Sun 8 Apr 2007
You would think that something that produces the delicious chocolate would be found all over the world and would be easy to cultivate. But, the fact of the matter is that cocoa and its cultivation is not an easy matter. It needs the right kind of soil, climate etc. for it to be cultivated in abundance.
The cacao tree is a native of South America. Cacao can be grown only in tropical climates. It has to be shielded from wind and drought. The rainfall can be high or low but it has to be distributed uniformly.
The cacao tree isn’t a huge tree maybe a little taller than an apple tree. The maximum height is twenty feet. We harvest the seeds from the fruits that the cacoa tree bears. The seeds are what is used to produce chocolate. The tree start to bear fruit at about 5 years old. The fruits do not actually hang from the branches, but rather they almost shoot out directly from the base of the trunk. This is because the pods are so heavy that the branches will not able to hold them. The flowers of a cacao tree are so small that unless you are looking for it you are liable to miss it. They are usually pink or yellow in color. They look as though they are made from wax and generally have no smell. The buds are the size of rice grains. The bud takes at least six months to mature into a fruit.
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tags: chocolate, cacao cultivation, cacao beans, cacao tree
Article Series - Chocolate Education
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- Chocolate Benefits / Fascination
- From Cacao to chocolate
- Chocolate Wedding Cake: For Life Changing Events
- Chocolate Shops can buy Chocolate from Chocolate Factories
- What is a Chocolate Fountain? What is it made of? Where do you rent one?
- Chocolate Gifts make great Chocolate Wedding Favors
- Is Dark Chocolate the most beneficial for your health?
- The Chocolate: Natural Way
- Chocolate Health Benefits: Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure
- Chocolate and Women: Sex Sells!!!
- Chocaholics / Chocoholics –Something to Smile About and Look Forward To and NOT ALCOHOLISM
- Chocolate Pudding
- Cacao Trees Bearer of raw cacao beans
- Chocolate and Blogs
- Chocolate Taste
- Chocolate Easter Eggs and Good Friday: Easter and Chocolate
- Cadbury Chocolate Dairy Milk
- Chocolate Houses, Clubs, and Starbucks: What do they have in common?
- Cacao Cultivation / Raw Cacao Beans
- Chocolate Talk
- (Cocoa / Cacao) Beans to (Cocoa / Cacao) Butter
- Popularity of Chocolate: Why is chocolate such a popular gift?
- Chocolate Possible Health Benefits and Myths
- How to make (Dark) Chocolate Gift Baskets for All Occasions including Mother's Day
- Fermenting and Chocolate
- How to make chocolate from the beginning? Cacao Tree Cultivation Requirements
- How is gourmet chocolate made? Chocolate Tempering Process is a step of many!!
- Blood and Chocolate: Chocolate and The Media - i.e Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
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- The Chocolate Diet - Does It Work? Is it a fad? or Here to stay?
- Nutritional Values of Chocolate / Chocolate Nutrition
- Chocolate Cheese Cake with cherries
- Ferment and the Chocolate Part 2 part of a process in a chocolate factory
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- The Chocolate Consumer
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May 17th, 2007 at 4:25 am
Cacao Cultivation / Raw Cacao Beans…
You would think that something that produces the delicious chocolate would be found all over the world and would be easy to cultivate. But, the fact of the matter is that cocoa and its cultivation is not an easy matter. It needs the right kind of soil,…
April 17th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Wow a blog all about chocolate - how delicious! I just wrote about the joys of living in close communion with cacao trees in the Caribbean. http://www.caribbeanlandandproperty.com/blog/index.php?/archives/64-Cocoa-licious.html
I definitely recommend anyone that is serious about chocolate visit a cocoa producing country at least once in their lives and get the super fresh taste of natural cacao.
Peace
Terri