Chapter 313 - 137: Cacao Tree (Part 2)
The mountains here are not as high as the one with the carved cave, nor are they as steep, gently rising like a big mound.
In the woods near the foot of the mountain, you can see an orange tree every few steps.
Besides that, there are even more lemon trees and citron trees bearing yellow fruits, some of which form orchards with dozens of trees clustered together.
There are numerous birds here, and the ground is littered with ripe fruit that has fallen, emitting a scent of rot and fruit fermentation.
The abundance of food makes the fruit-eating birds picky, only eating the freshest fruit from the trees, completely ignoring the fruit on the ground.
After walking a few steps, Chen Zhou saw many birds with brilliant feathers perched on branches, pecking at the fruit.
These creatures do not appreciate their blessings, like Sun Monkey in the Peach Garden, never finishing the fruit. Just in the trees near Chen Zhou, there were many fruits with bite marks all over them.
...
The canopy blocked the sunlight. Upon entering here, Lai Fu regained its spirit, staring wide-eyed, curiously surveying the birds above.
Among them was a light green parrot, the boldest, which did not evade these two unexpected guests, dumbly standing on a branch. Only when Chen Zhou approached and reached out to grab it did it fly away, emitting an exceptionally clear and sharp sound.
Compared to the coastal areas, this place is simply a paradise.
Situated amidst the mountains, it is sheltered from storms; the terrain is flat and vast, with fertile soil suitable for farming and grazing.
It’s close to a water source, and the path to retrieve water is smooth, saving energy; the area is rich in resources, with dense fruit trees, more than enough not just for daily use but also to feed sheep...
If it weren’t such a time-consuming and laborious task to transport building materials here, and if the cave hadn’t been made satisfactory enough, Chen Zhou would really want to move here.
Anyway, he didn’t need to leave this island to return to reality. Rather than watching the scenery by the coast and guarding against attacks from natives or pirates of his era, it would be better to retreat into the depths of the island and return directly when the challenge ended.
Of course, that’s if he behaves himself.
He was still thinking of taming a few natives to work for him, or even had early designs on that Spanish plundering ship.
Chen Zhou was not going to be a coward hiding in this paradise, cut off from the outside world, since that would not only be an act of avoidance but also increase the risks of the unknown.
Yet, if he had the time in the future, he could mimic Robinson and build a spacious and bright wooden house here. Whenever he got tired of the cave, he could occasionally come here to stay for a couple of days.
...
Taking out a pre-prepared container from his backpack, he picked some ripe citrons and carefully dug out a few delicate saplings from the ground, then continued deeper into the valley.
When he reached about halfway up the mountain, he finally saw the cocoa trees he had longed for.
The cocoa trees were much taller and sturdier than he had imagined. The shorter ones were about 5 meters tall, and some of the sturdier, older ones were even over ten meters tall, more than three times higher than the apricot and pear trees back home, looking quite majestic.
The trunk of the cocoa tree was dark brown, with some white spots on its surface.
Its branches were smooth, the leaves were tender green, and the fruit hung directly from the branches, forming a string from the bottom to the top, which was quite magnificent.
The state of the fruit was not consistent; some were green, some reddish-brown, and some yellow, all olive-shaped and varying in size.
Like the fruits of most trees, the color of the cocoa fruit indicated its maturity level.
The green ones were the least mature. As they developed to a certain stage, they would gradually turn pale yellow, then yellow, and eventually shift to an orange-red hue.
During this process, the cocoa beans inside the cocoa fruit would gradually grow larger and mature until the flesh of the cocoa fruit became woody and turned into a hard shell, at which point the cocoa beans were fully mature and could grow into new trees as seeds.
At this point, the cocoa beans would be the raw material for making chocolate.
However, the manufacturing process of modern commonly seen solid chocolate is very complex, requiring cocoa bean roasters, and even cocoa nib crushers and dehullers. Lastly, a chocolate refiner and a chocolate tempering machine are needed for further processing.
With Chen Zhou’s current technical level, it was completely unattainable.
The chocolate-making and consumption method he knew was far from that complicated.
Actually, in the 17th century, this method had already spread from South America to Europe through the Spaniards and had become one of the essential drinks for European aristocrats’ afternoon tea.
This method of processing chocolate for consumption was quite simple. It only required removing the shells of roasted cocoa beans, grinding them into powder, and adding spices like cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar, before pressing them into blocks with molds.
Then, the block was placed in a metal container for heating. During the process, a stirring tool was needed to continuously stir the heated chocolate powder so that it mixed thoroughly with the spices.
After stirring, the hot, thick chocolate was poured directly into a cup, and this sweet and fragrant hot drink was ready.
...
For ancient chocolate-making, Chen Zhou basically had all the tools and ingredients, except for a few spices. However, he thought that chocolate made with just sugar should not taste bad.
After all, unlike coffee, chocolate does not have high demands for spices and craftsmanship.
Coffee beans are mainly bitter, with a sour taste after entry. Once made into coffee powder, if sugar and other spices are not added, the taste is not generally acceptable by most people.