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Fresh cacao pods hooray, but what to do?
I'm very glad with the freshly harvested cacao pods a friend of me brought straight from Sao Tome as a souvenir gift! Just 5 to play with, but I don't know how to keep m best though.
They are supposedly 4 days old and still closed, I would love to taste the raw 'pulp' in it, but how long can I keep them "juicy" and what other tips do you have te preserve them as well as possible? Dry them in the oven or so? ...
thanks for your help, I'll open a first one anyway ;-)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sebastian on -
They will have started to degrade the moment they were cut from the tree. W/in 24 hours there will be noticeable flavor changes, if not refrigerated or frozen. The longer you wait, the less representative they will be.
On a bigger note, exporting of raw agricultural products can be a very touchy subject. Up until now, the diseases in cocoa have been largely geographical and mitigated by physical barriers - ie big oceans in between them. There's a HUGE risk to geographical protection of cocoa if people start moving raw pods around the world. Witches broom in Brazil was likely caused by intentional sabotage in this fashion. CPB in Indonesia, if exported, will wreak havoc in other geographies. Black pod, if exported from Africa, will do the same. I hope your friend is taking the appropriate cautions when transporting and disposing these.
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Permalink Reply by Adeir Boida de Andrade on -
Sebastian,
Congratulations for the information about the criminal introduction of witch's broom in Bahia/Brazil.
Few people in the world know about this.
I have copy of the report of the Federal Police of Brazil on this, and a heard that it was the first case in the world of biological terrorism against a agricultural activity (all of the previous cases were applied against the human life).
All of brazilian farmers hope this subject make up the interest of the world press and that, in the future, we can have books, texts, films, etc, on this subject.
Greetings
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Permalink Reply by Laura Marion on -
hi i would also like to know how to preserve cocao pods ?????
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Permalink Reply by Adeir Boida de Andrade on
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For human consumption, the cocoa pulp should be extracted in the same day of the crop. The liquid contained in the pulp (cocoa nectar) is acid and soon becomes vinegar.
Few people know that with the nectar (the liquid part of the pulp) it is possible to make a delicious jelly. See enclosed picture.
For the best chocolate, however, the fruits should rest for 4 to 5 days, before they be cracked. - Attachments:
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Home made cacao gelly.jpg, 144 KB
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Permalink Reply by Evert-Jan De Kort (Choqoa.com) on -
hi Adeir,
thx for that nice looking jelly
do you have some kind of recipe for this as well? - what part of the pulp do you leave out?
thx!
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Permalink Reply by Adeir Boida de Andrade on
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Hi Evert,
If you squeeze the fresh seeds of cacao using a cloth, you will separate the liquid part, the nectar. The jelly may be obtained by cooking the nectar together sugar, until obtaining the ideal viscosity. It is very simple. If you want, I can translate the complete recipe for English...
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Permalink Reply by Evert-Jan De Kort (Choqoa.com) on
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thx Adeir! no more seeds for now, will keep the jelly idea in mind for the next time
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Permalink Reply by Roberto Pombar on
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Please could you give me the cocoa jelly recipe? I would like to do it at home now i have Frozen cocoa pulp in my reefer
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Permalink Reply by Erin on -
Adeir, that picture is very beautiful and intriguing. I would love the recipe in English.
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Permalink Reply by Adeir Boida de Andrade on
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The recipe below is in the site of CEPLAC (government company that researches cocoa plantations in Brazil). Unhappily all of the information are in Portuguese, but they can be translated with an electronic translator. There is, also, recipes for an alcoholic drink and home-made chocolate. See in:
http://www.ceplac.gov.br/radar/geleia_cacau.htm
"Filter 2 liters of cocoa nectar (or cocoa honey) in fine cloth and spill in a container of stainless steel or aluminum beating; Increase 1 Kg of refined and light sugar and put in the high fire, moving with a teflon spoon or of wood, until to boil and to dissolve the sugar completely; Let to boil from 10 to 20 minutes, to depend on the stove type and burners, until obtaining the point. Point: Dip a skimmer or spoon and soon afterwards, lift a height above the steams liberated by the heating of the mixture. Tilt to pick so that it allows to spill the jelly. In case it forms a fine layer (a small drop similar to bee honey) in the border of the skimmer, it is in the ideal point. At this time, add to the jelly lemon drops or citric acid solution. Move the mixture well and turn off the fire With the jelly hot. Put in packing that allows hermetic (without entrance of air) closing and remove the foam with a spoon. Close the pots tightly and leave capsized them from 3 to 5 minutes to guarantee the best conservation of the product. After this period, return the pots to the normal position".
Cocoa gelly taste very good and diferent from all the gelly you have tried in the past...
We sold cacao jelly through the internet to Brazil. We have pure jelly, with pepper, and with ginger. See in:
http://www.dietacrua.com.br/alimentos/geleias.html
Let me know if you need more information.
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Permalink Reply by Evert-Jan De Kort (Choqoa.com) on
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hi all,
thanks for all your respones!
well after your first answers I immediately opened a first pod, and wow that pulp really is delicious.
I shared it with a bunch of people, all liked it very much, tasting like grapes, mango, banana and lychees all at the same time! I took some pictures that I will share in a blog post with you.
I now have still 3 left, I will open one more in the weekend to see what happens, the others I will try to dry to preserve them.
enjoy chocolate in all its shapes
Evert-Jan
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Permalink Reply by Melanie Boudar on -
The pods do not dry with the beautiful colors. They have a high water content, like many tropical plants and quickly shrink and go brown. You can use them to make a cast of the pod however with the plaster like material they make arm and leg casts of. Mold them, let dry, then paint them and shellac them and you will have a nice replica.
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