Cocoa And Chocolate
The Tree, The Bean The Beverage

CHAPTER IX THE MANUFACTURE OF CØCOA AND CHOCOLATE OPERATIONS COMMON TO BOTH COCOA AND CHOCOLATE In the chapter on the history of cocoa and chocolate, it was described. how the crushed cacao bean, which con-tains 54 to 55 per cent of butter, gave a somewhat too fatty drink, and how the early attempts to reduce this by adding corn-flour or arrowroot were followed, and largely superseded, by the method of pressing intro-duced by C. J. van Houten, of Weesp, the founder of the well-known firm. As the preparations containing starch or sugar cannot legally be described as pure cocoa, they will not be considered here. When a roasted cacao bean is crushed between the thumb and forefinger, it breaks into a large number of angular fragments which are generally termed “ nibs,” and one can obtain a rough analysis of the cacao-bean by picking out the flakes of husk or shell and. the rod-like “ germ ” or radicle. Such an analysis would give approximately the following result— COMPOSITION OF THE CACAO BEAN Per cent. Nibs.................86-7 Shell................12-5 Germ ..... 0-8 100-0 If one blows on to the crushed bean resting on the palm of one’s hånd, the shell is carried away. Turning 106