Chocolate Movie

Short film on how cacao beans are processed from the cacao fruit. Filmed in the Peruvian jungle in 2001. Cacao is converted into cocoa and then into chocolate.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Cacao
• chocolate
• Peru
• jungle
• fermentation
• processing
• Maxey

[africanharvest]

This is fascinating stuff. Did you know that in Western Africa, specifically the Ivory Coast, children are trafficked to work on the cocao plantations as slaves? Pretty important fact to know, since 50% of the world's cocao beans come from that region.

[mmaxey1952]

Thanks for the comment. I know about child labor and slavery in West Africa. The cacao in the video is being grown in Peru and is "slave free" chocolate. I suggested that as a marketing strategy but the powers that be were very sensitive. I'm open to any suggestions on raising awareness.

[mmaxey1952]

Thanks for the comment. One probably has to understand what is being shown for the video to be interesting --- essentially, it shows the process for taking cacao fruit, removing the cacao beans, fermenting and drying them to be marketable cacao beans which are processed into chocolate products. The music is Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" which has pretty much withstood the test of time.

[slyguytoo]

realllllllly bitter and not to enjoyable! it has to sit for up to ten days then be roasted and ground up plus a few more steps to get what you know already... there are ways of doing this in small scale to make your own at home though! im not sure what they are im still learning

[Souraneel]

i likes the music

[EvilKris]

basically chocolate comes from a Mayan word and is from the Mexica area originally. They would grind it up and drink it or use it as a medicine. Then the Spanish came, took it back to wealthy Spaniards who added sugar to kill the bitterness. Then the Brits made the first solid blocks of chocolate, then the Swiss added milk.

[Foxco29]

Is there any way to get this video with the audio?

[50cent66surf]

great

[slyguytoo]

im just learning but from what i have gathered so far the first known chocolate type recipe was I believe the drink you speak of made by the myans and aztec which was the beans ground up mixed with cinnamon, water, vanilla and other various spices that complement the drink and shortly after was indeed mixed with coffee. dont hold me to that im not sure how much truth there is but thats what i seem to be coming across

[skintite]

In another video it was said that when cortez went back to Spain he spoke of the drink as though a man could drink it and work all day without food. Do they de caffinate chocolate? Or Is there a more potent version. Like coffee?

[LEGIONARIO1970]

According to the AZTEC leyend, the aztec god Quetzalcoatl (the feathered snake), gave the aztecs the cacao tree as a special gift to prepare a bitter beverage called: "Te-choco-atl". This bevarege was reserved only for the elite class: warriors, knights, priests and of course the emperor. The spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez took this beverage to Spain where they sweetened it and make it popular in europe.

Greetings from Mexico!!!

[kovidsk]

i agree i dont like chocolate companies that enslave but i tried newmanns own a couple of weeks ago and it tasted spicy and like friggen wine or something bah..im only 13

[africanharvest]

Hmmm... interesting that they are not marketing their chocolate that way. Since reading the State Department's 2007 TIP Report (page 31 addresses chocolate slavery), I have not purchased any chocolate that could potentially be tainted by slave labor. My friends and I greatly appreciate the companies (such as Green & Blacks, Endangered Species, and Newman's Own) that assure their consumers they are not using slave cocoa.