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THE CHEF ENCYCLOPEDIA:
Culinary Herb & Spice Reference Guide
Cacao
[also Cocoa or Chocolate Tree]
(Theobroma cacao)
Family: Sterculiaceae
Cacao was named Theobroma by Linnaeus, meaning "food of the gods",
from the goodness of its seeds. In Mexico during the time of the Aztec
kings the small seeds were valuable enough to be utilized as coins.
The tree is cultivated under the shade of other trees such as the banana,
and develops the pods continuously. When ripe the pods are cut open
and the beans or nuts surrounded by their sweetish acid pulp are allowed
to ferment so that they may be more easily separated from the shell.
The beans are either dried in the sun, or in a steam drying shed, and
then roasted as source of cocoa and chocolate.
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