INTRODUCTION 



IN a few short chapters I propose to give a plain 

 account of the production of cocoa and chocolate. 

 I assume that the reader is not a specialist and 

 knows little or nothing of the subject, and hence both 

 the style of writing and the treatment of the subject 

 will be simple. At the same time, I assume that the 

 reader desires a full and accurate account, and not a 

 vague story in which the difficulties are ignored. I hope 

 that, as a result of this method of dealing with my sub- 

 ject, even experts will find much in the book that is of 

 interest and value. After a brief survey of the history 

 of cocoa and chocolate, I shall begin with the growing 

 of the cacao bean, and follow the cacao in its career 

 until it becomes the finished product ready for con- 

 sumption. 



Cacao or Cocoa ? 



The reader will have noted above the spelling 

 ' cacao," and to those who think it curious, I would 

 say that I do not use this spelling from pedantry. It is 

 an imitation of the word which the Mexicans used for 

 this commodity as early as 1500, and when spoken by 

 Europeans is apt to sound like the howl of a dog. The 

 Mexicans called the tree from which cacao is obtained 

 cacauatl. When the great Swedish scientist Linnaeus, 

 the father of botany, was naming and classifving (about 

 1735) the trees and plants known in his time, he christ- 

 ened it Theobroma Cacao, by which name it is called 

 by botanists to this day. Theo-broma is Greek for 

 " Food of the Gods." Why Linnaeus paid this ex- 

 traordinary compliment to cacao is obscure, but it 

 has been suggested that he was inordinately fond of 



