[Sca-cooks] cacao nibs

[Beth Ann Bretter]

> The nibs I've got on hand in the freezer don't seem
> very gritty to me.  
> Perhaps there's a crunch from the outer husk or shell
> portions, but it  
> never seemed like a big issue for me; but then I've
> been known to eat  
> coffee beans, too, so perhaps my bar for informed tolerance
> of  
> otherwise-perceived-as-unpleasant things is set at a
> different height.  
> To me, the mouth feel is quite similar to that of chopped
> macadamia or  
> Brazil nuts. [snippety because I agree with everything Adamantius says]

I've also had cocao nibs and don't remember all that much bitterness or grittiness, but I drink my coffee with cream no sugar so YMMV.  I've been known to eat barenaked coffee beans (although I prefer the dark chocolate coated variety) and cocao nibs for fun. 85% Dark Chocolate is my friend!

I'm also not aware of any further processing that the nibs need to go through other than grinding and mixing in order to make chocolate.  In fact, I just saw a program about a Hawaiian chocolate maker on the Food Network yesterday and all the intense processing (fermentation, roasting, breaking up of the seed pod into nibs) takes place before the nibs are formed, not after.

I've had the Aztec drink at an EK University Cooking (or maybe Herbal since the guilds overlap quite nicely here in the East) event a few years ago and it's WONDERFUL!  Quite honestly the best thing I've ever tasted.

Peyton