Cacao/Cocoa? Whats going on?

[James Carmichael]

I just bought some cacoa nibs. Half the shops i visited didn't even know what I was talking about. I think we may call it cocoa over here in the UK?

Whats the difference if there is one?

Also whats the nutritional value of them. I'm eating then with crushed almonds and blended banana for breakie. Apsolutely lovely :)

[Amii]

It's not the same; "cocoa" isn't raw because it's roasted.

You need to go to a health food store to get proper raw cacao, and if they don't have any ask if they've got carob :)
Try Holland and Barrett.

[James Carmichael]

It's not the same; "cocoa" isn't raw because it's roasted.

You need to go to a health food store to get proper raw cacao, and if they don't have any ask if they've got carob :)
Try Holland and Barrett.

Thats exactly where i went. I ended up going to Health and Herbs and got a bag of them for £7. I think it was worth it tho feel great eating them.

I thought Cocoa was the leaf part of the tree? Or something like that.

[Amii]

We've got a chain of stores here called The Health Food Store but I'm not sure if it's in Wales because it's not in many cities in England.

I'm not really sure to be honest. All I know is cocoa that you get in supermarkets and that has been chemically treated with this and that and cooked into deadness ;)

[klomasius]

'Cacao' is simply closer to the pronunciation of the traditional way of saying the name, 'cocoa' is the way westerners pronounced it when they first came in contact with the food and the traditional producers of it.

Cacao and cocoa are basically the same product, it's just more likely that cocoa labeled 'cacao' is raw, but it's not always the case. You'll need to check individual brands and labels to be sure.

Cocoa labelled cacao is often of a higher quality than packages labelled cocoa, this is really only because in order to label it cacao, the manufacurers have gone for the more discerning market who are aware of cacao and its properties and who expect a quality product.

Cooked cocoa is very different chemically to raw cacao, one of these differences is the higher levels of antioxidants in the raw product, but you can do a bit of research and discover all the other differences.

The cacao/cocoa confusion comes up a lot. :)

EDIT: other quality issues when comparing off the shelf cocoa products to cacao include whether the product is single origin, what type of bean is used, whether the beans are low or high quality and the fermentation/production process.

[James Carmichael]

'Cacao' is simply closer to the pronunciation of the traditional way of saying the name, 'cocoa' is the way westerners pronounced it when they first came in contact with the food and the traditional producers of it.

Cacao and cocoa are basically the same product, it's just more likely that cocoa labeled 'cacao' is raw, but it's not always the case. You'll need to check individual brands and labels to be sure.

Cocoa labelled cacao is often of a higher quality than packages labelled cocoa, this is really only because in order to label it cacao, the manufacurers have gone for the more discerning market who are aware of cacao and its properties and who expect a quality product.

Cooked cocoa is very different chemically to raw cacao, one of these differences is the higher levels of antioxidants in the raw product, but you can do a bit of research and discover all the other differences.

The cacao/cocoa confusion comes up a lot. :)

EDIT: other quality issues when comparing off the shelf cocoa products to cacao include whether the product is single origin, what type of bean is used, whether the beans are low or high quality and the fermentation/production process.

Ok thanks that clears alot up.

[Raw Angel Mom]

You can order on line and also you can bring the bag to your local store and ask them to carry it or if you prefer, print the picture. We now have a huge variety of raw food in my area, when i started, the only thing i could find was fresh produce.

[GreenBee]

Ok thanks that clears alot up.

For me to!