Comments on: Cacao “Pulp”

By: wawell

wawell — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 12:16:47 +0000

the eleven year old davao girl who committed suicide becauseof poverty might have been deterred fromdoing so if the cacao scholarship program of the toledo green arc were known natio wide. the program is simple. plant 50 cacao trees for every child and usethe proceeds from these trees for the chikd s schooling. this program is supported by the tolodo division of city schools and the local churches.. parentsimmediately took to this.
november 112004

By: edna

edna — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 01:19:41 +0000

we had a cacao tree in our backyard when i was a kid and i would check on the fruits everyday and picked the ripe ones before anyobe else could. loved it and i missed it… my mom used to make our own tableas and i would sit and wait ’til she’d finish grindng the roasted cacao seeds. then she would allow me to get some of the gooey stuff. i would then mix it with sugar and milk and put in the freezer for my own version of a chocolate bar. but of course it didn’t taste like the chocolate bar from the stores.

Apicio, yes to the coffee beans! we also did this when we were kids at my grandfather’s house. he had a few coffee trees in his backyard,

By: gonzo

gonzo — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 13:50:52 +0000

good idea the ‘Proudly Pinoy’ label system. Yes we should promote our own 1000%, and knowledgable food people should get involved in improving products. MM, maybe you can think of some way people can participate in the process of improvement. Cordillera coffees – great name. As they say in SF and Berkeley, Starbucks is the enemy.

Did someone say something about the Socceroos? Incredibly bad call by that spanish guy. Terrible refereeing in this World Cup. The referees ruined the whole thing this year if you ask me. sayang. (Go Ghana!)

By: Marketman

Marketman — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 06:18:54 +0000

When a local grower, producer or manufacturer sells something that is local and good, I always buy that up as much as I can. I can fill my cart with imported goods too but in the past two years I have spent a whole heck of a lot on locally sourced goods…not in small part due to this website and my discovery that we do indeed have so much to offer, it just takes some time to identify the stuff worthy of our attention and wallets!

By: MasPinaSarap

MasPinaSarap — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 06:12:25 +0000

I think that’s what it’s all about; providing top quality to the people, if anything, to ourselves. Why import when the best can be grown in the homeland? If not the best, then super close too. Whatever is not top quality can then be imported from where it is. I mean, don’t we deserve the best? Why should Starbucks have dominance when startups like Cordillera Coffees which buy from Cordillera backyard growers is actually benefitting the P.I.? At least this is my understanding. Then they should mark all these products with the “Proudly Pinoy” mark, and show the world what we’re made of! Idealism, I know, but it might not be that far out of reach.
It’s all about the Fair Trade coffees. Whether in the Philippines or elsewhere, this is the best system I know of so far, where grower and consumer both benefit. Dunkin’ Donuts sells it, and it’s diverting customers from Starbucks, where you have to ask specifically for it because they supposedly carry it.
BTW, I don’t usually drop brands as such, but obviously, I wanted to inform using specifics.
Thanks :)

By: Apicio

Apicio — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 12:56:06 +0000

Lee, taking off from your spit imagery, yes, I heard of that but havenâ€™t tasted it for another reason, I confine my coffee budget within the absolute outer limits of good Hawaian or Jamaican beans. That is probably one of those food items of which the less you know about it the more pleasurable experience you get out of it as with savouring birds nest soup that one will never enjoy as much as when the thought of its source and substance is blocked entirely. After all even the mundane hotdogâ€™s fans are rightly admonished not to watch its production.

And btw, Linda from Australia, my feelings are with you about the Socceroos.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 08:49:06 +0000

Apicio, now I have to find a coffee plantation…with my luck, I will ingest a bean that has been sprayed with deadly insecticide…heehee. MGR, in general, I too lament that our produce is so sub-standard. Yes, other Asian governments help in producing world class quality produce and we can’t seem to get out acts together…mojitodrinker, it’s not just to be coffee bean producers, but rather to be proud of the quality and quantity of stuff we grow and showcase… honey I can only imagine what the smell is like…the closest I have come is during a tour by Ivan Mandy through Chinatown where we passed by an old chocolate/tablea manufacturer… Anna, you may not have a lot of the stuff I write about but you have lots of other superb fruits and vegetables in your neighborhood as well…I love Australian produce! lee, the intestinal tracts add just the right amount of “acids” to enhance the beans flavor…imagine if that were true for other larger foods as well… Jaja, think our own kids will have memories like these???

By: Jaja

Jaja — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 08:31:17 +0000

reading your post brings me back to my childhood days. We had cacao trees in front of our old house and my lola would pick out the ripe pods and we would eat the pulp. Just like eating mangosteen or marang, scooping it out with a fork. Then she would collect the beans to make tablea for tsokolate and champorado.

By: lee

lee — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 07:23:36 +0000

eat the pulp, spit the seed.

to Apicio: i believe you have heard of “kofi luwak” where they let civet cats eat coffee berries and then roast the seeds after. But then civet cats don’t spit…

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 06:52:20 +0000

i never knew you could eat the pulp like a fruit either! that would have been a nice experience. i love reading your blog because i get to discover fruits and vegetables i’ve never heard of before. the only problem is that after i read about them i want to eat them and most aren’t available in sydney (australia).