the term
Chocolate is made from cocoa beans (cacao beans). The plant produces large pod-like fruits, each containing 20-60 beans, surrounded by sticky, sweet-sour white pulp.
The composition of beans provides the basis for chocolate products. However, there is not complete agreement on when to use the terms "cacao" and "cocoa" respectively.
Some experts use "cacao" for the pods, beans, and the ground contents of the beans, and "cocoa" for the powder left after the fat has been pressed out of the ground beans.
Manufacturers of raw or less processed cocoa bean products often use the word "cacao" instead of " cocoa ," which may mean they are more natural products.
Bean-to-bar chocolatiers make their chocolate from scratch, starting with fermented dry beans, using only the word "cacao" to refer to both the pod and the cocoa beans before fermentation. After fermentation, they call them cocoa beans.
Given this change in terminology, it is helpful to understand how cocoa beans are processed.
How are Cacao beans processed?
The green beans contained in the sticky matrix of Cacao pods don’t taste much like chocolate. Therefore, even raw Cacao products are not made directly from the cocoa beans in the pod.
Instead, once harvested, cocoa beans go through several processing steps. In short, the basic process is:
Fermentation: The beans (with some sticky pulp still attached) are placed in a box and covered for a few days so that microorganisms that feed on the pulp can ferment the beans. This begins to develop a unique chocolate flavor and aroma.
Drying: Dry the fermented beans for several days. After drying, they may be sorted and sold to chocolatiers.
Roasting: Dry beans are roasted unless a raw product is required. Roasting brings out the flavors of the chocolate more fully and gives them some sweetness.
Crush: The cocoa beans are crushed and separated from the husks to form broken cocoa (Cacao) pieces called cocoa nibs.
Grinding: Grinding cocoa nibs to produce non-alcoholic wine. Now it can be made into chocolate products.
To make cocoa powder, the cocoa liquor is pressed to remove most of the fat.
To make chocolate, the liquor is usually mixed with other ingredients, including vanilla, sugar, more cocoa butter and milk.
generalize
Cacao refers to the raw material: cocoa beans harvested from the cocoa tree.
Cocoa is made by grinding cocoa beans into powder and roasting it. It can be consumed as a drink or mixed with sugar, milk, cocoa butter and cocoa to make chocolate.
