My Date With Hummer!

It’s been a while……

You know what I’m talking about.  No action, no dates, no excitement, just working, training and adulting during and post COVID.  So, no need to explain the excitement I felt to be finally going out on a date! 

My friends and I drove up to Lopinot which is approximately 1.5 hours from West Trinidad so I could meet Hummer.  The town was named after a French soldier, Compte Josef Charles de Lopinot who acquired quite a few acres of land for his services to the British crown back in 1806.  Back then, Lopinot decided to grow cocoa on his new estate which he named La Reconnaissance.  The drive was uneventful, roads were good with light traffic and after so much self-isolation, we were only too happy to talk up a storm!  I realized then how much I had missed conversation and time spent doing new things with friends, this date was ALREADY a success!

Waze successfully guided the way and eventually we arrived at Hummer’s family home, Café Mariposa.  Needless to say, I was a little nervous, but I parked the car, put on my fashion forward mask and proceeded to walk towards the wooden doors, the entrance to his home.  Hummer’s family, the Guerreros is made up of eight children, seven sisters and one boy.  One of the girls greeted us and led us through an open but covered area to the back porch where I would finally, meet Hummer. 

The porch was set with three tables all dressed for lunch with gold base platters, matching cutlery and maroon napkins.  Hummer too had dressed up as suddenly, there he was, resplendent with his black and deep orange coloured feathers, busy darting amongst the red feeders, excited to see and meet me as well!    He never stopped and I just sat there and watched as he seemingly called to his friends, one by one, as if to say here is my special friend; Sims, come check her out!

 Thirty minutes went by as we all sat and just observed all the prettily coloured plumage, white and black, blue and black, red white and black, purple, orange … the colours swirled on and on.  It was a sight! Helicopter blades whirling round and round in the cool air between the feeders and around our heads.  The porch area looked on to a lush beautiful garden that was not very big, but was packed with so many different trees, all lush and green as far as the eyes could see.  There were mangoes, bananas, avocado and of course, COCOA.  My friends and I tried to keep very still as we each perched ourselves along the porch at the different feeders hoping that Hummer and his friends would pose in their frantic movements, each of us in the perennial search for that “bess pic”.  We were mesmerized, constantly clicking on our phone cameras and quietly smiling each in our own dreamy scenes while we waited for lunch.  As for my date, Hummer had no such romantic intentions.  But it really did not matter as he had gifted me with his effortless beauty and calm contentment in a truly bucolic setting.  My next date would have to come good to meet the high bar set by Hummer, oui!

We started our three-course meal with cocoa tea and words cannot express just how delicious that tea tasted.  BEST I’ve ever had with just the right amount of sweetness and no bitterness.  The tea was served in tiny pale, yellow branded Café Mariposa mugs and I just felt, well, comforted. As I told Hummer’s sister, I have had Cocoa tea in Grenada and St Lucia and was certainly not too keen to try it again but with the first sip of Hummer’s tea, I fell in love! (Take note future date!) 

Next was the pumpkin chocolate soup!  A strange sounding combination I know but filled with many spices and cocoa that amazingly did not overpower the overall taste.  Main course:  Sweet potato, cocoa rice, pigeon peas, small salad and cocoa chicken or pork.  The chicken was tender and quite flavourful and the rice was infused with vegetables and beets, all served with a refreshing guava and lime fruit drink.  Lastly was desert and the choices were Mamie Apple ice cream /sorbet or chocolate cake with Punche a Crème.  No need to think hard about my choice:  Chocolate cake with the Punche a Crème please!  Divine…sigh!  I’m not usually a desert lover but that cake made me pause.  It was moist, slathered in the real, thick Punche a Crème, it made me grin!  Overall, the meal was scrumptious, it tasted as if it was cooked with love, wholesome comfort food and drink, well worth the TT$260 per person. 

Next on the agenda was the garden tour and I was happy to combat some of the pounds that were sure to follow that exquisitely rich meal.  Priced at TT$80 per person, another Guerrero sister showed us around their prized gardens.  She also explained the history of cocoa, old tales of cocoa estates, its workers and its future.  She then showed us the steps involved in taking the beans from their raw state to finished sweet, dark chocolate.  Most amazing to learn was that Trinidad is the ONLY place in the world that is the home to the International Cocoa Genebank located in Centeno!  She described the love story of how cocoa started in Trinidad with the Spaniards planting Criollo variety in the 1500s and then introducing the Forastero cacao later on which produces the award- winning Trinitario cocoa!  At one time, Trinidad was producing 20% of the world’s cocoa but unfortunately it was hard, back breaking work that was totally eclipsed by the better paying oil industry.  I wonder if cocoa will make a resurgence now that oil prices have tanked?  Something to ponder as we strolled, engrossed by her stories in the heavily shaded garden.  Her obvious love of history, wealth of knowledge and her family’s work and pride were on display as the relayed what they have accomplished in the cocoa industry.  

Spending approximately four and a half hours at Café Mariposa with Hummer, his friends and his Guerrero family was absolutely delightful.  I felt as if I had travelled to another country, I also felt so proud to be exploring and discovering a new side to my home that is admired and desired by so many international Chocolatiers and Chocolate Makers.  Even though I cannot travel thousands of miles to far flung destinations at this time, I have discovered a passion for that deep, dark, sultry, delicious chocolate industry thriving in a little town called Lopinot, right in my home country.  No wonder Miranda Ingram said, “Don’t think that chocolate is a substitute for love! Love is a substitute for chocolate.”   I think she really meant to say cocoa…