Text C. The manufacture of chocolate

The cocoa beans are obtained from the pods of the cocoa tree. The pods are split open by hand on the plantation, and the beans are extracted. The beans are left to ferment for several days and then dried in the sun. When dried they are packed into bags and transported to the countries of manufacture.

Four operations are necessary before the final product is ready. The beans are first roasted, a process which develops the peculiar chocolate flavour, and also loosens the husk, which has an unpleasant taste. After roasting, most manufacturers blend the beans by mixing together different varieties, each of which has its own individual aroma.

Then the beans are ground in a machine known as a "melangeur"; sugar is added, together with vanilla or other flavouring if desired. The mixture now becomes a paste.

The third operation is to refine this paste by a machine called a "refiner", which has three or more rollers which not only grind but tear the fibres which constitute about half the volume of the bean.

The final operation is to add more "cocoa butter", a vegetable fat already present to some degree in the mixture. The chocolate mixture is then worked in a conche - a machine consisting of a series of granite troughs, in each of which a heavy roller is turning. For the best qualities of chocolate the mixture is worked in this machine for several days and nights, a process which makes the chocolate so smooth that no separate particles are perceptible to the palate, and which helps to develop the full chocolate flavour. The chocolate is now ready to be moulded.

VIII. Complete the sentences with suitable words and phrases:

1. Cocoa beans are obtained from.... 2. Before the final product is ready it is necessary to carry out... operations. 3. The beans are first.... 4. Roasting is a process which.... 5. After roasting, most manufacturers... by mixing together different varieties. 6. Then the beans are... in a machine known as a mclangcur. 7.... is added in the ground beans. 8. The third operation is.... 9. The final operation is to add more cocoa butter and to work the mixture in a conche to..