The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in chocoholic heaven sampling products made in a Belize cocoa farm but had to work for their sweet treats.
Kate tried her hand at grinding nibs, broken-up made cocoa beans, back-breaking work traditionally performed by the women in rural communities, during their visit to the Che ‘il chocolate farm.
Later as the future Queen watch her husband pounding away with a mortar and pestle made from volcanic rock she said: “The smell of the chocolate is amazing.”
William even joked about giving up his day job as a working royal asking Julio Saqui owner of the family-run chocolate firm: “Do you take apprentices?
“Can I come and work for you?
“It’s my kind of thing.”
The couple’s eyes lit up when they saw chocolate fountains, dipping tortilla chips into the brown sticky liquid, and they tried hot chocolate made from organic products with Kate confessing: “I think our children will be very jealous.”
The Saqui family are from Belize’s Maya community where the cocoa bean is revered and has been an integral part of their culture for thousands of years.
It was served to royalty in centuries past and at one point was worth more than gold to the Maya people who still serve it to special guests.
The couple began their tour of the chocolate production at the firm’s 10-acre farm, one of a number of plots they cultivate, and were shown the cocoa trees laden with fruit, with Kate asking Narcisio Saqui, brother of Julio, “Do you harvest them all year round?”
Narcisio took the couple out of the blistering sun and sat them down under a marquee and told them about the anti-oxidants and other important properties of cocoa and the duke exclaimed: “Are you saying chocolate is good for us?”
Speaking about the importance of the bean Mr Saqui added: “It became currency in those days and was traded as cash, worth more than gold.”
When he took a club and broke open a cocoa pod, filled with white gooey seeds which need to be fermented, dried, roasted and ground to make chocolate, William looked surprised and said: “That’s not what I expected at all.”
