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We all love chocolate. Well, maybe most of us love chocolates except for the poor diabetics who need to trim down on their sugar consumption. But with all of the craving that we have for chocolate, most of us do not know where all the yummy goodness of chocolates come from. I recently came from a field trip to a tour in the upper areas of Tupi, South Cotabato, Philippines, to a farm that plants and processes chocolate.





Above is a pack of PURE chocolate tablets. No, you cannot eat them. Pure chocolate is bitter.








Chocolates from come cacao seeds that are roasted and processed to its yummy goodness. At the left is a cacao tree that is full of ripe fruits. Cacao fruits are edible right from the tree. But, no, it doesn't taste like chocolate. Just like one of those tropical fruits with the familiar sweet and tangy taste.
After harvesting cacao fruits, the cacao pods are opened to remove the sticky white pulp.












After such, the beans are stored in huge chambers to ferment. This process is necessary to achieve the chocolate aroma. Just think that the bacteria produced in fermentation gives you the chocolatey taste that you've loved since time immemorial.



After fermentation of a week or so, the beans are dried to prevent the growth of molds. Afterwards, the beans are cleaned, roasted, and shelled to get the cacao nibs. The nibs are ground and liquified to produce chocolate liquor, which is the basis of all chocolate products. The chocolate liquor is now ready to be turned into yummy chocolate bars. Add sugar and milk, and you get milk chocolate. Just add sugar and you get premium dark chocolate. Note: the more cocoa liquor a bar has, the more expensive it could be.

See this album for more photos of my trip.