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Lima bean pod9/9/2023 “Fermentation stops the germination of the bean, then breaks down the cell walls of the bean, alcohol and bacteria do their part and that starts the process of this bean becoming real chocolate. He grabs a small pot and starts scooping this sticky mass into a large potato sack. This mass of fermenting beans must be at least 110 Fahrenheit, maybe a bit warmer. Their previously grey exteriors are teeming with bacteria and their insides, the tightly wrapped leaves of a young cacao tree, have been transformed courtesy yeast, then bacteria and now heat. The beans are now an earthy orange, more brown than orange. The beans have been in this box for at least 72 hours and when we remove the brown palms, Wow! A heavy, earthy aroma greets us. The beans are covered with plenty of coconut palm leaves, now brown and stiff. The two boxes are the size of an extra-large pizza box, if that box were three feet deep. Under a part tin, part thatch roof that also covers a beehive and a few power tools, we first have to scoop out the fully fermented beans. I help Juan heave the beans into his truck for the short drive from his chocolate shop to the Cohune farm and the fermentation boxes. And the fermentation process in this warm environment is on steroids, the beans practically quiver like a fresh container of fishing worms from the country store. After 24 hours in the Igloo, they’re now sticky, fat, and grey peanuts. When they’re fresh and dangling from the pod’s inner placenta, they have an almost mind-controlling seed from outer space look that would’ve given Ed Wood nightmares. Juan refers to this step as pre-fermentation but it’s all part of the process. Cho, the cacao queen, through her first sourdough starter and when it finally turned the corner and its aromas went from old blue cheese to sweet champagne, she breathed deeply and sighed “it’s like fresh cacao.” pre-fermented cacao beansĪnd when I opened that Igloo of fermenting beans, I remembered Mrs. This past week we had special guests at the farm, and I turned that juice into ice cream with the help of a vanilla bean crème anglaise my bride had made the day before.Īs those sweet beans sit in that warm, Igloo environment, natural fermentation takes place. The beans go in, and four hours later open the tap and you’ve a got delicious, slightly viscous juice unlike any other. At Ixcacao here in the middle of the Belize rainforest, they like to drain off the cacao juice first and that’s why they use an ice chest. Mystery solved.Ī fresh cacao bean? In order to turn this Caribbean sow’s ear into a Valrhona silk purse, it’s going to need a lot of help from yeast, alcohol, and bacteria. Serve slightly brothy over rice with smoked chicken. Now we’ll sauté some finely diced onions, garlic and smoked bacon until the bacon fat has perfumed the immediate area, add the lovely green beans, cover with fine chicken broth and simmer to your liking and finish with fresh thyme, salt, and fresh pepper. Squeeze the bean, discard that gray, translucent shell coat and set aside. There’s a heavy sleeve that keeps both halves of the bean together. Start with young green beans, blanch them (no lid!) in salty, boiling water, quickly chill in ice water, then relieve them of their dowdy clothing. In order to bring out the goodness in Lima beans there’s a time-honored process amongst pros like me. How on earth do we get chocolate from this purple Lima bean? interior cotlyedons of pre-fermented cacao bean Once you’ve tasted that, the mystery of chocolate only deepens. I know because we grow Lima beans at home. It’s purple, and leathery, bland, and unpleasant. Crunch through to the bean itself and suddenly you’ve got an old wine cork in your mouth, no wait, it’s a Lima bean right out of the garden. Crack open a ripe Criollo pod, pop one of the beans into your mouth and wow! The sticky sap around the outside of the bean is sweet and ripe with notes of papaya, citrus, lychee, melon, and more. When the beans went in 24 hours ago, they were so fruity and offered up many sweet and magical, tropical aromas. Cacao beans, an entire Igloo ice chest full of them are right in front of me and they’re almost vibrating with life. No wait, lemons, and is that guava, and oof! The sting of vinegar tickles the insides of my nose.
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