Not a 'too detailed' article highlighting the role that Trinidad & Tobago plays in Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) enhancement and conservation.

1. Cocoa Harvesting:
Location: The "La Reunion" Estate, on the island of Trinidad, in the southern
Caribbean.
Some of us may not have heard of La Reunion before, (I certainly wouldn’t think
anyone that doesn’t live in, or know Trinidad intimately would at all.) but when it
comes to Cocoa, there are only a handful of locations anywhere in the world that
are as important.
The “La Reunion Cocoa Research Station is a ‘division’ situated within the
Ministry of Agriculture's huge agricultural research station in Mausica named
"Centeno".
The existence of this estate is public knowledge and many Trinis regularly
venture off the familiar Church/Roose H'way to take advantage of the seriously
discounted prices of plants offered there by the Govt. Farm Nursery.
Also at Centeno, you can...
* File an application for a Phytosanitary cert. (To import plant material legally
into T&T)
* Carry in your samples for soil testing
* Obtain informational material and advice
* Access a wide assortment of agricultural, horticultural and botanical training
courses that are regularly offered to members of the public. Free!
http://www.agriculture.gov.tt/main-media/latest-news/669-farmers-training-centre-
april-2016-training-schedule.html
These are but a small number of the goods and services anyone can access if
they choose.

2. To find out about what else is on offer, visit the Ministry of Agriculture's Research
Station’s page at:
http://www.agriculture.gov.tt/services/by-divisions/research.html
This is useful stuff and I hope some of you reading this benefit for knowing it.
If you're like me, (Proud to be Trini), whenever the topic of Chocolate or Cocoa
comes up, (especially if there are non-Trinis involved in the conversation) I've
always been eager to point out to the rest that Trini Cocoa is widely considered to
provide the finest flavored beans in the world etc etc etc...
But up until only a few years ago, I had nothing more to proffer when it came to
answering questions that were posed in response to my bold (unsubstantiated)
claim.
Without one-or-two additional interesting Trini/Coco GK-facts to "Big-Up T&T", I
have to admit, I was left wanting, to say the least.
I really only knew to repeat that one "fact" that I heard some people say a few
times before...
You know... "T&T's coco is #1!"... ..."Says who?"... ..."Uhh...
Guess I just heard it said by so many people, I figured it must be true, and
dutifully rattled it off whenever the opportunity arose.
Like me, I suspect that most Trinis aren't aware just how important the La
Reunion Cocoa Research Station really is... To cocoa cultivation, cocoa
breeding, cocoa conservation, and overall cocoa species' genetic preservation.
That's right, because La Reunion is the home of the International Cocoa Gene
Bank.
That is to say that despite the fact that the "epicenter" of Theobroma cacao’s
evolutionary range lies hundreds of miles away to the south of here in the humid
tropical forests of the foothills of the Amazonian side of the Andes mountain
chain in South America, Trinidad has been entrusted with the privilege of
maintaining, duplicating and supplying 'variety specific' genetic clones/materials
on request to countries and institutions the world over.
Cocoa seeds are ‘recalcitrant’ seeds. This means that if you allow them to dry
out, they lose all viability and won’t grow if planted. Therefore Cocoa seeds
cannot be stored in containers on shelves in a conventional ‘seed gene bank’.

3. Even if they are kept in a carefully climate controlled storage unit.
Arguably one of the world’s most beloved non-wood forest products, Theobroma
Cacao is a most important and lucrative crop indeed. The ‘recalcitrant’ nature of
the seeds means that whole fields containing multiple specimens of each ‘type’
(or variety) of the species must be carefully documented and lovingly maintained.
(There are currently more than 1400 varieties being preserved by T&T at La
Reunion. Multiple individuals of over 1400 ’types’ kept in rigorously documented
plot. (Location, type id #, Tree # …) I don’t have a specific number for how many
trees this works out to, but I spend a lot of time in the estate and the number is
HUGE!!! I think I’ll ask next time I go.
I'm not sure but I like to imagine that T&T’s long, distinguished history with Cocoa
contributed at least in-part to the global cocoa industries leaders’ decision to
entrust us with this crucial responsibility.
As part of the British colonial empire, Trinidad first begun by simple cultivation of
cocoa. Later on our growers became proficient at cross-pollination of the different
varieties. Their intent being to introduce desirable characteristics present in a
specimen bearing a lower quality (and flavor) bean, to less robust varieties that
produced high quality beans with superior flavor characteristics. This is a
painfully slow undertaking (sometimes decades long) of selecting new varieties
from literally thousands of seedlings (every one of the seeds obtained from the
crossed fruit is allowed to grow to fruiting age. Once it fruits and the quality has
been evaluated, the tree decision is made as to which specimen(s) are displaying
desirable traits. Only those that meet the desired criteria will be kept and
propagated. The rest are usually destroyed. The worst part is that even with all
the knowledge, experience, time and dedication required to see it through this
process, there’s no guarantee the breeder will emerge with a viable or superior
tree. (It’s really gotta be something you love…)
One of the 'enhanced' new varieties obtained in Trinidad through this decades-
long process bears an alpha-numeric 'designation' rather than a real name. To
the best of my knowledge.
[Drumroll please…]
….The name of the creme-de-la-creme cocoa variety whose aroma and flavor
solidified Trinidad's reputation as the best in the world, is called simply, "TSH-
919" (Trinidad Selected Hybrid 919) and it is indeed considered the best in the
world by many of Europe's finest chocolatiers who use it primarily in their highest
coco-percentage dark/bitter chocolate. Not to everyone's liking, (I love it, yum…)
but very, very good for your health. Naturally we should remember that ‘taste’ is a
very subjective thing, and preferences vary widely when it comes to which

4. ‘type(s)” of beans a particular chocolate is made with.
Cocoa beans contain an assortment of beneficial compounds and there is
mounting evidence suggesting that regular consumption is effective as a
preventive regimen to help stave off and even improve age related circulatory
health disorders.
(In other words; “It does stop yuh from cetchin’ heart attack, stroke an’ suggah na
… “ O ho… an’ it does keep yuh artrees an’ ting from hard’nin’ too…”)
The diets of native tribes in Argentina, Bolivia, Equador, and so on, that still live
in the traditional way invariably include a variety of ingredients obtained from the
Cacao trees that grow wild in their forests. Researchers note that in these
settings, eating their simple, high Cacao diets, the tribes-people display almost
no incidences of the so-called modern diseases like heart disease, hypertension,
diabetes etc. Not until they leave their villages (and their Cacao rich diets) behind
for the big city and the modern foods so conveniently available there. Then their
risks of developing one or more of these illnesses becomes equal to our own.
(Eat Plenty Cocoa! It’s good for your Health…)
A request… Please. If after you read this you feel you’d like to start regularly
including Cacao in your diet. Don’t tief it please. Years ago I used to think nothing
of pulling over on the side of the road in Santa Cruz or Gran Couva or wherever
to pick a few pods to suck. It’s not something I do nor do I condone any longer.
The fact is, the stealing of another person’s fruit it’s not necessary. I find that if
you see the farmer/owner, all you have to do is ask… 99% of the times they’re so
pleased that you didn’t just pick it without asking that they want to send you home
with half the tree… Try to resist being greedy and take only what you can enjoy
for the drive home and consume at home without it spoiling.
The "Pods" in the photo were collected from the trees the day before and piled in
a big heap. Now we see one of the Field Station’s workers preparing to begin the
next step in the process known as "Cracking the Coco” which means quite simply
to “Crack” open the pods and extract the seeds.
After the cracking is done, the seeds along with the sweet white pulp that coats
them are fermented for roughly three weeks. Then they are dried, (not roasted,
remember, the natural oils/fats contained within the bean is what you want.)
“For d coco, eh-ro-steeng es no bueno..!” <--- (Read using your best Latin
accent…)

5. Typically, drying the beans is done utilizing one of two methods. The first way is
to dry them in a traditional “Cocoa house” with it’s roof mounted on tracks to
allow it to be quickly rolled open during periods of sun… and closed if it looks like
it’s getting overcast and might rain. The other (modern) method uses the gas
fired drying table. Much quicker and convenient, but in my opinion, something is
lost when your “Cocoa isn’t dried in the Sun”.
Then the dried remnants of the pulp is removed from the beans. By now they are
dry and they are mechanically ‘polished’ and sorted by size before being poured
into large burlap sacks ready for shipping.
Finally, the seeds have officially become the famous dried cocoa beans used in
the creation of the various chocolates, drinks and many more treats that we all
know and love...
…