I ate this! #Kauai

JT Twissel

I am a picky eater; I really am. Gooey things make me squeamish.

But I tossed this gelatinous glob into my mouth and, per instructions, rolled it around with my tongue and then … bit down on the seed pod. I chewed a few crunchy bits and swallowed them before being warned by Mason: “You won’t get much sleep tonight but you will be regular as hell!”

I’d eaten the seeds of the cocoa plant; the things which are carefully fermented and ground into award winning cocoa powder. Mason was the Hawaiian botanist who, with all the charm, wit and energy of a young Robin Williams, kept a couple dozen chocoholics entertained for three hours.

Mason showing us the core of the cocoa pod with all those gooey globs of goodness.
Mature cacao plants wearing fruit.

Pods come in many shades of red-orange and banana-yellow. To ascertain which ones are ripe, they peel off a bit of the skin. Yellow inside is good-to-pick; green inside needs more time. Mason joked that the reason Hawaii produces so many good football players is that they grow up tossing cocoa pods. They’re about the same size as footballs and their skin is similar in texture.

Lydgate Farm is located at the base of the Makaleha Mountains near the end of Olohena Road (581). Besides the cocoa plants, they grow all kinds of native Hawaiian fruits, harvest honey from their own beehives, and, recently they’ve begun cultivating vanilla beans and producing their own vanilla extract. After you’ve heard the process for fertilizing vanilla plants, you’ll appreciate why real vanilla extract is so damn expensive! And always sold out. $65 dollars a bottle. Yikes!

I wouldn’t recommend this tour for everyone. It’s expensive and off the beaten track but for gardeners, cooks, and chocoholics it’s three hours of informative fun. Their chocolate is indescribably good, their honey is sublime and yes … I am still fighting the urge to buy the vanilla extract once it becomes available. God help me, I’m on the waiting list and I don’t even bake. Talk me down folks.

Next – I end with sunrises and sunsets. Let’s see if you can guess which is which! Aloha.

20 thoughts on “I ate this! #Kauai”

    1. Yup! That’s a sunrise. The Farm is definitely a foodie paradise. We sampled native fruit, honey and of course, a ton of chocolate. And Mason was a real entertainer. I don’t think any of us were bored for a second.

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  3. The chocolate tour sounds fascinating and definitely something I would want to do. I’m not sure I could eat that squishy blob, but thanks for being brave. We visited a vanilla bean farm in the South Pacific and saw the plant-to-package process firsthand. It is labor-intensive. Thanks for taking us along on your tour.

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    1. We ate some fruits found at Hawaiian farmer’s markets that I would never have tried on my own. But when they’re just picked from the trees for you, well, how can you say no? I did feel amazingly peppy the next day!

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  4. What an interesting tour! That is expensive vanilla extract, but if their chocolate and honey are top notch, I would guess their vanilla would be as well.

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  5. Hello Jan!

    I took the tour backwards through your posts. I’ve never been to Hawaii. The shots you’ve shared are sensational. I cannot believe there is a more beautiful place on earth.

    Thank you!

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      1. Ahh! Schedules!
        Well, I’m sure the murals were lovely, but in Hawaii, not the feature.
        Meanwhile here in Toronto, they are a feature.
        Thanks Jan!

  7. It sounds like Mason is an excellent salesman, too, getting you on the waiting list for vanilla. Especially since you don’t even bake! Really enjoyed the cocoa bean experience you had here, Jan. Your writing skills are a joy and oh so wonderful to be eating chocolate on Kauai.

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