After eating chocolate you feel godlike, as though you can conquer enemies, lead armies, entice lovers.— Emily Luchetti
Cacao beans are prized for the production of chocolate, a product celebrated worldwide at
chocolate festivals and gifted at birthdays and holidays like the
Magic Lights Festival.
Varietals
The variety that grows in the tropical regions of
Salaris and
Eldahi is named
Imbrasio for the fiery red color of the cacao pod. It produces white and pale pink beans that have a mildly acidic, balanced flavor and create a superb chocolate. This variety of cacao is sensitive to environmental changes. The
340s Drought nearly destroyed
Imbria's crop.
Other varieties grow in other tropical regions of Valayo. Colors of these cacao pods vary. Colors include green, yellow, orange, red, and variegated pods. The flavors of these cacao beans also vary with some of them being richer, earthier, and more bitter.
Products
By far, the most popular and profitable product of cacao is chocolate, made from dried and ground cacao beans, either roasted or not. Cacao beans can also be consumed raw, though this is rarely done outside of growing regions. However, raw beans are sometimes sold to individual chocolatiers and other companies wishing to roast and grind them in-house.
Cacao poducts sold from distributors and towns like
Kakan include:
Main Products - from the beans
- Whole cacao beans, raw, dried, and/or roasted
- Raw cacao powder (fermented and dried)
- Cocoa powder (fermented, dried, and roasted)
- Cocoa nibs
- Chocolate liquor (unsweetened liquid chocolate)
- Cocoa butter
Specialty Products
- Cacao juice - regional
- Cacao "wine" or spirits
- Whole cacao pods
From the Pods
The mild, sweet flesh of cacao is a delicacy best enjoyed immediately, as it perishes quickly after the pod is opened. It is generally not available outside of the tropical regions where the cacao tree grows.
Those who travel to
Kakan, particularly during their
chocolate festival have the opportunity to taste this wonderful part of the cacao, which can also be juiced and/or fermented to create cacao spirits, a clear, fruity spirit with no taste of chocolate.
Processing Cacao
When the cacao pods are ripe, they are harvested from the tree, cut open, and the contents removed. Flesh and beans are left to ferment for a few days, after which the beans are removed and sun dried. After this point, they can be bagged and sold raw, ground for raw cacao powder, or roasted to be sold whole or ground.
A cup of hot cacao sounds very tempting right now. Excellent article!
It does sound tempting :) Thank you!