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Show Sources Chocolate IS . - r ' , N , V is A ' K ' - " - v - """" - a ? J V , c v Cacao Beans Are Cleaned by Shuffling Feet In Brazil. Pic-t. i! bv National Geographic Society, I Washington. L. C. WXU Service. Dt) YOU like hot chocolate candy? Chocolate cake? Or chocolate ice cream sodas? Then you'll be interested in the news that science Is waging a determined de-termined fight to save the famous cacao plantations of Trinidad, an island in the West Indies, from a destructive plant disease. Trinidad is one of the principal sources of the bean which furnishes "the makings" for a hot beverage surpassed in world importance only by coffee and tea, as well as for candies, sweetmeats, etc. Chocolate was a gift to man's palate pal-ate from the western hemisphere. Like tobacco, the potato, and a number num-ber of other plant products, It was taken back to Europe by explorers soon after Columbus opened the road to the new world, and launched on the way that has led to world markets. In trade circles today three terms are used : chocolate, cocoa and cacao. ca-cao. The tropical tree which Is the source of chocolate is called the cacao. ca-cao. In its leathery, cucumberlike fruit pre enrao nods which contain which only the rich could afford, for It sold for as much as $5 a pound. Today good chocolate can be purchased pur-chased for a few cents a pound, and is consumed in one form or another by millions of people the world over. Modern methods of cocoa and chocolate manufacture differ little from those used by primitive people peo-ple centuries ago. In Mexico the natives roasted the beans and then ground them between two warm flat stones until a fine paste was obtained. ob-tained. This was sometimes mixed with maize (corn) and flavored with vanilla and spices. The paste was molded into forms desired and allowed al-lowed to, cool. Modern preparation of the commodity is more scientific and thorough, but the principal steps taken are much the same. Cocoa butter is an important byproduct by-product of the cacao bean, which contains 50 per cent fats. The butter, but-ter, removed by crushing the beans under hydraulic pressure, is extensively exten-sively used In confectionery, and In pharmaceutical preparations. Almost Al-most every household has some commodity that contains this vegetable vege-table fat. Cocoa butter Is an In- cacao beans. But when the beans are roasted and ground, and much of the fat Is pressed out, the remaining re-maining brown substance (ground to a dry powder), is cocoa. If the fat is not pressed out, the darker substance is chocolate. Credit for the manufacture of chocolate from the hidden seed of an unprepossessing fruit belongs to the original inhabitants of Mexico. In 1519, when Hernando Cortez Invaded In-vaded that country, he discovered that the cacao tree was widely cultivated. cul-tivated. The natives had concocted concoct-ed a drink called "chocolatl" or gredient of many soaps, pomades, perfumes, ointments, plasters, and cosmetics. The Gold coast colony in Africa is normally the world's largest producer pro-ducer of cacac In one recent year the colony shipped 54,000 tons of cacao, ca-cao, valued at $10,000,000, to the United States. While the Gold coast no longer puts its trust in gold, cacao has displaced dis-placed the metal only within the last few years. For 400 years gold was the hope that glittered for white men on the Gold coast. Gold mines built the railroad to Seccondee for -htiVi TflL-nrnfU la tlio nnrt Tn "cacahuatl," from which have come the names "chocolate" and "cocoa." Frothing pitchers of chocolate were served by Montezuma when he entertained en-tertained Cortez. Long in Use in Mexico. Students of American native customs cus-toms have estimated that the drink was in use 1,000 years before the arrival oS Europeans. According to Mexican mythology, the seed of the cacao tree was carried from a New world version of the Garden of Eden into Mexico by Quetzal-coatl, Quetzal-coatl, God of Air. The fruit, It is related, was a favorite food of the gods. The great Swedish bot- ' anist Linnaeus, christened the fruit theobroma cacao, meaning in Greek "Food of the Gods." Cacao was used as a means of barter and the payment of tribute by the Aztecs and Mayans. A man's wealth was often judged by the number of cacao beans he possessed. pos-sessed. In Mexico a good slave could be purchased for 100 beans. Its highly concentrated food value, low cost of production, and numerous uses, have stimulated cacao ca-cao cultivation to such an extent that now it is grown in practically all tropical countries. The wet tropical areas of the West African 1924 gold shipments reached more than $4,000,000, . but the mines seem to be nearing exhaustion. A geological survey of the Gold' coast colony in 1915 revealed other minerals min-erals which may themselves relegate gold to the backgound. Manganese Manga-nese and bauxite are important exports. ex-ports. The first is used in steel making and the second for aluminum. alum-inum. Big Industry In Brazil. In the state of Bahia in Brazil are about SO,O0O,0O0 cacao trees; this fruit has been grown here for about 150 years, and a tiny railway serves the heart of the great cacao region. It hauls more tons - of freight per mile than any other railway line in South America. Leaving the Coastal plain and entering en-tering the foothills, one sees the cacao plantations in long shaded groves. Among biarer, protecting trees the small cacao trees are planted, thus sheltered from sun and wind. Twist off a green fruit, break it open and taste the whitish seeds ; the flavor is like watermelon. Barefoot Bare-foot men and women split the pods, empty the seeds on a wide platform, and tread them free of pulp and pith. They call this "Dancing the Cacao." colonies of Great Britain and Portugal, Port-ugal, and the South and Central Americas are especially well suited to the cultivation of the trees. The introduction of the cacao tree in Africa has resulted in a remarkable remark-able growth of the industry and economic eco-nomic development of the continent. The Gold coast has taken first place away from Brazil in the world's production of cacao. What were once trackless and useless African jungles, inhabited only by savage bushmen and wild animals, today ire cacao plantations. America Largest Consumer. As an international commodity, the cacao bean has grown in Importance Impor-tance to such an extent that the United States alone, In 1933, Imported Import-ed 474,270,000 pounds, valued at $18,739,000. The United States is by far the largest consumer, cacao racking sixteenth In value on our list of Imports. Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands follow in the order named. The seeds are dried by stirring them in a big flat bin. A wide roof, set on wheels, is at hand, to be hastily hauled over the bin If It rains. Turning a dark brown when dried, and tasting of unsweetened chocolate when ripe, the beans are packed in bags and sent to Europe and the United States. In 30 years Bahia's export has risen from 150,-000 150,-000 to 1,200,000 bags a year. Brazil drinks very little chocolate, but much' coffee. Near a station named "Lava Pes," or "Wash Tour Feet," the visitor may stop to watch a long file of umbrella um-brella ants. Each carries a leaf as if It were an umbrella. Many ants are up in a tree, biting off bits of leaf and dropping them to other ants waiting wait-ing on the ground. This line of marching ants is often a mile or more long. The ants carry the leaves to their underground home, and store them. On the leaves a fungus forms, and this the insects eat. For many years the Spaniards of South America and some of the (Vest Indies monopolized the cacao industry. Chocolate wa3 Introduced into Spain by Cortez and his con-quistadores con-quistadores about the beginning of the Sixteenth century, but the process proc-ess of chocolate manufacture was kept a secret for almost 100 years. In 1G0G an Italian discovered the method of preparation. Shortly afterwards, aft-erwards, monks and travelers spread the news throughout Europe. The Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries found the popularity of the drink steadily increasing. Cocoa houses were established in England, as well as on the continent. Chocolate, however, was a luxury Further up the line one crosses a small stream running among cacao-covered cacao-covered hills. Long chutes made of boards run down the hillsides to the water's edge. Down these chutes natives na-tives slide fresh cacao beans, which empty into waiting dugout canoes Although cacao has been grown here for so long, the methods of harvesting har-vesting it are still primitive, for human hu-man labor Is cheap: White men find life here hard because be-cause of so many insects and ma laria Bugs are a plague; horned tumble-bugs more than seven inches long-larger than many kinds of birds, snails weighing half a pound and the fer de lance and other had snakes. |
