Chocolate from Beginning to End

Around this time last year, I traveled to the Carribean side of Costa Rica. Since I am a chocolate fanatic, I had to visit the Cacao Trails! (Up until this point, I did not know anything about chocolate, except that it tastes good and I eat it frequently).

The cacao tree, theobroma cacao, produces flowers and fruit year-round. Unfortunately, the cacao tree has a tragic past with disease and is highly susceptible to Phytophthora, also known as black pod and monilia. To prevent disease, most of the world’s cocoa is grown on small farms of less than 5 acres.

Diseased cacao pods

Once the tree reaches maturity, fruit pods will sprout from its trunk and branches. The golden-red to purple fruit pods turn brown at maturity, at which time they are split open and the insides scooped out.

After the cacao beans are removed from the fruit, they undergo fermentation, a process that reduces their bitterness and helps develop their heady aroma. It takes a few weeks for the cacao beans to dry. After they are dried the beans are ready to be cleaned and roasted.

When the cacao pod is broken open, you can eat the slimy goo. It is sweet and delicious!

Nib

Once the beans are selected, they are roasted and shelled to obtain the center cacao kernel, or nib. 

After roasting the beans, they are ground into a fine powder.

When we made our chocolate, we used sugar and milk to make a thick paste. Because of the cocoa butter in the paste, our hands were incredibly oily, but smelled fantastic!

Lastly, I must say that the chocolate we made that day was the best chocolate I ever had (and that’s saying a lot because I eat a lot of chocolate!) I can’t wait to return someday.

If you’re ever in the Puerto Viejo area, I urge you to visit (and ask if Felipe is available for the canoe tour). For more information, visit www.cacaotrails.com/

To see more photographs from my trip to Costa Rica, visit http://touchofwanderlustart.weebly.com/pura-vida.html

Happy travels!