The cocoa fruit and its secrets

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If you're reading these words, there's a good chance you're no stranger to the taste of cocoa - you may even be a gourmet of the products the cocoa fruit provides us with. But do you know what kind of journey the cocoa fruit goes through, from the moment it is picked to the production of chocolate-flavored treats? This journey tells us a lot about the final result, although at first the cacao seeds do not at all resemble the brown powder, characteristic in appearance and taste, that we so eagerly pour into warm milk or water. Nevertheless, the production of cocoa has been known for centuries, perhaps even for whole thousands of years, and invariably begins with the same thing: the cocoa fruit. And this fruit is a true wonder of nature!

Cocoa fruit - a miracle of nature?

The cocoa fruit looks quite inconspicuous. It is oblong, resembles a small rugby ball, and its color varies from yellow and green through brown to dark red or maroon. On the surface of the fruit you can see characteristic longitudinal grooves. Nothing in such a sight foreshadows what cocoa fruits can become in the right hands. After cutting open the skin, our eyes reveal large white seeds arranged along the axis of the fruit as in a corn cob. The seeds are covered with tasty white flesh ¹, and the average fruit has anywhere from a dozen to as many as dozens of such seeds in it. The cocoa tree, on the other hand, grows enough fruit in a year to harvest half a kilogram of beans. That's not a lot, so every seed that contains a cocoa fruit is worth the weight of... cocoa!

Cocoa Fruit Proper (Theobroma cacao)

Pataxte Cacao Fruit, Mocambo (Theobroma bicolor)

Kakaowiec rośnie głównie w klimacie równikowym: gorącym i wilgotnym. To kraje takie jak Ghana, Nigeria czy Wybrzeże Kości Słoniowej, a także Ekwador lub Brazylia. O istotności kakao świadczy już sam fakt, że uprawa kakaowca stanowi źródło utrzymania dla znakomitej większości populacji krajów takich jak Wybrzeże Kości Słoniowej i Ghana ². Wracając do samych owoców, które wyrastają bezpośrednio z pnia i konarów kakaowca ³, po ręcznym – zazwyczaj – wydobyciu nasion spod skórki, ziarna kakao są gotowe do obróbki. I tutaj zaczyna się magia, która owoc kakaowca przerodzi w niezwykły przysmak.

Criollo fruit on a cacao tree in Tabasco, Mexico

Cacao fruit in Nacional Arriba from Ecuador

Cocoa fruit: from crop to grain

Białe, migdałowate nasiona to dopiero początek przygody. Oto, w jaki sposób ziarna kakaowca dają nam przepyszne kakao. Najpierw ziarna dokładnie czyści się, sortuje, a potem poddaje procesowi fermentacji ⁴. Następnie praży się je – takie prażone, nieprzetworzone do końca ziarno możemy kupić w charakterze ciekawej przekąski do chrupania w trakcie seansu filmowego. Dopiero gdy prażone ziarna kakao zostają zmielone, możemy mówić o masie lub okruchach kakaowych ⁵. Ważnym momentem jest jeszcze odtłuszczanie produktu i przygotowanie masła kakaowego – bezpośredniego substratu czekolady i wielu kosmetyków⁶.

ceremonial cocoa is distinguished by the fact that it has not been defatted - it is a 100% cocoa product, nutritious and caloric. In the usual process of cocoa production, the fruit loses its natural fats, and the addition of sugar and other substances to the chocolate reduces its nutritional value. For this reason, real cocoa, ceremonial cocoa, can be confidently recommended as a valuable dietary ingredient - for chocolates, even bitter ones, one should be a bit more careful.

Roasted and shelled Criollo cacao beans

Drying of cocoa beans

Cocoa bean fermentation boxes

Cocoa fruit price

Many people are considering buying raw cocoa fruit, which raises the question of the price of such fruit and whether cocoa can be produced from scratch at home. Let's start with the first question: how much does a cacao fruit cost?

The price of a cocoa fruit - after all, an exotic fruit - can come as a blow to many. One cocoa fruit costs about 100 zlotys, although there are some slightly cheaper deals on the Internet. For fans of natural, virgin products, we recommend roasted cocoa beans, which, with their characteristic, slightly bitter taste, can make an interesting snack. It should be noted here that ceremonial cocoa is also a low-processed product, especially when we compare it with standard cocoa products such as chocolate. But what if, however, we are interested in making cocoa at home? Is it possible to make your own cocoa at home?

It would be very difficult to produce cocoa from the cacao fruit at home. The first steps of production, i.e. drying and fermentation, require special conditions, so we cautiously recommend making cocoa on your own start by buying already pre-processed, roasted cocoa beans. There are recipes on the Internet, how you can even make your own chocolate from such beans ⁷. However, even if our dream of producing our own cocoa straight from the fruit has collapsed, the crafted cocoa fruit remains an interesting decoration for the apartment, which can remind us of this natural wonder that is cocoa.

Cocoa fruit

As we can see, the journey that cocoa takes from plant to finished product on the shelf of a cocoa shop is a long and complex process. All the more reason for us to appreciate the extraordinary qualities of ceremonial cocoa, roasted beans, and all the chocolate products we so eagerly reach for. The next time you sip a hot beverage with real cocoa, think about how many factors went into this wonderful, aromatic experience!