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From Jungle M&Ms to the Cocoa Dance By Sandra Scott |
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“Welcome, home!” was the greeting when John and
I boarded the Sea Cloud II. For a short time, the three-mast
windjammer was our home. The Sea Cloud II, the epitome of
luxury at sea, was
Every day was a glimpse into the life of the rich and famous. From the moment we were greeted by name at breakfast to the last goodnight aperitif, attention to even the smallest detail made the sail unparalleled in excellence. Each day was a new adventure as the Sea Cloud II visited new Caribbean ports. Our favorite shore trip was to the island of
St. Lucia, where we visited Fond Doux Plantation and learned about
growing cocoa. The guide explained everything from growing the cocoa
trees to
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modeled after her sister ship, the Sea Cloud I,
which was the home of Marjorie Meriweather Post and E. F. Hutton
when they were at sea.The Sea Cloud II combines modern-day
comfort 
readying the beans for shipping to chocolate factories.
Cocoa trees are not easy to grow because they need constant warmth,
plenty of rain, and a shady environment. Less than five percent of
cocoa flowers ever produce fruits. It is the seeds of the fruit that
become the cocoa beans. The fruits are large football-shaped pods
ranging in color from yellow to red to violet. The pods grow
directly from the trunk and main branches of the tree, not on stems
like apples and oranges. In fact they look like someone just hung
them on the tree.
Inside the pods are seeds in a soft, white pulp
that looks a bit like yogurt. Children call the seeds “jungle M&Ms”
because they like to suck the white stuff off the seeds. It is good
but not very sweet. The husk and inner membrane of the pod is
discarded, leaving 20 to 50 seeds. It takes approximately 400 seeds
to make one pound of chocolate. The piles of seeds–or beans–are
covered with mats.
The layer of pulp that surrounds the beans heats
up causing fermentation, which removes the raw, bitter taste and
activates enzymes that produce the chocolate flavor. The beans are
then dried. The best chocolate comes from beans that have been sun
dried. During this process something unique and time-honored takes
place called the “cocoa dance.” Workers “dance” to the accompaniment
of rhythmic music through the drying beans to mix them. When the
beans are properly dried they acquire a shine and are ready to be
bagged for shipping to the chocolate factory. I agreed with John
when he said, “Eating chocolate will never be the same now that we
know all that goes into growing and preparing the cocoa bean before
it goes to the chocolate makers.”
When we returned to the ship the staff had
prepared a late afternoon snack of artistically prepared local fresh
fruits. As one might expect, each Sea Cloud meal was exquisite. The
last night after the Smoke Trout Aspic our palate was cleansed with
Passion Fruit Sorbet. Then the wait staff, in unison and with
panache, removed individual silver domes from our plates and
announced the entrée, “Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Au Jus
on Cream Savory Cabbage and Potato Pancake.” The meal concluded with
a chocolate dessert, Chocolate Mille-feiulle with Mango Sauce. We
looked at the dessert with a new appreciation of all that went into
getting the cocoa from plantation to plant and wondered if anyone
had danced on the cocoa beans. We hoped so!