Fermentation of the Cocoa Beans
The beans need to be cleaned of the white mucilage before processing, so, most commonly, the mass of gue and beans are put in wooden boxes with holes at the bottom, and covered with banana tree leaves which contain bacteria that enhance the fermentation process, liquefying the mucilage so it can drain away, leaving the beans.
Fermentation usually takes five to seven days, although Criollo beans are faster to ferment and may be ready in three to four days. These lengths of time are needed to give the cocoa beans’ aromas the best chance of developing.
Most farmers take their baskets of mucilage to their nearest co-operative, very often a neat little two-roomed house built with a grant from the cocoa programme of an international agency. Posters on the walls show pictures of different beans cut lengthwise so the farmer can see what ‘faults’ the co-operative wants to prevent ending up in the bags they will sell on to exporters or international companies. Fifty of each farmer’s beans are placed on a flat metallic dish, with one hole for each bean. They are then cut in two, lengthwise, with a guillotine or knife and checked against the wall charts.
As we’ve seen, most co-operatives are not looking for quality, as they receive the same price regardless of whether the tree is a Criollo or Forastero, or whether the pod is ripe or distinctly unripe. They are looking for size (100-150 beans per 100g), a low humidity level (below six per cent), and minimal faults. Often, quality control is carried out by a group of women sitting on the floor and sorting the beans by their appearance (never the taste!). And they are allowed to take the ‘bad’ beans home to make chocolate drinks. Is this the best way to guarantee the quality of the beasn that will end up in our favourite chocolate bars? I’ll leave that up to your imagination.
