Creating a Higher Chocolate Consciousness
Chocolate Connoisseurs Tout the Charms of Different Beans

Listen to Joanne Silberner's report on chocolate.

Red porcelana pods on a Venezuelan cacao tree. Photo courtesy Ten Speed Press

Cacao trees: A primer Cacao trees grow in tropical rain forests under the canopy of taller trees. Each cacao tree grows to approximately 30 feet and has dozens of almond-shaped pods. The pods vary in size and texture depending on the type of tree. Cacao pods are filled with a thick, juicy, whitish pulp. In the center of the pods are up to 50 pale, almond-sized seeds. The seeds are fermented, dried, roasted, shelled and crushed to a paste. Chocolate is made from this paste. The seeds are rich in fat, or cacoa butter, a main ingredient in chocolate. Because cacao trees only grow in tropical rain forests, they are found primarily in the Americas. The largest stretch of tropical rain forests run from the Gulf Coast of Mexico down to the Amazon and Orinoco basins in Brazil and Venezuela.

A variety of cacao pods. Photo courtesy Ten Speed Press

June 25, 2002 -- Is there something godlike about chocolate? The Aztecs thought so. They claimed that their god, Quetzalcoatl, introduced the cacao bean to them. They consumed it as a drink reserved for nobility and warriors. Linnaeus thought so too. In the 17th century, the Swedish botanist named the cacao tree Theobroma cacao, the food of the gods.

Today, chocolate is often considered common and consumed worldwide. Chocolate produced by Nestlé and Hershey dominate grocery and convenience store candy shelves.

But chocolate connoisseurs are trying to elevate the cacao bean back to its former status. They are launching unique varieties that depend on different types of beans to create unique and sometimes subtle tastes. Their goal is to create a higher chocolate consciousness.

NPR's Joanne Silberner conducts a taste test to measure their progress on Morning Edition. She offered volunteers gourmet chocolates, including chocolate made by Eric Case of Chocolates El Rey and John Scharffenberger of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker. One of the people she invited to the taste test was Maricel Presilla, a restaurateur and author of the book, The New Taste of Chocolate.

Chocolate comes from the seeds that grow in pods on cacao trees. It is processed into cacao butter, cacao liquor and chocolate. The flavor of the chocolate depends on the bean itself as well as the ratio of cacoa butter to chocolate solids. The higher the percentage of both, the stronger the flavor. Milk chocolate uses less of both ingredients and has a milder flavor. Bittersweet chocolate has a stronger flavor and a higher percentage of both ingredients.

Chocolate guru Presilla says with the coming of chocolate knowledge, some education will be necessary. But she says there is no reason to get chocolate anxiety. "I just advise people to use their common sense with the way they perceive the world, the way they smell and taste the world. It's not that complicated."
In Depth

 Browse for other NPR stories about chocolate.

Read some gourmet chocolate recipes.



Other Resources

• Chocolate exhibition at the Field Museum in Chicago

• The history of chocolate

• Interactive: Manufacturing chocolate from seed to sweet

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