Birds and Nature, Vol. 10 No. 1 [June 1901]

The cocoa or cacao yielding plant must not be confounded with the coco-nut palm or the coca-yielding plant which has already been described.

The natives of Mexico used cocoa before the discovery of America by Columbus. The Toltecs cultivated the plant centuries before they were finally conquered by the more powerful and more progressive Aztecs in 1325. Cortez and Fernandez in their letters to Charles V. of Spain referred to the cultivation of cocoa by the Mexicans who used the seeds not only as a food but also as a medium of barter and exchange. It was apparently the only medium accepted in the payment of provincial taxes. Humboldt states that cocoa was similarly employed in Costa Rica and other Central American countries.

In remote times cocoa was somewhat differently prepared from what it is at the present time. The roasted and hulled seeds were coarsely pulverized in a stone mortar, strongly spiced by means of vanilla and other spices, boiled in water and when cold stirred to a frothy semi-liquid in cold water and eaten cold. The word chocolate is said to be derived from the Aztec chocolatl (choca, frothy and atl, water). Through Cortez and others who lauded very highly the value of cocoa as a nourishing food for those going on long journeys, it soon became widely known. In 1520 considerable quantities of it, pressed into cakes, were shipped to Spain. Remarkable as it may seem, it is stated that the Brazilians learned the use of cocoa from the Spaniards. The noted Italian traveler Carletti (1597-1606) introduced the use and preparation of cocoa into his native city, Florence. Not all Europeans gave favorable reports concerning the use of cocoa. Clusius stated that it was more suited to hogs than human beings. Acosta stated that the drink had “a nauseous aspect and caused heart troubles.” Cocoa was introduced into France about 1615, England about 1667, Germany about 1679. Somewhat later chocolate houses were established in various cities of Europe. William Homburg, a chemist, of Paris, extracted the fat from cocoa as early as 1695, and Quelus (1719) recommended its use as a salve and as an article of diet.

The fruit of the wild growing plants is small and the seeds exceedingly bitter, hence the cultivated cocoa is preferred. The seeds are prepared in two ways, fermented and unfermented. In the former the seeds are placed in heaps in holes in the earth, in boxes or barrels, covered with leaves. In the course of four or five days they begin to “sweat” or undergo a mild form of fermentation. During this time the seeds must be stirred about occasionally. At the close of the sweating process most of the bitterness is gone and they have lost about one-half in weight. Afterwards the seeds are rapidly dried in the sun or in ovens. The fully dried seeds have a rich brown color. The following are the more important market varieties of fermented cocoa:

1. Mexican or Soconusco Cocoa. – Seeds rather small, delicate flavor and of a golden yellow color. Since Mexico does not produce sufficient cocoa for home consumption this variety is rarely exported. This and the following varieties are said to be derived from Theobroma bicolor, Th. angustifolium and Th. ovalifolium.

2. Esmeralda Cocoa. – Similar to the Mexican; somewhat darker in color.

3. Guatemala Cocoa. – Seeds large, with mild flavor.

4. Caracas Cocoa. – From Venezuela. Color pale brown, with a mild, agreeable flavor. Usually coated with a film of soil due to their being buried in the earth during the sweating process. A very highly priced variety.

5. Guayaquil Cocoa. – From Ecuador. Seeds flattened, somewhat wedge-shaped, wrinkled, reddish brown. An excellent variety.

6. Berbice Cocoa. – From British Guiana. Seeds small, externally gray, internally reddish brown.

7. Surinam and Essequibo Cocoa. – Seeds rather large and more firm; externally a loamy gray, internally deep reddish brown. Taste somewhat bitter.

The unfermented cocoa, also known as sun cocoa and island cocoa, is dried rapidly without fermenting. It is of a beautiful reddish brown color and a bitter astringent taste. The following are the principal varieties:

1. Brazilian (Para, Bahia) Cocoa. – Seeds smooth, wedge-shaped, flattened. One edge nearly straight, the other convex.

2. Cayenne Cocoa. – Quite hard, externally grayish brown, internally purplish red.

3. Antilles Cocoa (Island Cocoa). – Of this there are the following varieties: a, Trinidad cocoa, with large, flat, almost black brown seeds; b, Martinique cocoa, with elongated, flattened, reddish brown seeds; c, St. Domingo cocoa, with small, flattened, dark purplish brown seeds.

Cocoa requires considerable care in cultivation. A moist atmosphere and uniform temperature of about 24 to 28 degrees C., with considerable shade, is best suited. The tall variety of banana and the tree-like Erythrina Corallodendron are the more common shade plants. The plants are grown from seeds which begin to germinate in eight days. The trees begin to bear fruit in about four years. More usually eight to ten years elapse before any considerable fruit is borne. Two crops are collected annually. It is stated that there is on an average only one fruit to every 3,000 flowers.

Chocolate and cocoa are prepared by roasting the seeds, removing the husks and crushing between hot rollers, which liquefies the solid fat and forms a paste. To make chocolate sugar is added and flavored with vanilla and cinnamon. Sometimes a coloring substance is added. The paste is finally moulded into cakes varying in size and form. Chocolate is frequently adulterated with lard, starches, rice flour and other substances. Cheap grades are usually flavored with sassafras nuts, cloves and other spices. In the manufacture of cocoa the husks are usually included and mixed with a variable quantity of sugar, starch, flavoring substances, etc. The roasted, hulled and coarsely broken seeds are known as cocoa nibs, and this is the purest kind of cocoa. The powder made from the seeds after the oil has been thoroughly expressed is known as broma.

The seeds contain about 50 per cent of fat. In the manufacture of broma and common cocoa most of this is removed and is placed upon the market as cocoa butter. The more or less broken hulls are sold as cocoa shells, from which a chocolate-like drink is made by boiling in water and sweetening with sugar.

There is perhaps no food substance which is more universally liked than chocolate. Mothers have no small amount of trouble in hiding the household chocolate from the children. With the omnipresent penny-in-the-slot machine more pennies are credited to it than to the chewing gum. The housewife and baker use it very extensively with chocolate cake. The confectioner uses it very freely, to the great delight of children.

The principal use to which cocoa is put is in the preparation of a beverage. For this purpose enormous quantities of chocolate, cocoa, broma and hulls are consumed annually. The word “Theobroma” is derived from the Greek, meaning drink for the gods. The drink is prepared by thoroughly triturating the desired amount of chocolate, cocoa or broma with a small quantity of water, then stirring this into the necessary quantity of boiling milk or water and boiling for a few minutes with constant stirring. The oil present gives the drink great nutritive value. It is also slightly stimulating, owing to the presence of an alkaloid theobromine which is closely similar in its properties to theine and caffeine, the active constituents of tea and coffee. The drink does not agree with some individuals, because the large amount of oil present causes indigestion. It is also highly probable that the indigestion or dyspepsia is due to the minute fragments of roasted cell-walls of the seeds, which are not only indigestible, but irritate the secreting mucous cells lining the inner surface of the stomach.

Cocoa butter, which resembles tallow in consistency and appearance, is used in medical and pharmaceutical practice as a salve, or pomade, for external application in eruptive diseases, as scarlet fever, etc., etc. Cocoa also finds extensive use in medical practice, though it has no marked curative properties. Cocoa from which the oil has been thoroughly expressed (broma) makes an excellent drink for convalescents. It is used to disguise the taste of disagreeable medicines, etc.

Albert Schneider.

THE CANOE-BIRCH

Like polished marble their tall shafts gleamBeside some beautiful inland stream,And their heart-shaped leaves in autumn’s primeWear the golden tints of a fairer clime.As I touch the bark, white as driven snow,I dream of the seasons long ago,When the Red Man paddled his light canoeWhere the canopied birches pierced the blue!– George Bancroft Griffith.