I had the idea to start writing about chocolate to share our passion and knowledge of the subject with you.  I was hoping to learn a few things myself along the way.  First lesson learned: don’t start a blog while you’re engaged.  Wedding planning is a full-time and all-consuming state.

So alas, with a ring on the finger I return to the typewriter, our journey, and our loyal readers (talking about you Mom).  We last left off talking about the bean: http://davidsonchocolate.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/the-cocao-bean/.

Once the bean has been harvested the next step is fermentation.  Once the pods are harvested they are split open and the bean and the pulp are scooped out.  From there they are  fermented in wooden boxes or banana leaves.  To me it’s absolutely amazing that such a complex process that can make or break the flavor of the chocolate happens in banana leaves.  Pretty old school and I like it.

Fermentation is essentially using yeasts and bacteria to activate and alter the bean chemically.  It is this process, which typically lasts two to seven days, that produces the groundwork for the flavor of the chocolate once the beans are roasted.  The many complex compounds in the bean are broken into simpler compounds reducing bitterness and crafting a more approachable flavor identity.  If a bean is not fermented it will not have the necessary compounds to create flavor during the roasting process.  A byproduct of that fermentation is intense heat, which melts the pulp of the pod away and leaves the bean ready to be dried and shipped.

It seems the best place to start the chocolate journey is at the start of the chocolate: the cocao bean.  The theobroma cocao or cocao tree produces pods full of cocoa beans. 

Check out a picture of the cocoa tree.

The trees grow best in warm tropical regions 20 degrees north and 20 degrees south of the equator, with 70% of the world’s supply coming from Africa.  The majority of cocao beans are grown on small plots of land or family farms; something in which we as family chocolatiers often take joy as we are melting and sculpting the final product.  To put some numbers on it, there are 15 million acres planted worldwide and 90 percent is grown by families on plots less than twelve acres.[1]

During the growing process there are typically four important steps, harvesting, separating, fermenting, and drying that must occur before the bean is shipped to a manufacturer to become chocolate as we know it.  The remote nature of the bean growing certainly adds an element of unpredictability to the process!  We’ll cover more on these steps later and touch a little more on the bean and tree today.

There are three main varieties of cocoa grown commercially:

Criollo:  The finest quality with great depth of flavor; only makes up about 10% of world production.

Forastero:  A tougher variety less prone to disease but also lacking the flavor complexity of criollo; comprises about 70% of world production.

Trinatario: A hybrid of criollo and forastero with some of the strengths of both – makes up about 20% of world production.

Peter Greweling puts it well in his book Chocolates & Confections that you can look at it as 95% of the world’s beans are bulk beans and 5% of beans are flavor beans, which puts a little perspective on why chocolate (good chocolate at least) can be so expensive.

Being the heir to a chocolate dynasty has its perks.  An unending supply of chocolate, the constant bribes, the unending supply of chocolate, you get the point.  But as is said, with great power comes great responsibility, and I’ve decided its time I step up and accept mine.  Thus I embark on a chocolate journey.

From learning more about the cacao bean and the growing process to the science behind chocolate tempering it will be an educational and hopefully fun year.  Ideally there will be a field trip or two?  A trip to the Carribean to see the beans at the source sounds reasonable to me.  If there is something you want to learn more about, let me know, and I’ll do my best.   Know a book I should read or a shop I should visit, pass it along.

So, I hope you’ll join me on the expedition and for an inside look at the life of a guy who sells chocolate.