I love chocolate and enjoy a sampling or a bar of chocolate once in a while. These days, I go for the dark variety rather than white chocolate (which I find quite sweet) or milk chocolate (which used to be the only kinds readily available in the supermarket or stores). Chocolate comes from cacao, which is said to originate from South America. The Europeans conquistadores eventually brought cacao to Europe, artisans eventually developed a way to transform this fruit into the goodies and beverages we now commonly see everywhere. Cacao was probably brought to the Philippines by the Spanish who grew trees around the country and harvested the fruit to make the tableya that could be made into a delightful drink of hot chocolate or as an ingredient for sweet or chocolate bars.
One of our staff at the office casually mentioned the cacao tree in front of our building last week. I had not noticed the tree and its fruits though it was in plain site. It must have been one of those moments when you take something for granted because of your familiarity with a place. When I mentioned why we don't seem to hear or know about the cacao being "harvested" our staff joked that the guards pick them and snack on them.
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| Cacao fruit growing on the main branches of the tree |
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| The cacao has distinct leaves, large ones that would look nice as part of a collection for a grade school science project. |
We have a few cacao trees in our home in Iloilo. It was planted by my grandmother in the 1970's and my aunts were able to make homemade hot chocolate that was perfect for cool mornings. We also had a few coffee trees that produced just enough beans that could be made into a few cups of coffee. I remember we had a manual grinder that could be used for either cacao or coffee. That should be an antique piece now that I'll probably try to retrieve for preservation the next time I'm there.
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