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Comment by whatever1 | Hacker News Reader

I love chocolate.

But man some some times I wonder how desperately hungry were the people who made something edible out of the cocoa tree.

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I wouldn't have assumed they were desperately hungry. Maybe they were bored of eating the same thing every day and looking for some novelty.

Well, the fruit is a lovely flavor. Once you learn that e.g. pomelo peel has a way to cook and be eaten, you realize the resourcefulness of our forebears and their quest for flavor and a full belly

Cacao are OK to suck on (to get the pulp around the seeds), but the seeds themselves taste utterly vile.

Most seeds dont taste good unless they are processed right?

I disagree. After drying for a few days they just taste like unsweetened chocolate to me. Very similar to the cacao nibs I used to purchase, which are indeed just broken up seeds.

After a few days they have been dried and fermented, though.

I imagine it's not too different from eating a spoonful of raw cocoa powder

Cacao powder has been dried and fermented at least, and usually it's roasted too. There is something else done in dutch processed powder. It's probably a very different flavor. I've never thought to eat the seeds raw, but now I will try them at some point.

Agree, this is now on my short list too :-)

It really is an amazing flavour but so incredibly frustrating to eat due to how little there is of it!

(I’m talking about the pulp around the seeds, not the flesh right under the skin of the pod, which I’ve never tried eating)

The pulp is delicious! There are suppliers that are starting to sell cocoa pulp, so now you can enjoy without all the work!

https://cocoasupply.com/cacao-fruit-pulp-puree-nectar-pouche...

Matter of taste. I like eating cocoa beans. Oddly, I cannot stand the smell of coffee.

Aztecs used cocoa beans as currency (in their case, money did grow on trees :), and drinking chocolate was reserved to the higher classes. Every time I see expensive food with gold leaves I'm reminded of that. Maybe they tried to eat money too?

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