In a previous post I visited a "Chocolate Farm", and was told a bit about the process. Well, that was taken a step further and I got my hands dirty....then washed them....then helped make some chocolate. Here is the picture of the cacao fruit, where the chocolate 'beans' are harvested from.
The beans are stripped of the surrounding mucus, and set out to dry for a few weeks (depends on weather). Next comes the roasting process, which causes the shell of the beans to crack and become brittle.
Peel the hard shell off the beans, and throw them into a blender. The result is a cocoa powder which you turn into chocolate through additional processing, or use as-is in cooking or hot drinks.
My little dime bag :)
We stopped here, but wikihow has a good article on the entire process.
For the totally new part (to me at least), we have the Guanavana; aka Soursop, Guanabana, Guyabano, etc, etc, etc. This thing has a lot of names. It's a fruit about the size of a pineapple, and grows in a tree.
Once ripe, you only have a few days to pick them, so you need to be vigilant. This above one has a long way to go, but this one below is just right. It's similar to checking most fruits for ripeness. Firm, yet slightly yielding. Too hard is unripe, too soft is rotten. Think of an avocado or mango.
Got "lucky" with this one. There are seeds throughout that you must discard. The remainder is ready for consumption.
This is one fruit I won't be clambering for back home. It's definitely an acquired taste. My neighbours here throw it into a blender with water, other fruit, yogurt berries, whatever, and say it tastes pretty good. To each their own.
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