Tirimbina, Costa Rica –
“This is a ripe Cocoa pod, ready for opening.
“The traditional method the Incas used was to use their heads.
“Do I have any volunteers?”
The group taking the tour consisted mostly of College students, and they immediately had their preferred candidate.
“Jose, Jose,” they cheered.
Reluctantly, Jose rose from where he was sitting and approached our guide.
The guide smiled and then added some additional information that Jose might find helpful.
“The Incas observed the monkeys, which would open the pods by banging them on logs.”
Jose took the pod, and the clue, and began banging the pod on the side of the table.
It took a few whacks, but soon the pod broke open. Our guide then took the pod and showed it around, so everyone could see what the seeds looked like in their natural state.
And then he proceeded to hand the seeds out for us to put in our mouths and suck on, giving us the chance to taste how the first humans to sample Cocoa would experience it.
Plus, it was a great way to clean off all of the gooey stuff that covered the seeds, while adding the natural enzymes that would help age the seeds in a matter of days to the point where they could be processed further.
It was sweet, but more in the way that fresh fruit is sweet. It did have a slight cocoa-y taste, but not anywhere near what we are used to, or probably expecting.
But it was our first taste sample in what would be the evolution of cocoa processing from the first natives to the modern forms of chocolate that we all know and love today.
We were spending the morning at the Tirimbina Rainforest Preserve, and had opted to take the Cocoa Plantation tour.
It wasn’t much of a plantation. We were only shown one Cocoa tree. And we spent the majority of the tour sitting in an open-air shelter, being taken through the history of processing Cocoa, complete with tasting at just about every step.
Not all of the samples were enjoyable to our inner chocoholic.
Then again, sampling a bit of dark, baker’s cocoa would provide you with a hint that it can lean towards the bitter side of things. Our modern forms all have some amount of sugar added to sweeten the taste a bit.
So, we watched and listened while our guide took us through the history, and as he explained the various developments in the processing, we would often get another taste sample. Some of these, the guide and the cook would walk down the line of visitors, handing out the sample, while others we would have to line up to get.
When we got to the age of the first Spanish explorers, and were offered the “Drink of the Gods”, we not only got a small cup of hot cocoa, we also had our choice of ingredients to add, including some cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and a hint of vanilla.
Even with adding some combination of these, the drink had little resemblance to today’s versions of hot cocoa. This had a bitter, burning edge to it.
Of course, part of that could be due to my adding too much cayenne pepper to mine.
Later on, after a few more developments in the processing and preparing, along with several volunteer-aided demonstrations, we reached the point where the cocoa was being cooked, and starting to evolve into forms more closely resembling our modern versions.
When we got to sample a spoonful of thick, liquid cocoa, fresh off the stove, the guide was more than happy to repeatedly demonstrate how we should consume it, having a practically orgasmic experience as he slowly withdrew the spoon from his mouth, savoring every last morsel of chocolaty goodness.
This was the stage where everyone looped around to get a second, and hopefully a third, spoonful to savor.
At that point, about all that remained was pouring this thick, dark goodness into molds to let harden into our recognizable modern chocolate bars.
Luckily, we didn’t have to sit and wait for it to harden (which would have been a long time in that heat). They already had bite-sized samples of both dark, and milk chocolate forms prepared for tasting.
Once we had consumed these final samples, and had reached the modern age of chocolate, our guide wrapped up his presentation, and we were sent on our way, back down the path to the main part of the rainforest preserve, and from there to the entrance set of buildings.
While Dore and I tried to hurry, since it was past check-out time and all of our stuff was still in our room (we had spent the night in the preserve hotel), it wasn’t long before we were distracted by the various forms of life in the rainforest. A variety of lizards, a millipede, and leaf-cutter ants carrying their bounty back to their nest were among the distractions we encountered.
Eventually, we made it back, gathered our stuff, and checked out of the hotel.
Just in time, it seems.
Shortly after loading into our rental, and pulling out of the parking lot, the rain began to fall.
Well, not really fall, more like pour, in large bucketful’s, several gallons at a time. I’m talking big drops, as big as a fist.
And lots of them.
After all, it was the rainy season…
For more photos of the Tirimbina Cocoa Plantation Tour, click here.
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