In a small village outside Kumasi in Ghana, we had a tour of a small cocoa plot. Very interesting. The blossoms, and subsequently the cocoa pods grow directly on the trunk. The ripe pod is a bit larger than a mango, and when split open is is creamy white with many seeds, each a bit larger than a lima bean. Just sucking on those pods is delicious -- slightly sweet and tangy.
To process the cocoa, the seeds are wrapped in banana leaves and left to ferment for a week. Then the white fibrous wrapping on each seed can be removed and the cocoa pods are spread on a screen mesh (mounted up on sawhorses) to dry. I tasted the sun warmed cocoa bean that had been curing for 7 days. The guide said it would be too bitter -- better made into a candy bar with milk. But, the inside of that one sun warmed cocoa bean was awesome!
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