The History of Cacao In Trinidad & Tobago

Theobroma cacao

LINN, STERCULIACEAE

Common name: cacao, cocoa, chocolate tree.

The habitat is topical America, and the Caribbean. Cacao was named Theobroma by Linnaeus, the word meaning 'food of the gods’, so called from the goodness of its seeds. Mexicans named the pounded seeds 'chocolate’.

It is a small tree usually 4-8m (13-26ft) tall, rarely up to 20m (65ft); at 1-1.5m (3-5ft) the terminal bud breaks into 3-5 meristems to give several lateral upright shoots; primary branching by successive whorls of normally spreading branches; young branchlets terete, grayish green or brownish, densely or sparsely pubescent, with simple or furcate hairs 0.1-0.3mm long, later glabrate, more or less striate; stipules subulate, very acute, 5-14mm long, 0.5-1.5mm broad at base, pubescent, deciduous; leaves large, coriaceous or chartaceous, alternate, distichous on normal branches, green; petiole pubescent or tomentose, with simple, rather dense, spreading hairs, thickened pulvinate at ends; blades 12-60cm (5-24in) long, 4-20cm (1½-8in) broad, elliptic to obovate-oblong, entire, glabrous; inflorescence on trunk and branches, usually borne on small tubercles in short cymose branchlets, peduncles 1-3mm long, stellate-pubescent; bracts ovate or ovate-oblong, pubescent; bracteoles ovate-oblong, acute or subacute, 0.5-1.2mm long, pubescent, deciduous; pedicels capillary, rigid, pale green, whitish or reddish, 5-15mm long, with stellate or furcate hairs and sparce many-celled, glandular, capitate trichomes; sepals lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute, white, greenish-white, pale violaceous or reddish, faintly 3-veined, united at base, 5-8mm long, 1.5-2mm broad, with hairs and trichomes; petals contorted in aestivation, thick-membranous, hood 3-4mm long, 0.5-2mm wide, obovate, rounded at apex, white, 3-veined, lamina pale yellowish, 1.5-2.5mm long, 1.5-2mm broad, obovate, attenuate at apex; staminodes 4-6mm long, narrowly subulate, red or purplish, minutely papillose-pilose, ciliate, with slender, simple hairs; stamens diantheriferous, with anthers about 0.4mm long; ovary oblong-ovoid, superior, with 5 carpels; fruits usually considered drupes but referred to as pods, indehiscent, variable in size and shape, 10-32cm long, spherical to cylindrical, pointed or blunt, smooth or warty, with or without 5 or 10 furrows; pods white, green or red, ripening to green, yellow, red or purple; seeds 20-60 per pod, arranged in 5 rows, variable in size, 2-4cm long, 1.2-2cm broad, ovoid or elliptic; cotyledons white to deep purple, convoluted, large. Seeds/kg 625-1125. Roots mostly a mass of surface-feeding roots, with taproot penetrating to 2m (6½in) in friable soil, less deeply where compacted. Now was that boring - or what.

Germplasm

Cocoa, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate some diseases, heavy soils, laterite, low pH, photoperiod, shade, slope, and waterlogging. Several subspecies and forms of cacao have been recognised, from which a great number of cvs have been developed. Some cvs are named according to the place where they were found or developed. Others are classified as 'Criollo' types which have elongated, ridged, pointed fruits and white cotyledons and 'Forastero', with short, roundish, almost smooth fruits and purplish cotyledons. Hybrids have been obtained with other species like. Theobroma grandiflora, mainly to incorporate disease-resistance.

Distribution is from its native area in South America, probably on the equatorial slopes of the Andes; now cultivated pantropically, especially in West Africa where they are today using slave labour on the plantations.

Ecology - ranging from Subtropical Dry to Wet through Tropical Very Dry to Wet Forest Life Zones, cacao is reported to tolerate annual precipitation of 4.8-42.9 dm (mean of 109 cases = 16.3), annual temperature of 18-28.5°C 65-83°F (mean of 108 cases = 25.3), and pH of 4.3-8.7 (mean of 43 cases = 6.4). Grown from 20°N-20°S with the bulk between 10°N and 10°S, usually below 300m (1000ft). Requires uniformly high temperatures with recommended mean of 26.6°C (80°F). Trees are wind-intolerant and therefore are often planted on hillsides for wind protection and good drainage. Being drought-intolerant, cacao thrives in climates with high humidity and rainfall. Plants are shade-tolerant, and thrive in rich, organic, well-drained, moist, deep soils. Shallow laterite soils are said not to be suitable. Maximum temperature of 33.5°C (92.3°F) and minimum 13°C (55.4°F), with diurnal temperature variation between 33.5 -18°C (92.3-64.4°F) are suggested.

Cultivation

Propagation may be by cuttings, buddings or graftings, but seeding is cheaper. Seeds germinate at maturity, and are viable only a short time. They may be stored 10-13 weeks if moisture content is kept at 50%.

Rind fleshcoloured; pulp white; when seeds are ripe they rattle in the capsule when shaken; each capsule contains seeds that if separated from the capsule they soon become infertile, but if kept therein they retain their fertility for a long time. The tree bears its leaves, flowers and fruit (like the orange tree) all the year round, but the usual season for gathering the fruit is June and December. In Mexico during the time of the Aztec kings the small seeds were utilised as coins. The seeds were necessary for small transactions. The method is still in use in some parts of Mexico. The tree is generally cultivated on large estates under the shade of other trees, such as the banana and develops the pods continuously. When ripe they are cut open and the beans or nuts surrounded by their sweetish acid pulp are allowed to ferment so that they may be more easily separated from the shell. The beans are then usually dried in the sun, though sometimes in a steam drying shed.

Soon after picking, pulp is removed from seed which are planted in shaded nursery beds or baskets. Transplant in few months - when they are about 0.6m (2ft) tall into shaded fields at 2.4x2.4m (8x8ft) or 3.6x3.6m (12x12ft). Spacing is closer if soils are poor and elevations above 300m (1000ft). Fields should remain shaded for 3 years. Remove floral buds until trees are 5 years old. Cacao is often intercropped with other trees of economic value, as bananas, rubber, oil palm, or coconut. Weeding is by hand or herbicides. Irrigation may be practiced, but drain ditches should always be provided to prevent excess water. Responds to fertilisers, mostly in the absence of shade; recommended is 5 cwt urea, 2.5 cwt triple superphosphate, 10 cwt potassium sulfate per hectare. Windbreaks are usually provided.

Harvesting

Although fruits mature throughout the year, usually only two harvests are made. From fertilisation to harvesting the fruit requires 5-6 months. Harvest season lasts about 5 months. Pods are cut from trees and allowed to mellow on the ground. Then pods are cracked and the beans removed, the husks are burned. Beans are fermented in leaf-lined kegs 2-8 days before drying in sun, at which time they change from purple to brown. Beans are then bagged and shipped. Further processing includes roasting, crushing, and separating out the kernel, grinding the nibs and extraction of about half of the fat.

Yields and Economics

The yield can be as low as 29 kg/ha, a good yield would be 346 kg/ha, and a world highest yield is 2,000 kg/ha in Haiti. Yields of 3,375 kg/ha of dry beans are possible on good plantations. The oil content (35-50%) suggests potential oil yields of more than 1750 kg/ha. Average yields range from 0.5-10 kg/tree; 2.25 tonnes beans/ha. Over 3375 kg/ha of dry cacao beans have been produced on plantations well-manured, well-shaded, and with excellent control of weeds, pests and diseases. In 1980, the USA is estimated to have consumed more than 75,000 tonnes of cocoa butter, in a business amounting to nearly TT$3655 million (US$600 million). Chocolate manufacturers consumed nearly half. One tonne went into suppositories, 10-20% of which are made with a cocoa butter base. In 1981, there was a world surplus of about 700,000 tons, close to 6 months production, and price down to about TT$7.92/kg (US$1.30/kg). In July 1965, a record cocoa crop in Ghana sent cocoa bean prices to below TT$1.22/kg (US$0.20/kg), an all-time low. A dozen years later, the beans spiralled to more than TT$30.45/kg (US$5.00/kg). Normally cocoa butter runs 25 times as high as the bean. Two-thirds of the world's production presently comes from Ghana, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast in West Africa, and one-third from Brazil and Dominican Republic. In 1971, the USA imported from Africa about 200,908 tonnes of cocoa beans, valued at TT$731 million (US$120 millions), and from Latin America, 107,841 tonnes valued at TT$329 million (US$54 million).

World production of beans in 1971 was 1.59 million tonnes. Major consumers are United States, West Germany, Netherlands, and United Kingdom. New York prices on 'Accra' beans in 1971 was TT$4.14/kg (US$0.68/kg). Cocoa is produced in tropical countries, but is processed and consumed in temperate countries.

For every kilogram of dry beans, there can be 2kg (4.4lb) of pod meal; indicating a 1:2 seed:pod ratio. To convert production figures into pod waste figures, this suggests we multiply by two. Pod meal contains about 12.6% moisture, 7.6% ash, 8.1% protein, 34.8% crude fiber, 3.3% fat, and 33.6% N-free extract. So 100kg (220lb) cacao pod meal has the same feeding value as 96-97kg (211-214lb) chopped corn - including husks. Prunings could amount to 1-8 tonnes/ha/yr, depending on biological and environmental variables. During the third year, main branches may be reduced to 3 or 4, and thenceforth, excess limbs and diseases tissues should be removed. For each tonne of production, it seems safe to conclude there will be 2 tonnes of pods and 2 tonnes of prunings as residue, perhaps more in unshaded cacao. Shade trees might best be selected on basis of:

nitrogen fixed
fuelwood produced, and
nonantagonism or amelioration of cacao.

Seedling cacao does best with only 25% full sunlight, saplings with closer to 50%. Species of energy-fixing species of Albizia, Erythrina,, Gliricida, Inga, Leucaena,, Musanga, Peltophorum, and Terminalia have been recommended as shade trees.

Cacao seeds are the source of commercial cocoa, chocolate, and cocoa butter. Fermented seeds are roasted, cracked and ground to give a powdery mass from which fat is expressed.

This is the cocoa from which a popular beverage is prepared. In the preparation of chocolate, this mass is mixed with sugar, flavoring, and extra cocoa fat. Milk chocolate incorporates milk as well. Cocoa butter is used in confections and in manufacture of tobacco, soap, and cosmetics. Cocoa butter has been described as the world's most expensive fat, used rather extensively in the emollient ‘bullets’ used for hemorrhoids.

Folk Medicine

Reported to be antiseptic, diuretic, ecbolic, emmenagogue, and parasiticide, cacao is a folk remedy for alopecia, burns, cough, dry lips, eyes, fever, listlessness, malaria, nephrosis, parturition, pregnancy, rheumatism, snakebite, and wounds. Cocoa butter is applied to wrinkles in the hope of correcting them.

Chemistry

Per 100g, the seed is reported to contain 456 calories, 3.6g H2O - water, 12.0g protein, 46.3g fat, 34.7g total carbohydrate, 8.6g fiber, 3.4g ash, 106mg Ca, 537mg P, 3.6mg Fe, 30mg b-carotene equivalent, 0.17mg thiamine, 0.14mg riboflavin, 1.7mg niacin, and 3mg ascorbic acid. The edible pulp of the fruit contains 79.7-88.5% water, 0.5-0.7% albuminoids, astringents, etc; 8.3-13.1% glucose, 0.4-0.9% sucrose, a trace of starch, 0.2-0.4% non-volatile acids like tartaric, 0.03% Fe2O3 and 0.4% mineral salts (K, Na, Ca, Mg). The shell contains 11.0% moisture, 3.0% fat, 13.5% protein, 16.5% crude fiber, 9.0% tannins, 6.0% pentosans, 6.5% ash, and 0.75 theobromine. Raw seeds contain 0.24mg/100g thiamine, 0.41 riboflavin, 0.09 pyridoxine, 2.1 nicotinamide, and 1.35 pantothenic acid. The component fatty acids of cocoa butter are 26.2% palmitic and lower acids, 34.4 stearic and higher acids, 37.3% oleic acid, 2.1% linoleic and traces of isoleic. In g/100g the individual amino acids in the water soluble fractions of unfermented and fermented beans are lysine 0.08, 0.56; histidine 0.08, 0.04; arginine 0.08, 0.03; threonine 0.14, 0.84; serine 0.88, 1.99; glutamic acid 1.02, 1.77; proline 0.72, 1.97; glycine 0.09, 0.35; alanine 1.04, 3.61; valine 0.57, 2.60; isoleucine 0.56, 1.68; leucine 0.45, 4.75; tyrosine 0.57, 1.27; and phenylalanine 0.56-3.36 g/100g. Unfermented and fermented beans contain p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, and syringic acid, while the fermented beans also contain protocatechuic, phenylacetic, phloretic acid and the lactone esculetin and o- and p-hydroxyphenyl acids. Caffeic acid occurs in the unfermented beans.

According to an article in the Chicago Sun Times, people who suffer extreme depression as victims of unrequited love have an irregular production of phenylethylamine. Such individuals often go on chocolate binge during periods of depression. Chocolate is particularly high in phenylethylamine, perhaps serving as medication. Theophylline is a potent CNS and cardiovascular stimulant with diuretic and bronchial smooth muscle relaxant properties. Recently this drug was proven effective in preventing and treating apnea in premature infancy. Cocoa contains over 300 volatile compounds, including esters, hydrocarbonslactones, monocarbonyls, pyrazines, pyrroles, and others. The important flavor components are said to be aliphatic esters, polyphenols, unsaturated aromatic carbonyls, pyrazines, diketopiperazines, and theobromine. Cocoa also contains about 18% proteins (about 8% digestible); fats (cocoa butter); amines and alkaloids, including theobromine (0.5-2.7%), caffeine (about 0.25% in cocoa; 0.7-1.70 in fat-free beans, with forasteros containing less than 0.1% and criollos containing 1.43-1.70%), tyramine, dopamine, salsolinol, trigonelline, nicotinic acid, and free amino acids; tannins; phospholipids; etc. Cocoa butter contains mainly triglycerides of fatty acids that consist primarily of oleic, stearic, and palmitic acids. Over 73% of the glycerides are present as monounsaturated forms (oleopalmitostearin and oleodistearin), the remaining being mostly diunsaturated glycerides (palmitodiolein and stearodiolein), with lesser amounts of fully saturated and triunsaturated (triolein glycerides). Linoleic acid levels have been reported to be up to 4.1%. Also present in cocoa butter are small amounts of sterols and methylsterols; sterols consist mainly of b-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and campesterol, with a small quantity of cholesterol. In addition to alkaloids (mainly theobromine), tannins, and other constituents, cocoa husk contains a pigment that is a polyflavone glucoside with a molecular weight of over 1500, this pigment is claimed to be heat and light resistant, highly stable at pH 3-11, and useful as a food colourant; it was isolated at a 7.9% yield.

Toxicity

Reviewing the work on safrole, Buchanan (J. Food Safety 1:275.1978) concluded that it is the most thoroughly investigated methylenedioxybenzene derivative. The major flavoring constituent in sassafras root bark, safrole also occurs in basil, black pepper, cinnamon leaf oil, cocoa, mace, nutmeg, parsley, and star anise oil. When safrole was identified as a ‘low grade’ hepatocarcinogen, it was banned in root beer, and the FDA in 1976 banned interstate marketing of sassafras for sassafras tea. The oral LD50 for safrole in rats is 1950mg/kg body weight, with major symptoms including ataxia, depression, and diarrhea, death occurring in 4-5 days. Ingestion of relatively large amounts of sassafras oil produced psychoactive and hallucinogenic effects persisting several days in humans. With rats, dietary safrole at levels of 0.25%, 0.5% and 1% produced growth retardation, stomach and testicular atrophy, liver necrosis, and biliary proliferation and primary hepatomas. Sutton (1981) reports the collapse and death of a 3-year old bitch that had eaten a 250 g package of cocoa. Postmortem examination revealed congestion of lungs, liver, kidney, and pancreas, and petechial and ecchymotic hemorrhage of the thymus, all compatible with acute circulatory failure. The stomach contained high concentrations of theobromine and/or caffeine. Though used cosmetically, cocoa butter has been reported to have allergenic and comedogenic properties in animals. Tyler (1982) produces a chart comparing various caffeine sources to which have been added rounded figures from Palotti (1977).

Cup 180ml (6oz) expresso coffee: 310mg
Cup 180ml (6oz) boiled coffee: 100mg
Cup 180ml (6oz) instant coffee: 65mg
Cup 180ml (6oz) tea: 10-50mg
Cup 180ml (6oz) cocoa: 13mg
Can 180ml (6oz) cola: 25mg
Can 180ml (6oz) coca cola: 20mg
Cup 180ml (6oz) mate: 25-50mg
Can 180ml (6oz) pepsi cola: 10mg
Tablet Caffeine: 100-200mg
Tablet (800 mg) Zoom (Paullinia cupana): 60mg

In humans, caffeine, 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine, is demethylated into three primary metabolites: theophylline, theobromine, and paraxanthine. Since the early part of the 20th century, theophylline has been used in therapeutics for bronchodilation, for acute ventricular failure, and for long-term control of bronchial asthma. At 100mg/kg theophylline is fetotoxic to rats, but no teratogenic abnormalities were noted. In therapeutics, theobromine has been used as diuretic, as a cardiac stimulant, and for dilation of arteries. But at 100mg, theobromine is fetotoxic and teratogen. Leung (1980) reports a fatal dose in man at 10,000mg, with 1,000mg or more capable of inducing headache, nausea, insomnia, restlessness, excitement, mild delirium, muscle tremor, tachycardia, and extrasystoles. Leung also adds ‘caffeine has been reported to have many other activities including mutagenic, teratogenic, and carcinogenic activities; . . . to cause temporary increase in intraocular pressure, to have calming effects on hyperkinetic children . . . to cause chronic recurring headache . . . ’

Biotic Factors

Midges are thought to be the pollinators of cacao, but aphids, ants, thrips, wild bees, or a combination of these are also suspect. Cacao grows in areas with high humidity; several hundred fungi have been reported as attacking this tree. However, the most important fungi that cause diseases which must be controlled include the following:

Armillaria mella - Collar crack, Botryodiplodia theobromae - Pod rot, Botryobasidium salmonicolour - Pink disease, Calonectria rigidiuscula - Green point cusion-gall, Cephaleuros virescens - Algal spot, Ceratobasidium stevensii - Thread blight, Ceratocystis fimbriata - Canker, Corticium incisum - Thread blight, Fomes lamaensis - Brown rot, F. lignosus - White rot, F. noxius - Brown crust, Marasmius byssicola - Brown thread, M. perniciosus - South American witches broom, M. scandens - White thread, M. trichorrhizus - Brown thread, Monilia roreri - Gray pod rot, Nectria cacaoicola Pod rot, Phytophthora palmivora - Black pod, Rosellinia bunodes - Root rot, R. pepo - Root rot, Septobasidium tanakae - Felty fungus, Sphaerostilbe repens - Violet root rot, Taphrina bussei - Witches broom, Thielaviopsis paradoxa - pod rot, Trachysphaera fructigena - Mealy pod, Ustilina zonata - Collar rot, and Verticillium dahliae - Sudden death.

Bacteria known to cause disease in cacao include: Agrobacterium tumefasciens, Bacillus megatherium, B. subtilis, B. undulatus, Bacterium accendens, B. aceti, B. orleanense, B. xylineum, B. xylmoides, and B. xylum. Golden (p.c. 1984) lists the following nematodes: Aphasmatylenchus nigeriensis, Criconemella goodeyi, Helcotylenchus cavenessi, H. concavus, H. microcephalus, H. multicinctus, Hoplolaimus seinhorst, Meloidogyne incognita, M. incognita acrita., M. javanica, M. sp., Paratylenchus arculatus, Pratylenchus brachyurus, P. coffeae, P. sp., Rotylenchulus reniformis, Scutellonema clathricaudatum, Tylenchorhynchus annulatus, T. nudus, Xiphinema ebriense, X. elongatum, X. ifacolum, X. nigeriense, and X. setariae.

Viruses isolated from cacao include: Akaran, Apoplectic disease, Asalu, Ilesha, Konongo, Kpeve cacao, Mottle leaf, Necrosis, New Juaben (B.C.), New Juaben cacao, Offa Igbo (Nigeria) cacao, Offa Igbo 1 and 2, Olanla 1 and 2, Red mottle, Swollen-shoot, Trinidad cacao, Vein clearing, and Viruses 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1M.

Cacao trees may be parasitized by Cuscuta campestris, C. cublinclusa, and Phthirusa theobromae.

Chemical Analysis of Biomass Fuels

Analysing 62 kinds of biomass for heating value, Jenkins and Ebeling (1985) reported a spread of 19.04-17.97 MJ/kg, compared to 13.76 for weathered rice straw to 23.28 MJ/kg for prune pits. On a % DM basis, the hulls contained 67.95% volatiles, 8.25% ash, 23.80% fixed carbon, 48.23% C, 5.23% H, 33.19% O, 2.98% N, 0.12% S, and undetermined residue.

Its for the birds!

The way people grow cacao in Tobago and Trinidad has a big impact on the birds in our backyards.

As the first shafts of morning sun break through the thick forest canopy onto the dozens of bulbous pods growing on nearby trees. They are cacao pods, and each is packed with seeds that produce one of civilisation's most delightful indulgences: chocolate. Because herbicides are not common and some people farm organically , they know every branch of every tree on their small plots.

Almost two decades after a fungus epidemic and falling prices caused cacao to fall out of favor as an export crop in the islands, farmers are trying to spark a renaissance of chocolate - more specifically, organic chocolate. If they succeed, it will be good news for American chocolate lovers, but it may be even better news for bird lovers. The boon to birds lies not in the gnarled cacao trees themselves, but in the rainforest trees soaring above them. Unlike most agriculture in the tropics, cacao farming doesn't require any more cutting down the rainforest. Every farmer that is persuaded to forgo stealing timber in favor of cacao - especially organic cacao - could mean another patch of bird-friendly rainforest saved. It provides revenue for some small communities, and it does so without destroying important rainforest habitats.

The organic cacao-growing is really the oldest kind of all using Theobroma cacao, it still grows best in small patches in the humid shadows of a healthy forest. You can get all kinds of birds and parrots on these farms.

Conservationists are taking notice of the wildlife that thrives on shade-covered cacao groves, particularly the migratory bird life. As more and more of the birds' critical stopover and wintering habitat is lost to the region's dominant crops, cacao is emerging as one harvest that may actually do more good than harm.

During spring and summer, more than 300 migratory bird species fan out over the whole of the USA and Canada. But come cool weather they all head south in a great hemispheric rush hour, squeezing through the skinny bottleneck of Trinidad and Tobago then on to South America, therefor making every hectare of forest critical. But agriculture has been driving one of fastest rates of deforestation, a loss of woodlands has continued year-on-year. And some migratory birds are declining as a consequence.

What these groves have to offer over other agricultural plots, quite simply, is food and shelter. The variety of trees that make up the shade canopy provides timely food resources in the form of flowers, fruits and insects. By contrast, in a typical banana plantation, there's nothing - it's a monoculture.

Joe Whinney, head of the largest USA buyer and marketer of organic cacao beans, the Organic Commodities Project (OCP) in Boston indicated that what the embryonic organic chocolate market needs most is a stable, expanding supply from tropical growers. The organic market is still less than 1% of the overall TT$78 billion (US$13 billion) USA chocolate retail market. Only about 900,000kg (2 million lb) of the 1.36 billion kg (3 billion lb) of chocolate Americans consume each year are organic, but that figure is growing rapidly. Interest in organic chocolate is increasing dramatically.

As a result, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association has launched a long-term program to develop environmentally sound growing techniques and to improve the livelihoods of the small farmers that supply most of their raw material. The industry's growing support for shade-grown beans holds out hope that most chocolate, not just organic chocolate, will be grown in a way that preserves natural habitat.

They don't look like chocolate, but these cacao tree pods break open to reveal sweet seeds which, when processed, produce chocolate.

Commercial production of cocoa halted on Tobago after Hurricane Flora in 1963, around the old plantations like Roxborough and Castara there are grandfathers who will show you the cacao trees and tell you how the land here was once a great cocoa plantation. They can show you how to work with the cacao tree's giant pods and extract the cocoa beans from them One one is not sure where the cacao trees on Tobago actually came from, probably the Carib Indians, who so revered cocoa that they used it as a form of money and tool for calculation, as well as a coveted beverage.

According to Aztec legend, it was the god Quetzalcoatl who traveled to earth on a beam of the Morning Star with a cocoa tree from Paradise, and taught the ancient people how to roast, crush and grind the seeds into a water soluble paste, add spices, and thus make a drink called ‘chocolate’ or ‘bitter water.’ Emperor Montezuma was so enamored with this beverage that he consumed some 50 cups a day and claimed it had aphrodisiac powers. The bean was ‘discovered’ by Spanish conquistadors and travels to Europe, where it was centuries later made into chocolate candies. Wrappers bearing the brand names Tobler and Nestle.

The cocoa beans are removed from the pod, then fermented before roasting

Cacao trees are always planted in the shade of the banana or larger trees. The orange blossom of the immortel tree, imported for the shade it provides, is a good indicator of where you will find cacao growing. From slip to full-grown tree, the cocoa will flower in two years, fruit in four and be productive for a decade. The peak harvest times here are December-January and May-June.

You can suck the white pulp around the beans, it tastes very sweet, but for the cocoa you would scoop the beans out and let them dry and ferment. This is done in a series of three wooden boxes, changing the water every 24 hours for three days. Then clean, roast and crack the beans, ultimately grinding them to remove some 75 percent of the cocoa butter. What is left is a dark brown paste called chocolate liquor. After drying again, the hard mass is ground into a very fine powder that is rolled into a 10cm (4in) long, 5cm (2in) diameter cocoa stick. The cocoa sticks, actually the freshly ground cocoa powder that they yielded, produced the wonderful aroma at the plantation. This produces hot cocoa, a drink for day and night. You set a pot over a low flame, grate in some of the cocoa stick, added water and swizzled a whisk briskly to create a uniformly rich brown liquid.

Then he added a bit of cane sugar, vanilla bean and touch of lemon peel, all recipe ingredients that grow here. Poured into small cups, the flavor of the steamy sweet liquid is enough to make a chocoholic swoon - liquid black gold - like the people.

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