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From Cacao To Tablea

December 23, 2008

Christmas mornings for me, are not complete without the good old favorites: ham, cheese, and a cup of hot chocolate. Not just chocolate, mind you. It has to be thick and oily tsokolate.

I’ve been making our own tablea for years. Having several cacao trees in the yard ensures a steady supply of cacao beans. It’s really easy making tablea. First, we pick the ripe cacao, suck the sweet flesh off the seeds, wash and dry them for several days until they are completely dry. Then when we roast them just so.

While still hot, we remove the peel from the seeds. That way, you only have to squeeze the seed a little to remove the cover. When the seeds are already cold, the skin sticks to seed and it’s very hard to remove unless you use a knife. The next step is grinding the roasted cacao beans. We have it ground at the market. The aroma is incredible at this stage. The house smells intensely chocolatey.

The ground roasted cacao beans, if roasted correctly, should be gleaming and have a paste-like consistency. Usually, I mix in condensed milk and sugar, but this year, I just molded it and stored it for cooking later on. When the tablea are still in the soft stage, I don’t let them touch each other as they will stick together when they harden and it’s hard to pry them apart.

I can’t wait for Christmas!

Posted by biyay at 6:29 am | permalink

Previous Comments

kami din gumagawa ng tablea. nakasasawa na nga magsupsop ng cacao seeds.

Posted by Glo at January 7, 2009, 1:33 pm

hehe. graduate na ako jan. dati tinitipon ko mga bata sa neighborhood para supsupin ang seeds. ngayon, medyo pinapabulok ko muna ang cacao before opening. mas madali alisin ang nasa paligid ng seeds pag ganun

Posted by biyay at January 12, 2009, 8:11 pm

biyay, taga-diin ka tabi? hahaha

Posted by reyna elena at February 1, 2009, 2:00 pm

I’m also from your barrio siete, manay reynz

Posted by biyay at February 1, 2009, 3:56 pm

marami din mmga puno g caco d2 samin sa laguna kaya ln nasaayang lng ang mga buga kc wala marunung gumawa ng tablea,,,,,bka po pwede matulungan nyo ako kungg pano gumaa ng table……..

Posted by marilyn at January 11, 2011, 9:56 am

marilyn, pinaka-unang gagawin ay humanap ng mga bata na magsu-sopsop ng buto ng cacao. kung wala kang malokong bata o matanda na gagawa nun, linisn ang mga buto para maalis yung puting cover nya. kinikiskis ko ang mga buto ng net para maalis yung puti.

pangalawa, ibilad ang mga buto hanggang sa tuyong tuyo at magaan na sila.

#3: kumuha ng kawa at i-roast ang mga cacao beans. di ko masabi kung gaano katagal mo gagawin yun kasi depende yun kung gaano kadami yung niluluto mo, kung anong klase ng apoy gamit mo, at kung gaano katuyo yung mga buto. yung nasa picture, medyo hindi pa yun. basta wag mong tutungin. mag-praktis ka. konti lang muna gawin mo hanggang makuha mo tamang kulay.

#4. tanggalin ang balat. gawin mo ito habang mainit pa ang mga buto kasi kung lumamig na, medyo mahirap na alisin yun.

#5. gilingin ang cacao. wag gagawin sa grinder attachment ng blender mo. sa gilingan talaga. pag wala kang gilingan, punta ka sa palengke at dun magpa-giling sa mga gumigiling ng kape or bigas.

#6. mag-decide ka kung pagkatapos magiling e dadagdagan mo ang asukal o hindi yung cacao mo. either way, pormahin agad ang tablea. kung hindi ka maglalagay ng asuka, medyo matagal bago tumigas yun. at kung puro yung tablea mo, wag mo pagdiit-dikit habang pinatutuyo mo sila kasi didikit ang mga yun.

#7. gumawa ng tsokolate and enjoy!

Posted by biyay at January 12, 2011, 7:00 am

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