I am enjoying a wonderful time in Bali on holiday relaxing with my husband and kids. It is so nice to just spend time together and not be racing around trying to get somewhere. We went on a bike tour in the Ubud area which was spectacular. The ride which is 22km long, is designed to mostly be down hill which makes it doable for all members of the family no matter what their level of fitness is. The country side that we cycled through is amazing, we passed through villages, rice paddy’s and forests.
One of the stops that we had was at a jungle walk where they grow coffee beans, lots of tropical fruits and cacao! I was so excited to see cacao pods hanging above me as I walked through this amazing tropical jungle. It is literally like being in a chocolate forest… a dream come true right!?
When I expressed my excitement to the tour guide about the cacao pods, he stopped and picked a large pod from a tree and cracked it against a tree trunk to open it up.
We scooped out the white flesh from the cacao pod that surrounds the beans and tasted it, it is really sweet, smooth, creamy & delicious. The white flesh is what cacao butter is made from that you can buy from health food stores.
The beans that are inside the pods are whiteish but when they are dried out and then roasted they are a dark chocolatey colour. When the beans are broken down they make cacao nibs or when they are ground down they are the cacao powder.
We tried freshly roasted beans, oh my goodness…. they were the most amazing tasting chocolatey nibs that I have ever had.
I am always blown away by how nature provides us with the most incredible foods and this experience just reconfirmed how amazing it really is. Cacao is a super food and full of nutrients as well as providing an amazing tasting ingredient that makes everything taste chocolately!
Read more about the uses of cacao here.
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