NG KiDS Makes Yummy Chocolate!
We head to Ecuador to learn all about the secrets of chocolate!
Love chocolate? Did you know that at the heart of your choccy treats is cacao, a bean that grows on trees?
To find out all about chocolate’s vital ingredient, NG KiDS headed to the incredible country of Ecuador in South America, where cacao originally came from. Once there, we ventured into the Amazon rainforest to a small indigenous community called Santa Rita. It’s here that Ecuador’s famous “Arriba Nacional” grows, said to be the world’s finest cacao!
Want to make chocolate yourself? Here’s how to go about it…
1) First, get yourself over to the Equator – because cacao only grows near there, where the trees get all the warmth, shade and humidity they require.
2) Wait six months for the cacao pods to ripen, then gather your family together to harvest them! Because cacao pods in your chacra (an area a bit like a large orchard) will have different colours, the best way to find out whether they’re ripe is to tap the pods. If it has a deep, hollow sound, it means the beans inside are ready!
3) Place the beans and the yummy pulp into large wooden boxes, cover them and leave them to ferment for a week, changing boxes every couple of days to allow air inside to help the process. The pulp will turn to liquid and drain away.
4) Next, lay the beans out on wooden boards and dry them for a week in the sun. Then, after the beans are dry, clean and check each one for quality by hand, binning any that may be mouldy.
5) Now roast the beans at 100°C for 40-90 minutes (the exact time and temperature depends on the beans). When they start to pop, they’re ready. Roasting releases new flavours, but don’t burn them!
6) Grind the insides of the beans (called nibs) into a mushy paste, called cocoa mass or liquor.
7) Blend with a bit of sugar and any flavours you’d like and keep grinding it (called conching) for several hours until it’s runny.
8) Finally, pour the mixture into a mould and leave to set in the fridge for 15 minutes. Yum!
NG KiDS travelled with Journey Latin America (journeylatinamerica.co.uk) who specialise in holidays to Central and South America including Ecuador. To find out more about Pacari, visit pacarichocolate.com
Pictures: Tim Herbert, apart from title image and melted chocolate: Getty Images UK
Likes
More Like General Entertainment
How to make Christmas tree biscuits
LEAVE A COMMENT
THANK YOU
Your comment will be checked and approved shortly.
WELL DONE,
YOUR COMMENT
HAS BEEN ADDED!
COMMENTS1
Gg
Cool
Leg
Yum
seahorse
Yum I love chocolate! I wish I could make chocolate to.
EMMY
Cool!!! It makes you think a bit more about chocolate.
I DID THAT IN COSTA RICA IT IS SO FUN.
Apple
I ❤️ Chocolate!
HuskyLachlan
Wow wish I could make that. And plus it just looks sooooooooo tasty!!!
derpyfish
Wow. I will NEVER look at chocolate in the same way.
Hw
I want to make this
kvucutfcviygvgu
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
iceup_sin
fye
joeman
epicccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc :)
cyclopshark
wow but you can just buy cocoa nibs from a shop!!!
Nicolette
Wow!
Bluescience
Yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hcc
Great
Bobble
So i am pretty much eating a giant seed!?
jeni
wow
FlappyEared_Elephant
I read about htis in the magazine. I knew that chocolate came from cocoa pods but I did not know that you could eat the soft part of the pod.
debby101
I love chocolate but never knew it came from trees
Prehistorical
Cool, I love chocolate!
CUSTOMIZE YOUR AVATAR