There’s more to chocolate than meets the eye. Here’s a breakdown of where it comes from and its byproducts
Cocoa beans are housed inside big, rugby ball-sized cocoa pods, which grow straight out of the trunks of cocoa trees, which you’ll only find along the equator. When harvested, the beans, which are covered in a sticky white fruit pulp, are placed in giant crates lined with banana leaves. They are left there to naturally ferment for five days. The fermented cocoa beans are then spread out onto reed mats and dried in the sun before being placed in hessian bags and shipped around the world to chocolate makers.
Cocoa nibs are the rubble-like bits which make up the inside of a cocoa bean (once the shell is removed). Nibs contain cocoa solids and cocoa butter – basically, all the flavour and all the good stuff we need to make chocolate. The nibs are crushed with other ingredients such as sugar and milk powder which takes them one step closer to becoming chocolate. Cocoa nibs are great for baking – try them sprinkled into cookie dough, on top of cakes, or in granolas and smoothies.
Cocoa butter has a rich, creamy subtle chocolate flavour and is used widely in the beauty industry for its moisturising properties. It’s also the main ingredient in white chocolate.
Cocoa powder is made when cocoa nibs are pressed under pressure. The liquid fat (cocoa butter) runs out, leaving behind the powder. Cocoa powder is perfect for using in drinks and baking.
Did you know?
The chocolate flavour as we know it comes from the cocoa bean which is virtually inedible until it goes through the 18 processes to make it taste like the chocolate we know and love.
