chocolate recipe
These programs concentrate on
shade-grown cocoa and other
diverse crops such as bananas.
The reason for diversifying crops
is that cacao is only harvested
twice a year, having other crops
that can be harvested at other
times of the year can provide a
more steady income.
In the earliest years of cacao
harvesting, the peoples grew the
trees in small stands near water,
and left the trees mostly grow
naturally. Cacao trees prefer
growing in the shade of other
trees, not to be protected from
the sun, but because this creates
the perfect home for midges,
(gnats) which are the only way
cacao is pollinated. The natural
litter and debris on the floor of
the rain forests (leaf trash,
animal carcasses and rotten cacao
pods) are the ideal breeding
ground for the midge. These
things are missing in the well
maintained grounds of the modern
plantation; therefore the
production of the cacao tree is
much lower with only 1 to 3
percent of the pods producing
seeds.
chocolate recipe
belgian chocolate
