The cocca or cacao nut, of which chocolate is made, is the seed of the fruit of a tree common in South America and the West Indies. The seeds of the nuts, which are nearly of the shape of an almond, are found to the number of from thirty to forty in a pod. The pods are oval, resembling a cucumber in shape. The different sorts are distinguished by name, according to the places which produce them, thus, - the cacao of Cayenne, Caraccas, Berbice, and the islands of St. Magdalen and Domingo. These all differ in the size of their almonds or seed, quality and taste. The most esteemed is the large Caraccas, the almond of which, though somewhat flat, resembles the shape of a large bean. The next are those of St. Magdalen and Berbice. The seeds of these are less flat than those of the Caraccas kind, and the skin is covered with a fine ash-coloured dust. The others are very crude and oily, and only fit to make the butter of cacao. The kernels, when fresh, are bitter, and are deprived of this by being buried in the ground for thirty or forty days. Good nuts should have a thin brittle skin, of a dark black colour; and the kernel, when the skin is taken off, should appear full and shining, of a dusky colour, with a reddish shade. Choose the freshest, not worm-eaten, or mouldy on the inside, which it is subject to be.

Equal parts of the cacao of Caraccas, St. Magdalen, and Berbice, mixed together, make a chocolate of first-rate quality; and these proportions give to it that rich and oily taste which it ought to have. That made from the cacao of Caraccas only is too dry, and that from the islands too fat and crude.

Roasting

Take a sufficient quantity of nuts to cover the bottom of an iron pot two or three inches deep, place them on the fire to roast, stirring them constantly with the spatula that the heat may be imparted to them equally. A coffee-roasting machine would answer for this purpose admirably, taking care not to torrefy them too much, as the oil of the nut suffers thereby, and it becomes a dark brown or black, grows bitter, and spoils the colour of the chocolate. Musty or mouldy nuts must be roasted more than the others, so as to deprive them of their bad taste and smell. It is only necessary to heat them until the skin will separate from the kernel on being pressed between the fingers. Remove them from the fire, and separate the skins. If you have a large quantity, this may be accomplished by putting them in a sieve which has the holes rather lame, but not so much as to allow the nuts to pass through; then squeeze or press them in your hands, and the skins will pass through the meshes of the sieve; or, after being separated from the nuts, they may be got rid of by winnowing or fanning them in a similar manner to corn. When they are separated, put them again in the fire, as before directed, stirring them constantly until warmed through, without browning. You may know when they are heated enough by the outside appearing shiny; again winnow, to separate any burnt skin which may have escaped the first time.