Bean to Bar: Research Notes on Cacao

Lucía's Memory

Last spring, my class had a food-tasting day. I tried cacao nibs for the first time. They were crunchy and bitter, not sweet at all like a chocolate bar. I wondered why chocolate tastes so different from the beans it comes from.

Source A: from the book Pods, Beans, and Bars by Marisol Vega (2020)

1Chocolate begins on a small tree called the cacao tree. Cacao trees grow best in hot, rainy places near the equator, often in the shade of taller trees. Their flowers and fruits grow right out of the trunk and the thick branches. The fruits, called pods, are shaped a bit like a football. Pods come in many colors, such as yellow, red and purple.

2Inside each pod are dozens of seeds, called cacao beans, wrapped in a sticky white pulp. Farmers cut the pods open and scoop out the beans. Next, they pile the beans in wooden boxes or under banana leaves for several days. During this time, the beans ferment, which means tiny living things break down the pulp and change the flavor of the beans. Then the farmers spread the beans out to dry in the sun.

3The dried beans are packed into sacks and shipped to chocolate makers around the world. The makers roast the beans, which brings out a rich smell. They crack the beans and remove the thin shells, leaving small pieces called nibs. Finally, the nibs are ground into a thick paste and mixed with sugar and other ingredients to make chocolate.

Source B: from the article "Cacao Long Ago" by Daniel Osei, Hilltown Museum of Food History website (2022)

1People in Mexico and Central America were growing and using cacao thousands of years ago. The ancient Maya roasted and ground cacao beans, then mixed them with water and spices, such as chili peppers. They poured the drink back and forth between two cups to make it foamy. The drink was bitter, not sweet, because it had no sugar.

2Later, the Aztecs valued cacao so highly that they used the beans as money. People traded cacao beans for food and other goods at busy markets. Because the beans were so valuable, the cacao drink was mostly enjoyed by rulers, warriors and other wealthy people.

3In the 1500s, Spanish explorers carried cacao back to Europe. People in Spain began adding sugar to the drink, and over time, hot chocolate became popular in many European countries. Hundreds of years later, inventors found ways to turn chocolate into solid bars that people could eat. Today, most of the world's cacao is grown in West Africa, far from where the first cacao drinks were made.