Some time ago I asked you, the loyal Patric Chocolate blog readers, to speak up and let me know what you would like to see me write about. Those who responded had many great suggestions, and they have been heard! Here is just one of the suggestions:
"I know we get chocolate from cacao beans and [...] alcoholic drinks are possible from the pulp. I’ve even had a pulp fruit spread. What else can the fruit (berry) be used for? Do we always discard the large outer shell?"
--D in NYC
Many parts of the cacao fruit are delicious, from the unique "chocolate" notes of the fermented and roasted cacao seed to the sweet-tart floral qualities of the seeds' fresh pulp; the cacao fruit truly has a lot to offer. The one exception seems to be the exocarp of the fruit--normally referred to incorrectly as the "pod"--from which no food or beverage seems to be derived. I have tried to keep things reasonably simple, so I haven't touched upon foods such as chocolate pastries and candies for which many ingredients are needed, and in which chocolate often plays only a supporting role. Here are just a few of the uses to which people have put cacao throughout the years:
