What Is The Cocoa Bean?

[ChristisKing]

This came up in conversation today. Is it a fruit, a vegetable, or something completely different entirely? How about the coffee bean?

 

[hjmick]

It is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao.

 

[ChristisKing]

It is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao.

Lol I meant what food group. There seems to be mixed answers if you Google it.

 

[hjmick]

Lol I meant what food group. There seems to be mixed answers if you Google it.

I don't think it falls in to any food group. The cocoa bean is the dried version of the tree's seed. The closest example I can think of for similarity would sunflower seeds. We eat them, they are the seed of the sunflower, but is it a fruit or vegetable? I'd say neither...

 

[Otis Mayfield]

Native to Mexico, Guatemala, etc.

 

[hjmick]

Native to Mexico, Guatemala, etc.

You have to wonder what prompted the first person to look at that and say, "Hey! I'm going to eat this!"

 

[ChristisKing]

You have to wonder what prompted the first person to look at that and say, "Hey! I'm going to eat this!"

I know, it looks like a caterpillars cocoon.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

What is a cashew?

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

What is a cashew?
View attachment 567997

And they're poisonous if not prepared properly.

 

[hjmick]

What is a cashew?
View attachment 567997

A nut. I believe nuts fall in the fruit category...


What is a peanut? Hint: Not a nut...

 

[ChristisKing]

A nut. I believe nuts fall in the fruit category...


What is a peanut? Hint: Not a nut...

View attachment 568004

I just looked it up and apparently it's legumes.

 

[toobfreak]

I just looked it up and apparently it's legumes.

That is right. Chocolate / cacao is a fruit and the peanut is a legume, except in the case of the cacao, it is the seed we use and throw away the pod.