Cacao

Cacao pods

Although they are sensitive to the cold, cacao trees are being successfully cultivated by some growers in South Florida. One chocolate maker has even started making tree-to-bar chocolate bars with Florida-grown cacao. At the USDA’s Subtropical Horticulture Research Station off Old Cutler Road near Palmetto Bay, researchers grow and study cacao plants year-round.

In the Redland, the Patch of Heaven Sanctuary – 20 lush acres of exotic gardens, a tropical hammock forest and pine rockland – is growing cacao. Their horticulturists have successfully grown the trees. They have harvested the pods, fermented the beans and dried them, the first step toward making chocolate. Miami chocolatier Ricardo “Cao” Trillos of Cao Chocolates has made chocolates from the cacao, roasting the fermented beans, cracking them and removing the husks, leaving bits called nibs. They are ground to form a chunky cacao paste that is melted and mixed with sugar, heated and placed in a motorized melanger, where the paste is ground for hours between granite slabs and rollers until it becomes shiny and smooth. This chocolate is the base for bars, bonbons and other chocolate treats sold in his shop.

Find cacao: You may spot colorful cacao pods at fruit vendors at farmers markets, including Southwest Community Farmers Market. The juicy flesh surrounding the beans is sweet and tasty, but don’t expect a chocolatey flavor.