BringBackTheOld DRIVER

Boat names, handpainted in white on colourful hulls are, like bus names, a whole story in a short phrase.

The mind boggles at the motivation behind this one seen on one of the unpowered dinghies participating in the community fish haul on Wednesday. I call it a dinghy but it was big enough to hold the voluminous net and was towed round the circle while two guys heaved net overboard by hand.

Today's boat name of the day is "UNPREDICTABLE". 

I wouldn't tempt fate with that one.

Best bus slogan so far: 'All's well that ends well'

Taxi: 'Eternal Life II'

Think about that one.

Yesterday we visited the Diamond chocolate factory, which makes Jouvay brand chocolate. The website does the explanation about adding value to the cocoa grown here by refining it here too and selling end product chocolate.

We walked up from our digs. The plant is in an old rum distillery built by the French (1650 - 1762). 

These drying sheds (with pull out racks on tracks) were part of the original rum distillery set-up but no one on site today seemed to be able to say what part they played in rum production, so we made up a story the crushed cane was dried here to use as fuel under the distillation kettles.

Make up your own version. Whatever the truth they have turned out to be just the ticket for modern cocoa processing.

Anyway as you walk towards a chocolate refinery you expect to smell chocolate right? The overwhelming first impression is of vinegar.

It must be great living next door to that.

I stupidly didn't photograph the cocoa pod busted open for us - the cruise ship tour people were all over it so I tried to be like 'oh yeah, I've seen the inside of cocoa before', and I have but only in pictures (so here's a picture - borrowed) 

White. Yes white. The 'beans' have a white fleshy slimy coating that tastes satisfyingly sour. We were encouraged to test some. (On the way there an elderly local gave us a biodiversity tour as we walked along together.  She had pointed out fresh cocoa pods and explained she soaks the seeds to make a refreshing drink. I can see that now. It would work for me. Less sour than lemonade and no sugar required.)

To make chocolate, those seeds are dumped into water and fermented for 8 days. Hence the vinegar smell.  I have no idea whether there is a commercial product called cocoa vinegar. Would you buy it? 

Then they are dried for 8 days - turned every 30 minutes by hand (and foot - lots of shuffling about on drying racks kicking cocoa beans around.)

That is tour guide Kate (or Cait) and 8 drying racks on railway tracks so they can push them under cover if it rains.

Then there's a whole bunch of sorting and grading and processing; first by hand and then increasingly mechanized the closer it gets to being chocolate. The smell about the place has improved dramatically by that end of the factory.

On fishing night I'd met another 'on holiday' family who said their holiday was actually linked to 'helping out' at the chocolate factory and recommended the banana chocolate smoothies avaiable in the cafe. Said smoothies are indeed recommendable.

Jouvay is patois for Jour Ouvert - open day (or first day of festival season)

These are angles on an aquaduct and building where a huge water driven wheel crushed sugar cane in the original distillery.

Today as we sat by the beach at Sauteurs, and were introduced to an array of stuff 

foraged from around the beach and bar area (tropical almonds, coconut, assorted green things) we discussed whether (and how) anyone designed the process of fermentation, drying, roasting, shelling etc etc to produce from cocoa pods something anyone might contemplate consuming. Or whether it was a series of accidents.  

Even pure processed cocoa powder is bitter. It's yet another jump from there to cocoa butter and sweetened chocolate.

However, aren't you pleased they got there in the end?

NB: As for sampling foraged food, I wasn't doing the foraging and the barman who seemed determined to broaden our education in all things gustatory and local promised they wouldn't poison me. The 'almonds' were nice. The pericarp on the ripe fruit tastes like pears, and the nuts are small and sweet but not particularly almond flavoured.