It's been awhile since there's been a road trip with fellow bloggers into the interior. Ever since our intrepid adventurer and adventuress, Cumi & Ciki became international food and travel writers, these jaunts into the quaint little towns and remote areas have become all but a memory. So, when Cumi & Ciki spearheaded the trip to Cocoaland, well, actually a Cocoa plantation run by the Lembaga Koko Malaysia, (not related to Coco Chanel), a large group of us enthusiastically hopped onto the proverbial bandwagon...some wagons arriving later than others, and getting lost.
The place, Jengka, off the new east coast highway, just after the Temerloh turn off, approximately 2 hours from KL. There are a whole lot of Felda settlements along the way, and Jengka is divided numerically into Jengka XXX. We were supposed to turn off at Jengka 18. Laidat oso got people can get lost.
The Malaysian Cocoa Board has a nice building perched on top of a hill...
Our troops ready for adventure.
The people at the Cocoa Board are very hospitable, we were given a lovely breakfast of fried noodles with fried eggs, before being ushered into the conference room for a taklimat. (briefing). It was actually very educational. I always thought Malaysia was way up there in cocoa production, but actually, we are lagging behind at number 18, if I am not mistaken, in cocoa producing. However, as Cocoa grinders, we are ranked no 3, so there is a big disparity between raw material and end product in our industry here.
The Cocoa Board actually sets out to help small time or big time farmers, interested in cultivating the crop. They provide seedlings, saplings, bud grafting, pest control, advice and service for 5 years for FREE!!! They even arrange for your crops to be bought. So, if you have 10 hectares of land lying around idle, do consider a career in cocoa planting. The price of processed cocoa powder is apparently even higher than palm oil.
Is that dashing British fellow falling asleep at the briefing? Gasp!
We were provided transport in a convoy of 4 wheel drives. Children being children, opted to sit in the trunk.
A cocoa tree up close, with them cocoa pods.
Who makes the peace sign anymore these days while taking pics? Well, apparently Memoirs of Chocaholic does. Maybe the cocoa fuelled the flower power in the chocaholic.
Ms Cocoaland 2010??
Some kid who was hanging around with us.
The cocoa pods come in different colors. This species is a glorious aubergine type color.
One of the projects of the Cocoa Board is to experiment on different permutations for crops. In terms of spacing of the plants, and what other plants can be grown concurrently. Here we have the very sought after TONGKAT ALI grown in between the cocoa plants. I would love to try them aphrodisiac chocolates made from cocoa from this plantation!
The fleshy interior of the cocoa pod.... the texture is a bit like soursop, as well as the taste. Yes, its edible.
Check out Oliver's pods.
With one deft chop, Su of Delectable manages to crack open the cocoa pod like a hard boiled egg.
The circle of life for the cocoa bean. The seeds are placed in a wet gunny sack to germinate. When germinated, the seedling is placed, root down, for the young sapling to grow. The pictures show the cocoa baby plant in various stages of growth. After 6 weeks or so, they are bud grafted, with other species, for more productivity.
And the final stop, how we actually GET the cocoa from the cocoa pod. The pods are broken, either manually, or with the Cocoa Breaker Machine, (COBRE), the beans are separated from the husk, and the beans are fermented for up to five days. Hence a foul odour fills the air, so if you intend to ferment cocoa beans at home, make sure you don't do it in your condo.
The fermented beans are then left to to get a sun tan, for 3 days or so, before they are dried to a crisp, and vaguely the same skin tone as Ciki. The precious cocoa lies within the seed.
We have in that last frame, that British fella telling Puan Rozita, "hey, this doesn't taste like Cadbury".
And the end product of cocoa is.....tah dah....
For those of us who wanted it, you could actually get the young cocoa plants and bring them home. The boy took 5 back.
A great trip, and honestly, MOST educational. Highly recommended for field trips etc. The people at the Lembaga Koko are great, hospitable, friendly and helpful. Kudos to them for an excellently run establishment.
Thanks to Cumi for organising, to Ciki for inviting, and to all the staff at the LKM.
PS- I hope little Chloe benefited from the Cocoa Pod that her mother asked for! ;)