The first activity for today was a chocolate tour! The chocolate plantation was located just across the suspension bridge (about 10 minutes away). We had to walk through one of the rain forests path to get there, but it was well worth it because I learned about the entire process of chocolate.
It is not known as cocoa (which is actually used for pineapple) here but cacao (cak-cow). The fruit is a yellow and about the size of a small football. The plant was found 2000 years ago. Cacao actually is very bitter to begin with and contains many 2-3 inch seeds with an embryo covering. The covering is very sweet tasting and we were told not to bite into the seeds because it would be very bitter. I also found out that the reason Central america fell in love with cacao was because it was the only caffeinated thing for the area.
When the Spanish came to Costa Rica, they did not like cacao because it was called a caca drink-which means poop and did sound or look (because it was brown) appetizing. Nuns actually saved chocolate because they added cinnamon and brown sugar to the cacoa and soon people started to love it.
Costa Rica is actually does not have the highest production of chocolate anymore, the high production is actually in Africa. CR has lost a lot of their cacao fruits due to fungus infestion---they know it comes from the humidity which cacao plants need (there are three things a cacao plant needs: high humidity, good fruitful soil, and also shade) but have nothing to stop the infestation and are losing lots of their production because of it.
How to open a cacao? Either a machete or smash it against a rock or tree stump—Karen got picked to show us how to open and smash It against a tree stump. Once breaking it open we got to see the 2-3 inch seeds inside and it was nothing like I was expecting. The seeds were all connected by a gel-like substance and each seed looked like an embryo---white seed with a slimy covering around it. We got to taste one —we were told not to bite into it because it would extremely bitter and of course not swallow it either because of the size. The texture in my mouth was a bit odd---It tasted slimy but it was indeed sugary and sweet and nothing like chocolate.
I found out that all kinds of chocolate come from the same bean-the cacao--whether dark, white, or milk and the companies that buy the cacao from Africa or CR are the ones that change the flavors. In order to get the best chocolate the embryos that we tasted needs to be killed and fermented. The embryos need to be removed from the plant and exposed. Then flies are needed and naturally drawn to the seeds to feast on. The flies in turn pollinate the seed with the fungus on its feet. The fungus kills the embryo cause a heat reaction—the heat by day gets hotter and hotter and it takes about 4 days to totally kill off the seed. After reaching such high heart then the seed cools and can be moved to the next stage---drying. The drying stage consists of two kinds—manual or machine. The manual one is moving the seeds on a huge wooden drawer back and forth or heating them up in the pan. We got to try a seed at this stage—they were very bitter and not so good.
The next step is the grinding step---the seeds after being dried would be de-shelled and either manually grinded with a rock or grinded by a machine grinder. Cinnamon and brown sugar are both combined at this stage. We all got to try to grind some cacao all grinded up—I still think its bitter but a bit like peanut-textured dark chocolate and smelled more like chocolate now.
Then we were made some hot chocolate by these grounds and boiling water. Since there Is no milk in it, there is not much froth to it, however, the guide shows us the CR’an whisk which added some froth. I also got to try these—again I felt it was bitter and rich and had the after taste much like coffee.
How are Chocolate bars made then? I learned that chocolate can be a low quality or high quality product. The low quality is cacao powder is divided into cocoa butter and solids. The cocoa is used for cosmetics and the solids are used for the end product—it is mixed with palm oil and chocolate is made from there.
The high quality, however, does not separate the cacao butter and solids creating richer flavor, costing more to make and therefore to buy. This high quality mix is called cacoa rocks and is in a form that has to be heated in order to make chocolate bars. Our guide put it in a double boiler and then let us try some---this time everyone enjoyed the flavor more, I still thought it was bitter, but tasted more like very rich, dark chocolate. This chocolate is melted and then put in molds. The last two pieces we were given were molds that were frozen---one was mixed with sugar (smooth, rich, but still bitter) and one was mixed with milk (this was my favorite, had a grainy texture but less bitter).
Interesting facts---high amount of chocolate consumption---is Norway with 42lbs/person/year. Each cacao plant makes 25 bars of chocolate and produces about 50-60 fruits. The trees must be kept 2 meters apart to keep the humidity level high and the fungus level low. The saying “money grows on trees” is true for this country. Cacao became such a pronounced luxury that people used to trade for it. Instead of money, people wanted cacao seeds (they were seen as even more significant than gold, silver, or jade). What a great tour!
We headed back to our rooms to hang out a bit and then it was lunch time. We ate lunch at the Tirimbina's restaurant--had fried chicken, salad, fried potato wedges, and ice cream (this food is trying to kill me I think)!
After lunch we got to relax a bit and then it was off to White Water Rafting. It was about a 10 minute drive from Tirimbina where we found our rafting guides. They were all in their 20's and the trainees were even younger--what an awesome job huh? Go rafting 2-3x/day--where do I sign up? We learned our commands: paddle forward, backward, stop, lean in, and get in (hop inside the raft). On my raft was Alex, Brian, Karen, Loren, our guide and our trainee. This was a level 2 of 5 course, but I don't believe them. It was a very intense ride. The paddling was not bad, it was the actual rapids that were challenging--I think I was in the water maybe 5 minutes before being soaked! Some of the rapids were extremely bumpy and there were a few drops we made but survived them---sometimes got thrown to the other side of the raft or had the other side of the raft thrown into me, but no one fell out! It rained the entire first half of the trip-but we were already wet it didn't matter, we were having a blast no matter the weather conditions. There was one big rock we got stuck on and the entire raft started to go under, I swore we would have to abort the raft, but the guide and trainee somehow got us out--the entire raft was under water so we all had to be one side and then quickly balance out when the guide said to. Some of the rapids were more challenging than other and there were a few times we hit the walls of the river or large rocks and got shift in the other direction, but I really enjoyed the trip. About half-way down the rapids, we stopped for a brief rest---had some pineapple and watermelon which the guides brought and got to jump off a cliff into the water---it was a bit nerve racking but I had to do it! There was also a "paparazzi" they called him who was taking pictures for us along the trip and go us jumping off the cliff! My professor jumped off twice!! After our break, we went back to the raft to finish the river. I enjoyed every moment of this activity!
We returned to Tirimbina where we got to shower and dry off a bit! I got to skype my family which made my day! We had dinner at the next hotel at 6:30 since the workers at Tirimbina were having a company party somewhere else---this dinner was not as good though---they had a salad bar, chicken legs and wings, rice and vegetables, and served us this odd dessert--it was milk and pineapples (no one really liked it and wit made us miss our ice cream at Tirimbina). The other people in the restaurant were very up tight, older, serious people---and our group liked to joke around, laugh, and be silly---we just did not fit in with the crowd. We ate our meal and didn't stay for very long before heading back to Tirimbina (right next door). I hung out in my room a bit, updating my blog, then I went to bed--what an adventurous day!
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