There has been a lot of chatter about chocolate on the food blogger circuit lately-specifically about Culinate's death by chocolate blogger competition, whose grand prize is a trip for two to a food festival of the same name in Napa California. Its no wonder that everyone's talking about it.Unfortunately even if I were to win such a competition, there is no way I could leave work and school to fly to California for two days, so I'm taking advantage of this sudden chocolate obsession to post another of my pictures from Belize, this one of some nice cacao pods that we harvested in December while I was at home. The curvy blade like thing is one of the long handled tools that we use to cut pods from the higher limbs of mature cacao trees.
This is where it all starts: with creamy white pulp covered beans inside of some gorgeous pods. Don't they look beautiful?
From where I am sitting, this is so exotic. Harvesting your own cocoa beans!! I agree, they are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen it like that before, awesome!
ReplyDeleteKJ and Brilynn: These pods were cracked open, fermented and sold to the Toledo Cacao Growers Association, who sold them to Green and Black's corp to put in their Maya Gold chocolate bar.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to take a picture of the beans when the pod is cracked open..oh well, next time.
They look gorgeous. I am envious!
ReplyDelete