Cocoa And Chocolate
The Tree, The Bean The Beverage

f: i ■ ;£ < i'.-Zrz 3;^ fe MANUFACTURE OF COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 107 over the nibs one notices a characteristic fragment which looks like a very minute rusty nail. This is the germ ; it will be found to be hard and flinty. While the shell and germ contain very little cacao butter, about three and five per,cent respectively, the nib is more than half butter, and if the finger-nail is gently pressed into it, its fatty nature becomes evident. Cocoa consists simply of the finely ground nib from which part of the butter has been pressed. Though essentially simple in outline, in factory production a dozen operations are necessary to obtain from a bag of cacao beans so many tins of cocoa. Engineers have given much attention to the various processes, and the manufacture of cocoa powder has now become one of mass production involving comparatively little manual labour. If one examines the piles of bulging sacks in the European manufacturer’s store, one finds distinc-tive cacaos from places all round the equator—from widely sundered isles like Java and Grenada—rubbing shoulders. Factory Operations. 1. Cleaning and Sorting. Although the cacao beans of commerce are reasonably free from foreign matter, they are liable to contain string from the bag, small twigs of dried placenta from the pod, stones, dust, etc. To remove these the beans are run over a series of rocking sieves, the separation of the lighter particles being assisted by a strong current of air. The beans, at the end of the cleaning, have lost up to 0-5 per cent by weiglit. The same machine also roughly sorts the beans to size, a necessary precaution if one is to obtain an even roasting. 2. Roasting. In spite of the advance of science the roasting of cacao remains a romantic occupation. For him who “ rules the roast ” no cut and dried rules are laid down ; he is expected continuously to use his