Cacao pods growing on a tree. Public-domain image from Wikimedia Commons.
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Chocolate begins with the fruit of the cacao tree, which grows in warm tropical regions near the equator. The tree produces large pods containing seeds usually called cocoa beans. Making chocolate takes many steps. First, ripe pods are cut from the trees and opened. The beans and the soft pulp around them are removed and placed together to ferment for several days. Fermentation helps create the flavours that will later develop in the chocolate. Next, the beans are dried, often in the sun, before they are packed and transported. At a chocolate factory, the dried beans are cleaned and roasted. Roasting deepens their flavour and makes the outer shells easier to remove. The inside pieces, called cocoa nibs, are then ground into a thick paste. Chocolate makers mix and refine this cocoa material with ingredients such as sugar. Milk powder is also added for milk chocolate. The mixture is worked until it becomes smooth, then carefully heated and cooled in a process called tempering. Finally, the liquid chocolate is poured into moulds and allowed to set. The simple chocolate bar in a shop is therefore the result of farming, fermentation, drying, roasting, grinding and careful manufacturing.
