是一种油炸馅饼，馅料由菠菜和面包屑做成。最后我终于到达了这个国家产油带的中心。高大的油井架突兀地耸立在绿色的原野上，四周是成群的白鹭，看起来颇有些离奇。奎玛多农场庄园(Rancho Quemado Estate)既是个可可种植园，也是个农业生态旅游园。我沿着曲折的小路，走过一个罗非鱼鱼塘、一个养蜂场，以及一个养着黄头鹦鹉、巨型蟒蛇和乌龟的小型动物园。小路两侧种着柑橘树和可可树；在加勒比海地区的微雨中，漫步在这条小路上，真是无比惬意。

Early next morning I ventured north, to another feted cocoa source. Gail’s Exclusive Tour Services whisked me away on a drive through the rain-forested Northern Range Mountains. We snaked up green hills, thick with bamboo and accented with flowers so dramatic they seemed artificial: red birds of paradise, dazzling orange shrimp’s tails. Again I was struck by how close yet how far Port of Spain was; there was barely a home or soul in sight, save the occasional local farmer, trekking up the mountain, machete in hand.

第二天一早我就向北进发，直奔另一个大受好评的可可产区。盖尔独家旅行社(Gail’s Exclusive Tour Services)开车载着我游览雨林茂盛的北部山脉地区(Northern Range Mountains)。我们绕着青山盘旋而上，四周竹林浓密，花香袭人，景象夸张，如梦如幻。红色的天堂鸟展开华丽的尾翼，颜色橙红仿佛虾尾。西班牙港的位置再次让我惊叹：那么近，又那么远。视野中没有一座房屋，也没有一个人影，除了偶尔出现的当地农人，手拿砍刀，费力地向山上走着。

“Experience the Valley of Life,” read the sign beside the visitors center in the village of Brasso Seco, where I was handed a cup of the best hot cocoa of my life. My guide, Francis François, an Afro-Trinidadian with a weathered smile, took me on a hike through acres of criollo trees, laden with red and yellow pods. For additional revenue, the community sells coffee, cocoa powder, mango kuchela (a scrumptiously spicy condiment) and pepper sauce, the peerless Trinidadian staple.

“体验生命之谷”，布拉索塞科(Brasso Seco)村游客信息中心旁的牌子上写着这样的标语。在这里，我喝到了有生以来最美妙的热可可。向导弗兰西斯·弗朗索瓦(Francis François)是个非洲和特立尼达混血儿，饱经沧桑的脸庞常带微笑。他领着我，徒步走过好几英亩的克里奥罗可可林。可可树硕果累累，挂满了红色和黄色的可可豆荚。为了增加收入，这个地方还出售咖啡、可可粉、芒果酱（一种香味浓郁的调味料）和特立尼达地区特有的辣椒酱。

Back in Port of Spain, at the Medulla Art Gallery — where a funky exhibition commemorating Trinidad’s 50th anniversary of independence was on display — I met three chocolatiers. Gina Sonia Hardy, a Singaporean, said she began making chocolate on a dare from her Trini mother-in-law. I accompanied her truffles (65 percent dark chocolate with rum, almonds and coconut) with a shot of Exotic Caribbean Mountain Pride dark chocolate liqueur, infused with nutmeg, clove, bay leaf and orange peel. When I told the company’s founder, Darill Astrida Saunders, that her elixir could put Bailey’s to shame, she said that it’s an old family recipe.

回到西班牙港以后，我在精髓艺术馆(Medulla Art Gallery)遇到了三位巧克力制造商。那时艺术馆正为庆祝特立尼达独立50周年而举办一个特别展览。吉娜·索尼娅·哈迪(Gina Sonia Hardy)是新加坡人，她说自己开始制作巧克力的原因是特立尼达婆婆当年对她的一次激将法。品尝她的松露巧克力（65%的黑巧克力加朗姆酒、杏仁和椰子）时，我搭配了一小杯“加勒比异国风情山区荣耀”(Exotic Caribbean Mountain Pride)公司生产的黑巧克力利口酒，酒中带有肉豆蔻、丁香、月桂叶和橘皮的芳香。当我告诉该公司的创始人达利尔·奥斯特里达·桑德斯(Darill Astrida Saunders)她这种灵丹妙药能让百利(Bailey’s)甜酒黯然失色时，她说这种搭配是自家的祖传秘方。

Cocobel Chocolate, meanwhile, makes Isabel Brash something of a Trini Willy Wonka; in the back of the gallery she creates everything from cocoa flower logos to delectable edibles, made from cocoa from Rancho Quemado, which her family owns. I didn’t know whether to photograph or eat her work: rum and raisin, mango pepper, espresso, all erupting with exuberant flavor.

同时，可可贝尔巧克力(Cocobel Chocolate)也让伊莎贝尔·布拉什(Isabel Brash)某种程度上成为特立尼达的威利·旺卡（Willy Wonka，小说和电影《查理和巧克力工厂》里巧克力工厂的主人——译注）。她在艺术馆的后部制作了可可花朵徽标、美味甜点等物件，原料全部是她家经营的奎玛多农场的可可豆。面对她的作品，我不知道是该照相呢还是直接吃掉：朗姆酒加葡萄干、芒果椒、意式浓咖啡……全部散发着浓郁的香气。

Interestingly, most locals seem to prefer Hershey’s and Cadbury to these homegrown, primarily dark-chocolate creations. But all three women said they were slowly finding success in their home market, peddling their brands, which range from $20 to $35 for a box, in specialty shops and supermarkets across the island.

有趣的是，许多当地人更喜欢好时、吉百利等外来巧克力品牌，而不是自家生产的黑巧克力。但这三位女士都说，她们的产品正在当地市场逐渐取得成功。她们的产品价格约在每盒20至35美元之间。这些带有她们公司商标的产品正在逐步占领特立尼达岛的特产商店和超级市场。

Next stop on the trail: Trinidad’s resort-driven sister island, Tobago, where I put my lazy tourist hat on at nonpareil beach bars serving Carib beer and curried crab and dumplings. But my goal was to investigate Tobago Cocoa Estate. Founded two years ago, the winner of gold stars from the Great Taste Awards in 2011 and 2012, it offers daily tours to tourists.

旅行的下一站是多巴哥岛。它是特立尼达的姐妹岛，几乎完全为度假村而生。所以我直接变身慵懒游客，在它精彩绝伦的海滩酒吧里尽情享受加勒比啤酒、咖喱蟹和各种带馅儿的面点。但我的目标是调查多巴哥可可庄园(Tobago Cocoa Estate)。这家庄园两年前刚刚成立，却已于2011和2012连续两年摘取超级美味大奖(Great Taste Awards)的金星。庄园每天都对游客开放。

It was an hourlong drive north from Tobago’s capital, Scarborough, to the estate, on the fringes of the Main Ridge Forest Reserve. I pulled into a clearing where a woman with a machete greeted me. Nan, an estate caretaker, let me know that “this place was all bush — took over five years to clear.” Now it’s an edenic 43-acre estate, home to some 22,000 cocoa trees and the crops that shade them: ginger, cherry, lime, guava, mango, avocado. It’s also beside the Argyle Waterfall, where a short hike through bamboo forests leads to cascading pools of chilly mountain water.

庄园位于“主岭森林保护区”(Main Ridge Forest Reserve)的边缘，从多巴哥岛首府斯卡布罗(Scarborough)驱车向北，一个小时即可到达。我将汽车泊在一块空地上，一名手持砍刀的妇女接待了我。南(Nan)是这座庄园的看护人，她告诉我“这个地方以前全是灌木——我们用了五年多时间才把它清理干净”。现在这里是一座占地43英亩、伊甸园一般的庄园，里面种了大约22000棵可可树，以及给可可树带来荫凉的其他农作物，比如姜、樱桃、青柠、番石榴、芒果和鳄梨。庄园距离阿盖尔瀑布(Argyle Waterfall)也不远，在竹林里轻松地走上一小段路，就能到达清凉山泉形成的瀑布水潭。

I hiked through the estate to a hilltop gazebo, where my guide, Harry, cracked open a pod for me to sample. Making my way to the gift shop, I stocked up on the 70 percent single-estate slice (“single estate” and “single domain” are the crème de la crème of chocolates, both referring to the bean origin), a tangy, fruity and stunningly unsweet treat.

我穿过农场，到达山顶上的观景台。在那里，向导哈里(Harry)剖开一只可可豆荚给我看。接下来我去了礼物商店。我购买了大量可可脂含量70%的单一庄园平板巧克力（“单一庄园”[single estate]和“单一产地”[single domain]指的是可可豆的产地，带有这两种标志的产品都是巧克力中的上品）。它浓香扑鼻、果味充沛，不是很甜，但是非常美味。

SOME days later, I arrived at the Hotel Chocolat on the Rabot Estate in St. Lucia. Opened last year, Hotel Chocolat is more than a superior boutique hotel, and bigger than a brand — which it certainly is; the Rabot Estate marquee includes the hotel, an internationally available chocolate label (Rabot Estate), a restaurant chain (Boucan, in St. Lucia, soon to be introduced to New York City and London), chocolate cafes in London and Stockholm and the new Roast & Conch shop, which brings small-batch chocolate making to London.

几天以后，我到达了圣卢西亚(St. Lucia)拉波特庄园(Rabot Estate)里的巧克力酒店(Hotel Chocolat)。这家去年开业的酒店不只是家优异的精品酒店，也不只是个名牌企业。拉波特庄园的产业非常多元，除了这家酒店外，还包括一个销往全球的巧克力品牌（拉波特庄园牌巧克力）、一个连锁餐厅品牌（目前圣卢西亚的布坎[Boucan]有一家餐厅，纽约和伦敦的分店很快开张）、伦敦和斯德哥尔摩都有分店的巧克力咖啡馆品牌，以及新开业的商店“烧烤和海螺壳”(Roast & Conch)，这家店将一小批巧克力制作放在了伦敦进行。

When the hotel’s British-born owners embarked on their cocoa mission several years ago, they weren’t alone; up the road, the 18th-century Fond Doux Estate has been operating cocoa tours and serving Creole lunches for over a decade. But Rabot Estate has carried Caribbean cocoa to new heights, and in many respects, has only just begun. Plans are under way for a tour-friendly chocolate factory, complete with research center, cafe and retail space: a complete tree-to-shop experience that will import beans from other islands and employ several hundred locals.

这家酒店的所有者出生在英国。几年前他们进军可可产业时，并不是独一无二的。始于18世纪的甜香槟庄园(Fond Doux Estate)在十多年前，就推出了可可旅行并为游客提供克里奥罗午餐。但拉波特庄园将加勒比可可提升到一个新的高度，而且，从很多层面看，这还只是个开始。他们计划开设一家对游客开放的巧克力工厂，里面有巧克力研究中心、咖啡馆和零售店，从可可树到商店整个产业链全部覆盖。他们会从其他岛屿进口巧克力豆，并为数百名当地人提供工作岗位。

I devoted a full day to indulging in all the estate has to offer. There was a hike to its highest point, where I marveled at a 360-degree view of the Caribbean crowned by St. Lucia’s magnificent landmark, the Piton Mountains. The Bean to Bar class involved mortar-and-pestle grinding, some cooking-show-style cheating (when it was time to pipe my chocolate into its mold, a ready-made bowl of liquid chocolate appeared) and a history lesson by Ron Lafeuille, a chef who seemed to drop every name in the storied history of the fruit, from colonizers to Cadbury. On the Tree to Bean tour, I discovered that grafting a pod involves far more slicing, taping and carving than I have patience for.

享受庄园提供的所有服务，我用了整整一天。沿着一条徒步路线可以走到庄园地势的最高点。那里360度的无敌风景让我惊叹不已：加勒比海辽阔壮美，圣卢西亚的地标皮坦山(Piton Mountains)则让这幅美景愈加迷人。在“从可可豆到巧克力棒”(Bean to Bar)课程上，我先是用研臼捣杵磨碎可可豆；然后玩了一把烹饪电视节目常用的小把戏（到该将巧克力倒入模具的时候，有人送来一碗已经做好的液体巧克力）；最后是听罗恩·拉菲利(Ron Lafeuille)讲授可可的历史。拉菲利是位厨师，他随口就能说出可可豆传奇故事里每个人物的名字，从那些殖民者，一直到吉百利。在“从可可树到可可豆”的游览中，我发现可可树的嫁接远比切枝、包扎和削割要复杂得多，我几乎没有耐心学完。

I rounded out the day with the Engaged Ethics Tour, which introduced me to some farmers who sell to the Rabot Estate. One of them, Alphonso Stanislas, told me that after growing cocoa for four decades, he could finally make a fair wage; like every other farmer I met on the cocoa trail, he told me that he’s now planting more cocoa trees than ever before. “It’s something I always felt we should capitalize on,” he said. “Two things Americans and Europeans cherish: cocoa and chocolate.”

“承诺道德旅行社”(Engaged Ethics Tour)的一个活动让我这一天达到了完美。这家旅行社介绍我与几名将土地卖给拉波特庄园的农民聊天。其中一个叫阿方索·斯塔尼斯拉斯(Alphonso Stanislas)的农民告诉我，在种了四十年可可树之后，他现在终于获得了一份像样的收入。正如我在可可之旅中遇到的其他农民一样，他说自己现在种植的可可树比以前数量要高。“我一直觉得，我们应该把可可树种植变成一件赚钱的事，”他说，“有两种东西美洲人和欧洲人都很珍视：可可和巧克力。”

I remained in this rural part of St. Lucia, with its black-sand beaches, waterfalls and mineral baths, for four days. When I craved urban action, I took in some reggae and country-and-western tunes at Whispers, a bar in Soufrière, a quaint (if somewhat run-down) town that time seems to have forgot. Towering over the region, the Pitons create the effect of two wildly different movie sets: By day they are jaunty and playful; by night, they’re ominous shadows, shrouded in stars.

我在圣卢西亚的乡间又待了四天，流连于此地的黑色沙滩、瀑布和矿泉浴场。想念都市生活的时候，我就去苏弗雷(Soufrière)的“低语”(Whispers)酒吧听几首雷鬼舞曲，以及兼具乡村风格和西部风格的歌曲。苏弗雷是个似乎被时间遗忘了的古雅（或略显破败）的小镇。矗立在这个地区的皮坦山将此地变成两种截然不同的电影外景地：白天欢腾而热闹，到了晚上就变得像星光下的鬼影般阴森恐怖。

All epicurean adventures should end with rum and chocolate for breakfast. I had mine during a day trip from St. Lucia to neighboring Martinique. The 20-minute flight links radically different worlds; it felt mildly surreal to suddenly be making my way through Martinique’s sleek European airport, cruising down a modern highway to a modish shop that could well be in Paris. If the proprietor has his way, it will be in Paris, and Dubai, the two places Thierry Lauzea, founder of locally made Frères Lauzea chocolate, has set his sights on for future stores.

所有的美食探险都应该用配有朗姆酒和巧克力的早餐画上完美的句号。从圣卢西亚去相邻的马提尼克(Martinique)的当日短途旅行中，我享受了这顿早餐。20分钟的飞行连接了两个大相径庭的世界。从马提尼克时髦的欧式机场走出来，沿着摩登的高速公路开往貌似巴黎才有的时尚店铺时，我忽然有种不现实的感觉。如果商店主人可以自由选择的话，这样的店铺应该开在巴黎和迪拜。而马提尼克本地巧克力品牌“劳齐亚兄弟”(Frères Lauzea)的创始人蒂埃里·劳齐亚(Thierry Lauzea)也正好打算在这两个城市开设分店。

“We are not trying to be European — we are Caribbean chocolate,” Mr. Lauzea said, waving his hand about the shop, which was adorned in dazzling images of flora and fauna, sand and sea. Glass cases contain 35 flavors of truffles, from banana and curry basil to guava and coffee, each piece embellished with multihued trimmings.

“我们并不打算变成欧洲品牌——我们是加勒比巧克力，”劳齐亚先生说，大手在店里豪迈地挥动。店铺里装饰着漂亮的图画，画上是动物、植物、沙滩和海洋。玻璃盒里的松露巧克力有35种不同的风味，从香蕉、咖喱罗勒、番石榴到咖啡，应有尽有，每只巧克力上都点缀着色泽各异的小装饰。

Two men in black suits ushered in six-year-old Martiniquan rhum vieux and chocolate ganache. Mr. Lauzea coached me in tasting techniques: sip and swallow the rum; bite the chocolate; sip more rum; swallow together. “When you have rum, it’s one personality,” he explained. “Chocolate, another. Blend them, another. It’s amazing!”

两个身着黑色西装的人送来一瓶六年的马提尼克陈酿朗姆酒和凝固的巧克力酱。劳齐亚先生向我传授了品尝技巧：先啜饮并吞咽一小口朗姆酒，咬一口巧克力；再喝一些朗姆酒，然后将两者一起咽下去。“喝朗姆酒的时候，你能体会到它的个性，”他解释道，“巧克力，另一种个性。两者混合，又一种。真是太美妙了！”

Reader, it was. The pairings were perfect: single-malt-finish rum and pungent orange chocolate. Litchi truffle with ultra smooth, sweet rum. “C’est parfum!” Thierry exclaimed. “How do you say? It’s a real orgasmic.”

各位看官，他说得没错。两种美味的结合堪称完美：带有单一麦芽回味的朗姆酒和浓烈柑橘味道的巧克力。荔枝味的松露巧克力加上超级柔滑超级甜美的朗姆酒。“简直是香水！”蒂埃里赞叹道，“你觉得怎样？这真的令人狂喜。”

After our tasting — and before a lunch of sesame conch and dorado at the newly opened Entre Nous — I drove into rural Martinique, to Elizabeth Pierre Louis’s farm in St.-Joseph, one source of Mr. Lauzea’s chocolate. As we trekked about, Elizabeth showed off the scene: sheep, roosters, coconuts, all manner of fruit tree. But one thing excited her above all.

品尝结束之后，在新开的“你我之间”(Entre Nous)饭店吃了一顿有芝麻海螺和剑鱼的午餐之前，我驱车去了马提尼克的乡间造访伊丽莎白·皮埃尔·路易斯(Elizabeth Pierre Louis)在圣约瑟夫(St.-Joseph)的农场，这里是劳齐亚先生的采购地之一。伊丽莎白带着我，一边散步一边向我展示农场风光。这里有绵羊、公鸡、椰子树和各种果树。但有一种东西让她格外兴奋。

“There it is!” she exclaimed. “The criollo. I only started planting them. That’s it — the treasure, right there.” Suddenly I was struck by the fact that I could be in Trinidad, or St. Lucia, or many other Caribbean islands — all of them pinning hopes on this singular crop whose history weaves a storied connection between disparate lands. And this I now know: it’s a sweet, sweet connection, indeed.