Information AboutCocoa |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT COCOA | |
| chocolate | |
| crops originating from the americas | |
| flora of ghana | |
| herbal and fungal stimulants | |
|
Cocoa is the dried and partially fermented fatty seed of the Cacao Tree from which Chocolate is made. In the United States , 'cocoa' often refers to cocoa powder, the dry powder made by grinding cocoa seeds and removing the Cocoa Butter from the dark, bitter cocoa solids. By itself it has an extremely bitter flavor. A pod has a rough leathery rind about 3 cm thick (this varies with the origin of pod). It is filled with sweet, slimy Pulp called 'bava de cacao' in South America, enclosing 30 to 50 large Almond -like Seed s (beans) that are fairly soft and pinkish or purplish in color. Hot cocoa is often confused with Hot Chocolate , but hot cocoa is made from the cocoa solids, while true hot chocolate is made from whole chocolate. HISTORY The cacao tree apparently originated in the foothills of the Andes in the Amazon and Orinoco basins of South America . It was introduced into Central America by the ancient Maya s, and cultivated in Mexico by the Toltec s and later by the Aztec s. Cocoa was an important commodity in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica . Spanish chroniclers of the conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés relate that when Moctezuma II , emperor of the Aztec s, dined he took no other beverage than Chocolate , served in a Gold en goblet and eaten with a golden spoon. Flavored with Vanilla and Spices , his chocolate was whipped into a froth that dissolved in the mouth. No less than 50 pitchers of it were prepared for the emperor each day, and 2000 more for Noble s of his court. Chocolate was introduced to Europe by the Spaniard s and became a popular beverage by 1700 . They also introduced the cacao tree into the West Indies and the Philippines . It was used in Alchemical processes, where it was known as Black Bean. The cacao plant was first given its name by Swedish natural scientist Carl Von Linné (1707-1778), who called it "theobroma cacao" or "food of the gods". World Production About 3,000,000 Tonne s of cocoa are grown each year. The global production was :: 1,556,484 t in 1974 , :: 1,810,611 t in 1984 , :: 2,672,173 t in 1994 , :: 3,607,052 t in 2004 (record). This is an increase of 99.2% in 30 years. The pod itself is green when ready to harvest (rather than red or orange). Normally red or orange pods are considered lesser quality because their flavor and aroma are poorer; they are used for industrial chocolate. The Netherlands is the leading cocoa processing country, followed by the U.S. Prices for cocoa reached a five-year high in November 2004 because exports from Côte D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) were likely to decrease due to escalating violence in the region. Cocoa and its products (including chocolate) are used world-wide. Belgium has the highest per-capita consumption at 5.5 kg, 10 times the world average {Link without Title} . HARVESTING When the pods ripen, they are harvested from the trunks and branches of the Cocoa tree with a curved Knife on a long Pole . The pods are either opened on the field and the seeds extracted and carried to the fermentation area on the plantation, or the whole pods are taken to the fermentation area. PROCESSING The harvested pods are opened with a Machete , the pulp and cocao seeds are removed and the rind is discarded. The pulp and seeds are then piled in heaps, placed in bins, or laid out on grates for several days. During this time, the seeds and pulp undergo "sweating", where the thick pulp liquifies as it Ferments . The fermented pulp trickles away, leaving cocao seeds behind to be collected. Sweating is important for the quality of the beans, which originally have a strong bitter taste. If sweating is overdone, the resulting cocao may be ruined; if underdone the cocao seed maintains a flavor similar to raw Potato es and becomes susceptible to Mildew . The liquified pulp is used by some cocoa producing countries to distill Alcohol ic spirits. |
|
|