..............
When I was in Spain I wrote a report about Chocolate, my aunt Becky told me that when I went to the Dominican Republic I should write a report about the Cacao beans. This is because the Spanish do not grow their own cacao, they only make it yummy. Their cacao is grown in tropical places like the Dominican Republic. In fact, 15% of the world's cacao beans are grown in the D.R. We went to San Franciso de Macoris, which has a large cacao plantation to see how cacao is grown and turned into chocolate.
When I was in Spain I wrote a report about Chocolate, my aunt Becky told me that when I went to the Dominican Republic I should write a report about the Cacao beans. This is because the Spanish do not grow their own cacao, they only make it yummy. Their cacao is grown in tropical places like the Dominican Republic. In fact, 15% of the world's cacao beans are grown in the D.R. We went to San Franciso de Macoris, which has a large cacao plantation to see how cacao is grown and turned into chocolate.
First, the farmers plant the trees. I got to plant my own cacao bean, once the bean grows a foot tall, they cut down branches from a mother plant and splice it into the new plant. A mother plant is a grown tree that has always grown lots of pods, so they hope that it will help this new plant grow lots of pods as well.
There are three different kinds of cacao pods. At this plantation they grew yellow and purple pods. Pods can grow on a healthy cacao tree for over 50 years, so you have to take good care of them. Cacao likes it hot and humid, but they also like 50% shade. Of course they do not like the snow, so we can't plant a tree back home in Greenville. The pod starts as a tiny little flower, then a tiny little pod, last you can see a large pod ready to be picked.
Cacao pods can be harvested two times a year. The farmer showed us how to cut the pod off the tree, so that a new pod will grow in its place. The tree will regrow pods in the same place for many years so you have to do it correctly. Inside the pods are 30-50 seeds that are called the pulp.
The farmer let us suck on the pulp. Don't eat the pulp, because the inside is the bean and it is very bitter. But the outside fruit tasted very sweet, like a mango. This is because there are mango trees close to this cacao plant that also provide the shade for the plants. The cacao plant will absorb the taste from all around it, so you need to make sure you only have good tasting things around a cacao plantation.
This plantation is organic, that means they do not use chemicals on their plants. So the farmers leave the rinds of the pods on the ground, so that the nutrients can make rich soil. The three biggest dangers to cacao plants are fungus from too much rain, rats, and woodpeckers. This plantation uses lots of snakes to keep away the dangers.
After the pods are picked, the fruit around the bean is removed with a fermentation process that they call 'sweating'. It smells like yeast from bread that is rising. The farmers do this by letting the beans get really hot and wait until the fruit is gone and all that is left is the beans.
After the fruit is removed, the farmers then have to dry them out to make sure that all the moisture is removed. It is very hot. I was in this sun room, and it was way over 100 degrees.
After the beans are dry, they are ready to be shipped around the world. Companies in Spain or Hershey, Pennsylvania will buy the beans like this so that they can make their own chocolate with their secret recipes.
We learned about how the Aztec people would make chocolate. They would crush the beans with these huge mallets. They would do it with a friend, I just had my sister, so she would have to do. The oil from the cacao mixes with the crushed beans and makes kind of a paste. Even without sugar it tastes good, the Aztecs would eat it this way or put some hot spices in it.
However, it was the Spanish that added some sugar and cream. Which makes their chocolate the yummiest yummy in all the world. YUM YUM YUM
Comments