We have a cocoa orchard on our Pilgrim's Farm
that makes it convenient for making our own cocoa powder
I thought perhaps you might be interested in knowing how we do this
that makes it convenient for making our own cocoa powder
I thought perhaps you might be interested in knowing how we do this
below, is a photo of the backside of the cocoa orchard...
and you are looking at some of the trees
we know the cacao pods are ready to harvest when they turn a deep yellow or red
my husband takes his cocoa picker and selects the ripe ones...
with Foxie "helping", of course
she loves to go chasing after the falling pod and bring it back up the hill
my husband opens up the pod
to reveal the pulpy seeds
and puts the seeds into a box for "sweating" preparation
the creamy pulp on the outside of the bean is edible...
and quite sweet when the cocoa is fully ripe
(btw, a cocoa seed can only be sown and grown when still wet with the pulp)
Foxie knows how good it tastes
and for her "hard work" of picking up the pods that roll down the hill...
she gets a wee bit of it and will lick the fingers clean
once the beans are in the box...
my husband puts freshly picked green banana leaves...
and carefully covers the beans
he makes sure the leaves cover the beans tightly enough...
to induce them to "sweat" the pulp off
the covering keeps the warmth in and this actually causes the pulp to melt
this process is also known as fermenting the cacao
then, he will cover the fresh leaves with dry ones to keep the green leaves from drying out...
and shrinking to expose the beans to air
the cocoa beans are then set aside and let to "sweat" for at least a week or two...
depending on the weather
after the beans have "sweated" off their pulpy covering and...
dried in the sun for another week or two...
this is what they look like
part 2 of this process coming up later this week
May your day or night be most blessed with God's grace.
