Cucu (cacao, Q'eqchi')
A complete tree-to-bar chocolate-making tradition of Q'eqchi' and Mopan Maya communities in southern Belize's Toledo district — the self-described "Chocolate Capital of Belize" — in which cacao, a tree considered sacred and planted only after a spiritual leader's ceremony seeking permission from the land, is fermented, sun-dried, roasted, and hand-ground on a traditional stone metate into paste, produced today by the world's only Maya-Belizean-owned-and-operated chocolate company.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not currently inscribed on a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list under this specific technique; Belize is not listed as a State Party to the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in generally available current reference sources.
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