Cacao, Cocoa, Chocolate
Cacao and Cocoa
It is only in English that it is divided into two different vocabulary words.
Like macaron and macaroon, I didn’t really realize these two words were different.
When we read, our brain no longer spells letters one by one but rather remembers the shape of the word. That’s why we can still read the writing even though it’s intentionally made a typo though.
In fact, I just realized that this word has 2 types of writing because even the pronunciation is almost the same if you say it quickly.
All this time I think both of them are the same thing and probably one of them was a misspelling until I found a brand that uses the word “cacao” but it feels wrong because the word “cocoa” is more familiar to me.
I was curious to find the correct spell then realized there was nothing wrong with them because they have different meanings.
I’m looking for more because I am crazy about chocolates.
In general, cacao is a seed that a shaped like a bean while cocoa is the main ingredient to make chocolate and processed product from cacao.
You can see the illustration like the picture above. What makes this issue interesting is that this conundrum just exists in one language, which is English.
Other languages use the same vocab for the ingredients, the finished product, or even the seeds. In our country, there is only one name for this food, it’s just that we sometimes call it based on its shape, for example, bars, powders, seeds, drinks, etc. Let’s jump into more detail to discuss this issue!
Origin of name
The botanical name for the chocolate tree is Theobroma Cacao. “Cacao” comes from the Olmec people who inhabited what is now Mexico, and it is believed to be the closest pronunciation to the original name of the plant.
History shows that chocolate changed hands from the Olmec to the Mayans to the Spanish.
The word cacao is the only word ever used in any of the Hispanic languages to describe what English speakers think of as cocoa.
It is actually widely believed that the word cocoa has its origins in a spelling mistake that was never corrected, and perhaps found easier to pronounce then finally quite successfully overtook the correct form.
Processed
Cacao is pure cacao raw without any kind of process. On the contrary, cocoa is roasted at a high temperature from raw cacao.
In the past, chocolate was mostly made from cacao and then roasted into cocoa and processed into chocolate bars or various other forms.
Now cacao has become an alternative in itself for ingredients and is widely used by vegans.
The rise of the vegan lifestyle gave birth to a new term, namely “roasted cacao” which is actually cocoa.
I love how creative people come up with terms but be careful with various marketing terms if you are picky about this.
Form
Commonly, cacao is processed to a raw form with cold-pressing cacao beans. Well whereas cocoa usually is cracked, crushed, ground into a paste, or continue slammed with a large hydraulic press to create a powder.
pH
For those who don’t know yet, pH is a scale to specify a liquid including acidic, basic, or alkali.
Cacao has a neutral or basic pH of around 7. Well oppositely, natural cocoa powder has acid pH
Nutrition
Because cacao is an unheated process, it has more antioxidants and important minerals such as selenium, magnesium, chromium, and manganese.
Whereas, besides having been heated cocoa is also mixed with an alkali substance that reduces antioxidants and minerals also sweetened more. 100 grams of raw cacao powder has an ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) of around 95,500.
This decreased to 26,000 for cocoa powder. Besides, cacao has high calories than cocoa.
Color
Cacao tends to be darker in color than cocoa.
The darker the color of the chocolate, the higher the cacao content, which means it has more antioxidants.
Flavor
Usually, cacao has a more bitter taste, while cocoa tends to be sweet, apart from the roasting process which reduces the cacao content, generally, sweeteners are also added during processing.
Price
Besides being healthier, cacao is also more expensive than cocoa.
Maybe because bringing out the chocolate flavor naturally requires a longer process such as fermentation, drying, crushing, and grinding also has a higher cacao content.
While the cocoa has been mixed with the sweetener and the cacao content is much reduced.
How to served
Cacao is more suitable for unheated food because it can damage its antioxidant structure in it.
You can mix it with smoothies, yogurt, or unbaked cheese while cocoa is more suitable for hot drinks, baked cakes, etc.
Bottom Line
So, that’s all about cacao and cocoa. Although there is a difference between cacao and cocoa, there is a lot of variation between them and inconsistent use and process.
Sometimes these two ingredients can replace each other with some flavor-balancing tricks
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