There is a farm in the Soconusco region of Chiapas called La Rioja.

There are places in Peru that exist at the edge of what maps consider worth recording. The upper Urubamba basin is one of them — a region where the Andes lose their confidence and descend, reluctantly, into something older and less legible.

I didn’t set out to build a ritual around chocolate. For years, it was simply part of my work. I sourced it, sold it, wrote about it, packed it into boxes, shipped it across countries. I knew the makers, the origins, the awards.