You already know from my previous entries that in its time São Tomé was the greatest cocoa producer in the world. During our stay in the country we visited numerous plantations, nearly all of them abandoned. One of the few that still produce something is Roça Diogo Vaz, where we were introduced to the cocoa process. Interestingly, the Roça's workers still use all the facilities left by the Portuguese, so it was a bit like a visit to Warsaw's Technology Museum. Immensly interesting, though. Let me show you where your chocolate comes from.
Cocoa grows on little trees. They need a lot of humidity and shade, which is why there are always tall trees among the cocoa plants. There are two types of fruits - purple and orange. You pick them twice a year.
This what the fruit look like inside. You may chew on the grains, which are enveloped in this white stuff. The white stuff proved to be rather yummy.
Once the grains are picked, they go in the building labeled "Sector Tecnologia". It's interesting to see that the same tecnologia has been used here for the past one hundred years.
Then the grains are separated from one another and left to ferment. It doesn't smell pretty!
Later on, cocoa is left to dry. We've seen all types of dryers, the one in the picture being the most modern one, I suppose ("solar dryer"). Between the plastic and rocks there are the cocoa grains, smelling very pretty for a change.
Then the selection comes. You sit by a very very old machine and wait for it to spit out dried cocoa grains. You throw away the ones that are spoilt (how you tell them apart I don't really know).
And afterwards there is only the packing left. Sacks are filled with cocoa and ready to be exported. Most of them go abroad, only a small part is used to produce the very tasty local chocolate.
Simple, isn't it?
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