Cacao: The fruit behind the bar

Where does cacao grow? 

It’s easy to forget, standing in front of shiny wrappers, that chocolate comes from the bright yellow fruits of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao). Native to the lowland rainforests of the Amazon, cacao is now grown in many countries with tropical climates, including Ghana, Indonesia and Nigeria.

First, a bitter drink

The first chocolate wasn’t a bar, but a bitter, spiced drink used in rituals and traditional medicine by the Maya and Aztecs over 3,000 years ago. They crafted a dark, frothy beverage from cocoa beans mixed with spices like chilli. It held deep cultural and medicinal meaning, shared during ceremonies and used to treat a range of ailments.

How is chocolate made?

Crack open a cacao fruit and you’ll find sweet, sticky pulp wrapped around a cluster of seeds called cocoa beans. Making chocolate is a careful process that brings out the rich flavour from the raw cacao bean. Here’s how it goes from pod to bar:

• Harvested: Ripe cacao pods are cut from the tree and split open.
• Fermented: The beans and pulp are left to ferment for a few days to develop flavour.
• Dried: The fermented beans are dried in the sun to reduce moisture.
• Roasted: Roasting deepens the flavour and makes it easier to remove the shells.
• Cracked and winnowed: The outer shells are removed, leaving behind cocoa nibs.
• Ground: The nibs are ground into a thick paste called cocoa mass or chocolate liquor – the base for all chocolate.

Good chocolate is more than just a sweet treat. It’s a story of fruit, fermentation and flavour with potential health benefits. Look for bars with high cocoa content, minimal ingredients and traceable sourcing. And when you do eat it, slow down, let it melt and really taste it. Just like wine and coffee, quality dark chocolate is a symphony of quality ingredients, expert craftsmanship and unique flavours.