A cocoa stick is the whole roasted cacao bean, ground and rolled by hand with its cocoa butter still in it. In Saint Lucia it is grated into hot water or milk to make cocoa tea, which is a breakfast rather than a dessert.
How to tell it apart
| Cocoa stick | The whole bean. Cocoa butter intact, so it melts into the cup and leaves a rich body. Dense, fudgy where it snaps. |
|---|---|
| Cocoa powder | Pressed. Most of the fat removed, which is why it sits on top of the liquid and needs sugar and milk solids to feel like anything. |
This is the difference between cocoa tea and hot chocolate from a tin. The fat is the point: it carries the aroma and gives the drink its weight.
Specimen
| Botanical name | Theobroma cacao |
|---|---|
| Family | Malvaceae |
| Part used | Roasted bean, ground and rolled |
| Also called | Cocoa tea stick, boulèt kakawo |
| Origin | Grown and dried in Saint Lucia |
| Form | Whole and dried, not ground |
Using it
- Grate a stick into hot water with cinnamon, a bay leaf and a strip of orange peel. Sweeten at the end.
- Finish with a little milk or condensed milk, to taste.
- Also grated into savoury Caribbean stews in small amounts.
Keeping it
Wrapped and airtight at room temperature. Cocoa butter picks up other smells, so keep it away from spices.
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