Food for the Gods

Cocoa has a high food value, containing as much as 20 percent protein, 40 percent carbohydrate, and 40 percent fat. It is also mildly stimulating because of the presence of theobromine, an alkaloid that is closely related to caffeine.

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The ‘food of the gods’, as cocoa was called 500 years ago when the Spanish came upon it in South America, remains a precious commodity. Apart from the food value of cocoa products and the tempting flavour, the health giving factors are too many to be ignored. Research has been done on the action of cocoa products on many life-threatening and debilitating diseases.

Origin

Cacao is the seed of a fruit of an Amazonian tree that was brought to Central America during or before the time of the Olmecs. Cocao beans were so revered by the Mayans and Aztecs that they used them as money. In 1753 Carl von Linnaeus, the Swedish scientist, thought that cocao was so important that he named the genus and species of this tree himself. He named this tree: Theobroma cacao, which literally means “cacao, the food of the gods.”

The perennial that yields several harvests annually, the cacao or cocoa tree was brought from South America and introduced into Europe during the 16th century and today grown chiefly in western Africa. Cocoa trees belong to the family Sterculiaceae. The common cocoa tree is classified as Theobroma cocoa. Being of a very delicate and sensitive nature, the cocoa tree needs protection from wind and requires a fair amount of shade, especially in its first four years of growth. With pruning and careful cultivation, the trees of most strains will begin bearing fruit in the fifth year.

The average cocoa tree attains a height of about 20 feet, has shiny leaves as long as 12 inches and small pink flowers on the trunk and older branches. Only about 30 of the 6000 annual blossoms eventually bear seeds. Commonly called cocoa beans, the seeds are surrounded by a yellow or reddish-brown pod up to 12 inches long. Cocoa beans are either purple or off-white and resemble almonds.