The story of chocolate part 1
The story of chocolate begins in the rainforest, where cocoa trees grow. Pods grow on the cocoa trees and inside the pods are seeds called cocoa beans. These cocoa beans are the magical ingredient in chocolate. Cocoa trees grow in the hot, damp shade under the leafy canopy of the tallest tree in the rainforest. There, the cocoa trees blossom with pink and white flowers. These flowers grow strait from the trunk and main branches. Tiny insects called midges carry pollen between the blossoms, fertilising them so cocoa pods will grow. Only a few of the hundreds of blossoms develop into cocoa pods. Like the blossoms, the pods grow straight from the trunk and branches of the tree. Many cocoa trees grow both blossoms and pods all year around. In about 4 months, the cocoa pods grow to the size of melons. It takes another month before they are fully ripe. The colour of the ripe pods ranges from yellow to dark red. The pods are hard and must be split open to show the beans. Each p
