cacao

Tropical American evergreen tree, now also cultivated in West Africa and Sri Lanka. Its seeds are cocoa beans, from which cocoa and chocolate are prepared. (Theobroma cacao, family Sterculiaceae.)

The trees mature at five to eight years and produce two crops a year. The fruit is 17–25 cm/6.5–9.5 in long, hard, and ridged, with the beans inside. The seeds are called cocoa nibs; when left to ferment, then roasted and separated from the husks, they contain about 50% fat, part of which is removed to make chocolate and cocoa.

The Aztecs revered cacao and made a drink exclusively for the nobility from cocoa beans and chillies, which they called chocolatl. In the 16th century Spanish traders brought cacao to Europe. It was used to make a drink, which came to rival coffee and tea in popularity.