For your edification I go over the process of Cacao Tree growth, and maturity. And those of you that are not interested, skip the section, and move on to the next about cacao beans, and consumption.

The cacao tree starts bearing fruits, when it is around four or five years old. The flowers of a cacao tree are so small that unless you are looking for it you are liable to miss it. The bud takes at least six month to mature into a fruit. A fully grown fruit is about six to ten inches long and three to four inches in diameter. From the fruits, we harvest the cocoa beans / seeds. Removing a portion of the thick husk shows that the seeds are covered with a pulp. The oval-shaped cocoa beans are about one and a quarter inches long and vary in color from white to purple. Dried and fermented cocoa beans can weigh from one-twentieth to one-thirtieth of an ounce.

Many people like to eat raw cocoa bean. It can be eaten before or after fermentation depending on your preference. The problem with fermented bean is that they lose some of the nutritional substance during the fermented process. On the other hand the raw cocoa beans have a bitter taste.

tags: cacao tree, cacao beans, cocoa beans, chocolate, fermentation

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Fermenting is a process brought about by yeast acting on sugar to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. There are different types of fermenting such as top fermenting, bottom fermenting, barrel fermenting etc. The science of fermentation is called zymology. Fermentation is an important industrial process in the manufacture of many foods like cheese, beer, curd etc.

Part of the processing of cocoa beans, is fermentation which lasts from three to nine days. There are actual fermentaries you can visit. The process is a very interesting, and fascinating process. I definitely recommend going. I know I had a good time. The great part is the number of vats, baskets, pots, and machinery used in the fermenting process. For us chocaholics, especially, the Duke of Chocolate, I want to learn everything about the making of chocolate. I have to tell the aroma is amazing. It definitely drowns your senses. You know I learn something about chocolate everyday. IT’S GREAT!!!! It serves to remove the raw bitter taste of cocoa, to develop precursors and components that are characteristic of chocolate flavor. Now back to a bit of fermenting history.

Fermentation is not something that was invented by humans. Fermentation occurs naturally in fruits for instance. However, once man realized the importance of fermentation they have utilized it to the maximum. The earliest recorded history of fermentation being used to make wine was in 6000 BC in Georgia an erstwhile Republic of USSR, but, wine jars as old as 7000 BC have been found from Iran.

Food fermentation has many uses, some of them are.
1. Enhancement of the diet through development of a variety of flavors, aromas, and textures in the food.
2. Preservation of food
3. Biological enrichment of food with protein, essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, and vitamins.
4. Detoxification of food.
5. Leads to a decrease in cooking times and fuel requirements

No everything produced by fermentation is useful. Alcohol is a good example of that (course this is debatable, think of beer). Fermentation is used all over the world to produce different types of food, including processing of cocoa beans. Different types of breads, pickles, wine, vinegar, cheese, curd etc are made from this process. There are some risks associated with fermented food if the process is not done properly or the food is allowed to rot or decay. Otherwise it is a very safe process. Fermentation of food also helps in digesting it faster. Contrary to popular perceptions fermented food is not necessarily low calorie food. Just think of cheese or alcohol.

tags: cheese, alcoholic beverages, cocoa beans, fermentation, amino acids, chocolate, fatty acids

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Cacao seeds which is also known as cacao beans is used to make chocolate. The cacao tree is a native of South America. So, what is this cocoa butter? In addition to making chocolate with cocoa butter, cocoa butter has beauty benefits as well. In making chocolate, cocoa beans undergo an extensive transfromation process.

Initially they are fermented. Next, they are sun dried and bagged before being exported. To develop the distinctive flavor of chocolate, the cocoa beans are sorted, cleaned and roasted. These roasted beans are then shelled and grounded. The intense heat of the grinding process melts the fat in the cocoa beans resulting in a fatty material with a bitter taste called the chocolate liquor. From this liquor cocoa butter or yellow fat is separated leaving behind a solid cake. This is then ground and sifted to manufacture coocoa powder.

To make the chocolate that you get in the market, sugar, additional fat and milk and other things depending on the type of chocolate that is required, is added to the chocolate liquor. The fat that is usually added to the chocolate is cocoa butter which gives it the melting sensation. Most countries including United States permit only this fat to be added to the chocolate but in some European countries addition of vegetable fat is also permitted. In fact, cocoa butter is the only content of cacao used to make white chocolate.

Cocoa butter unlike our normal butter can be stored for a period of 2-5 years. It also has lot of antioxidants, this is the reason that many people claim that chocolate has medicinal properties.

tags: chocolate, cocoa powder, chocolate liqour, cocoa butter, chocaholic

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