Hi, Friends! Today I’ll share to you the admirable process of making a delicious, simple pure cocoa powder or tablea. Now friends read with me and let us understand all about it.
Origin and significance
Cocoa or cacao powder is made from a cacao tree which a very good source of value, delight and satisfaction for hundreds of years besides onion, coffee and grapes. Cacao is among those agricultural products which the world demands most. Cacao are beans in a thick pod which are carefully harvested by hand and then removed to be fermented, dried and roasted to extract the cocoa inside.
Cocoa offers numerous health benefits. It is a good source of antioxidant like papaya, can improve cardiovascular health and most important is that it enhances the cognitive function. Cacao may be paired with other healthful herbal plants namely, luy-a (ginger), tanglad (lemon grass), gabon (blumea or sambong), blue ternate flower, and others.
Cocoa can be processed into many forms. It can be blended with rice to have a good aromatic porridge. It can be a hot drink (sikwate) in the morning. One of its end-product is the famous chocolate which is often used for cakes making, for candies, and for gifts to please a lady.
The process of making a cocoa powder or Tablea comes with a long period of time especially when you do not have the drying equipment. But this one is patiently making use of the native way of making cacao powder.
Steps
A fresh fruit of cacao is opened and the beans are dried for at least 3 days under the sun.
The purpose is to evaporate the liquid content and lengthen the expiration due to bacteria
Roast the beans in a pan on fire until the color becomes black to detach the skin easily.
Using a lusong and alho (mortar and pestle) to collectively remove the roasted skin.
Then to separate the cocoa from the beans, use an Ayagan (sift or sieve).
Ayagan is somewhat like an open basket used to shake grains like corn and mongo beans and separate the skin, powder and bad grain from the good one.
The most important step is the grinding process. To achieve a perfect and aromatic smell, grind the munched bean twice. The heat which the grinder makes after grinding for long freshens the cacao very well.
A kilo of roasted cacao beans can make up to 1/2 kilo of pure cocoa powder.
Actually, I make cocoa powder today so I have something to give for my girl. I want to impress her in my true me. I want her to see my origins, my families delicacies, and especially my skills. I need to show efforts not on buying things or direct chocolates but by the truthfulness of myself. I don’t want to spoil her and specifically I don’t want to spend much for her. Biyaan palang ko! Haha.
So now friends if you have a cacao tree in your place, you can make a special product for your nutrients and for gifts.
Thanks, Friends, for reading till here. See you on my next blog.
