Hawaiian Islands pt 2

This is the second half of a trip I took to Hawaii. The first half was set on Kauai, and this second half will be on the main island. I went to Anne's farm, and another farm called Original Hawaiian Chocolatier.

At the Original Hawaiian Chocolatier farm, we took a short tour of the farm. It was mostly about the process, and probably the most informative part for me was when our guide (the owner of the property) was talking about fermenting, and specifically the heat-catalyzed interactions of aromatc molecules. The heat in a pile of fermenting beans can reach up to 120 C, or 248 F, and this heat is enough to spark the creation of what are called VAPs (volatile aromatic compounds) within the beans. Citric acid (the acid present in citrus fruits that makes them sour), oxalic acid (the acid in spinach that makes the surface of your teeth feel rough), and malic acid (the acid present in apples and cherries), are all converted into different VAPs that contribute greatly to a bean's flavor after roasting and conching, the two steps in the process that most greatly affect flavor.

Malic acid, for instance, is the main acid responsible for notes of tart fruits in the final product. Citric acid, counterintuitively, contributes buttery and soft undertones to the chocolate.

Anyways, we were also shown the machinery that does all of the processing in the later stages of the process. It was all packed into one room, and it was really interesting to see how every machine connects to the next, representing the flow of manufacturing chocolate.

Anne's farm was actually quite similar to the last time we'd been; as far as I could tell, not much had changed. Trees had been removed and other things had been added, but I thought it all still approximated to a similar landscape.

We walked around for a while, I picked a few pods, and we sliced them open later with a special tool with a sharp edge of metal. There was also an apiary, which I think is the word for a bee-house. I'm pretty sure the Latin for bee is apis, and I'm very sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyways, we had a nice chat with Anne's mother, and left soon after we cracked the pods open. It was a fun time, and I learned a lot abut managing land with a lot of crops on it. It's an exact science, it is, and it'll be useful in future, I'm sure.

Overall, Hawai'i was a fun and informative experience, and I'm glad I missed school for it. I only wish I had those honey roasted macadamia nuts with me...

This is the room with all the machinery. That large tank is a conche, I think, and the machine next to it is slowly tempering the chocolate even as it conches. Speculation all, though.

The opening of the pods. One can see the strip of sharp metal, and the pod is rolled over it to make a slit that goes all round the pod. Once the whole pod has been slitted in half, the halves are twisted, and one half will have the seeds.