From Cacao to Confection: How Chocolate is Made
Seeing chocolate being made right in front of me, transformed from cacao beans to a delicious chocolate bar, would have to rank up there as one of the most exciting food experiences of my life. I now know how to make chocolate! If only I could get my hands on cocoa beans where I live, I would replicate the experience just for the pleasure of it all.
Cocoa trees grow in the shade, about 5 meters tall on average. They produce fruit after five years and are harvested twice a year. There are three main types of cocoa trees: the Criollo, meaning “native”, which is the variety cultivated in Central America, as well as the Forastero, meaning “foreigner”, cultivated in Western Africa and Brazil, and the Trinitario, a mixture of the above two varieties is cultivated in the rest of the world. The raw beans are sweet to suck on but as soon as you bite into them, they release bitter, unpleasant juices.
The process for making chocolate is lengthy but very simple:
First the beans are extracted from the cacao fruit and immediately fermented in fermentation boxes called “sweatboxes” for six days to allow them to germinate (The juice drippings are collected to make rum.) Chocolate for which the beans have not been fermented supposedly doesn’t taste smooth but rather bitter.
The beans are then sundried or covered and air-dried during rainy season for six days .
After that, the beans are roasted, peeled and ground. Prior to making chocolate, the cacao grounds are lightly roasted to release some of their oils.
Now the fun part begins. Watching the artisan chocolatier work the cacao grounds into chocolate was nothing short of magical.
He mixed the ground cacao with brown sugar, stirred and pressed it down with a spatula for a good ten minutes.
He worked in the vanilla extract for about ten more minutes. He added the powdered milk and worked it in for yet another ten minutes.
The final ingredient was condensed milk, which he stirred in, vigorously pushing down some more.
Toward the end, he put on a glove and kneaded the chocolate dough until it released lots of oil and a heady aroma. He stretched the chocolate dough on a cutting board the way one would spread pizza dough and cut it into squares.
When eaten immediately it tastes like moist, chewy brownie. Refrigerating it for a few hours gives it the consistency of a hard chocolate bar like we know it. But of course I wasn’t going to wait. No, no, not me. I had two squares right away.
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rebecca — 11/30/2011 @ 9:22 pm
awesome and educational post Nisrine and love the blog design
Nuts about food — 12/01/2011 @ 4:47 am
What an interesting read and beautiful pictures to illustrate. I would’ve eaten those squares right away too (taking a few with me to refrigerate!)
parisbreakfasts — 12/01/2011 @ 6:55 am
Gorgeous photos and great sequencing.
Did you say where you are?
I’m mystified where you got to see this?
Thanks
carolg
Nisrine replied: — December 1st, 2011 @ 3:59 pm
Thanks, Carol. This was at a cacao plantation in southern Costa Rica near Panama, but there are cocoa farms that offer chocolate tours like this one all over Central America.
Trix — 12/01/2011 @ 7:55 am
That is so cool – what an awesome trip. I LOVE the photos!!
Deborah — 12/01/2011 @ 11:41 am
Oh my goodness, what an amazing experience! I would love to see that in person one day. And I’d love the sample at the end, too!
Bria @ West of Persia — 12/01/2011 @ 10:20 pm
Seriously awesome! I saw a cacao tree up close in Central America once…wish I’d though to ask about a tour. That chocolate looks delicious.
Timothy — 12/02/2011 @ 11:39 am
Wow, what incredible pictures. I`m going to Costa Rica soon, would love to see handcrafted chocolate made ready to eat. Thanks for sharing. Timothy
Kulsum at JourneyKitchen — 12/03/2011 @ 12:06 am
Wow! Loved this post
Sanjeeta kk — 12/03/2011 @ 12:01 pm
Oh..thanks a lot for such a wonderful info! Love my chocolate and now will do it more :)
Lora @cakeduchess — 12/03/2011 @ 9:19 pm
Wow, Nirine! You took us there with you on your incredible journey. I could just smell the chocolate and wish I could taste it! xx
Barbara — 12/04/2011 @ 6:48 am
Fabulous post, Nisrine. I remember well seeing my first cocoa bean while in the Caribbean, but was never able to see the chocolate from start to finish like this.
Mary — 12/04/2011 @ 10:16 am
I really enjoyed this post and learned a lot I didn’t know before stopping by. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary.
Susan — 12/04/2011 @ 1:38 pm
This is so interesting. I would have gotten right into it too, before refrigeration.
Reeni — 12/04/2011 @ 7:12 pm
So much work it is to make chocolate – but worth every step! I bet that fresh chocolate was divine!
Alacarte Kulinaria — 12/05/2011 @ 2:34 pm
I love chocolate. It was really interesting to get to know how it is made.
Velva — 12/06/2011 @ 8:45 pm
That is simply a great experience. Chocolate will be a whole new experience for you. So very cool.
Velva
P.S. Our Cooking Club theme in January will be Moroccan. Do you have any ideas for a delicious authentic entree that you can share with me? Thanks.
Heba @ My Life in a Pyramid and @midEATS — 12/23/2011 @ 3:20 pm
What a FASCINATING post! I love learning about where my food comes from and how it’s harvested and produced! Thanks for sharing :) And to echo everyone’s comments, awesome pics!