so where does all the chocolate come from?

Tuesday 19th August 2008

as someone who is such an addict of chocolate, i figured it was about time i found out a bit more about it and especially as we have lots of cacao trees on the campus here at school. well pictured above is the fruit from the cacao tree...it starts out green, then turns red and finally becomes yellow when it is ripe. so i picked one and brought it back to have an investigation.

when i cut it open, i found all these beautiful white segments inside. they tasted sweet and reminded me of mangosteen in their flavour. the cacao seed or bean, is in the middle of these little segments and these are eventually what are used to make chocolate. i have some of them drying at the moment on my window ledge as they are still covered in some of the white membrane of the flesh and i am hoping that it will dry enough so that i can peel it off. i can say that from what i did peek underneath, the bean is purple. i then explored further on the internet about how these beans are then used to make chocolate and it is fascinating. with just a few simple instruments one can make chocolate at home. that definitely sounds like an experiment to try.

i feel a lot more informed now taking those bites of chocolate...i mean, at least i know where all the chocolate comes from now!