Cacao

Where it grows

Cacao is native to the upper Amazon basin and was cultivated by the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec long before European contact. It thrives in the humid understory of tropical forests within 20 degrees of the equator, requiring shade, year-round warmth, and high rainfall. Ivory Coast and Ghana now grow more than 60 percent of the world crop.

How to recognise it

Cacao is unusual in that its flowers and fruits grow directly from the trunk and main branches — a habit called cauliflory. The waxy white-and-pink flowers are pollinated by tiny midges, and the ridged, leathery pods turn yellow, orange, or deep red when ripe. Each pod holds 30 to 50 seeds embedded in sweet white pulp.

Uses

Beans are fermented in the pulp for several days, dried, roasted, and ground into cocoa mass. Pressing separates cocoa butter from the dark powder. The Maya drank kakaw as a frothy, spiced bitter beverage — chocolate was a beverage long before it was a confection.

In culture

The Linnaean name Theobroma means “food of the gods,” reflecting Mesoamerican religious traditions in which cacao beans were currency.