HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE
Chocolate is the most popular sweet treat in the world. Chocolate was a fashionable drink for rich Europeans throughout the 18th century. The Industrial Revolution allowed chocolate to be mass-produced and brought the treat to the masses. The popularity led to the development of cacao tree plantations. In 1847, a Bristol, England, chocolate company, created the first mass-produced chocolate bar.
Chocolate is prepared from the fruit of the Theobroma cacao, a tropical tree. Theobroma cacao trees are native to the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in South America. Cacao trees bear fruit that are about the same size and shape of a papaya, according to Patric Chocolate. These bumpy, lumpy berries, or pods, are full of up to 50 sour seeds, or beans, covered in white pulp.
TYPES OF CHOCOLATE
The Cocoa powder is blended with the butter and liquor in varying quantities to make different types of chocolate or couverture. Fine chocolate falls into three categories: dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate.
- Dark chocolate has chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, lecithin, sugar and vanilla.
- Milk chocolate has all of the above plus milk fats and milk solids.
- White chocolate contains everything milk chocolate does except chocolate liquor.
BEAN TO BAR PROCESS
Chocolate is a product that requires complex procedures to produce. The process involves harvesting coca, refining coca to cocoa beans, and shipping the cocoa beans to the manufacturing factory for cleaning, coaching and grinding.
Harvesting
The cacao tree is a very delicate tree and only thrives in tropical regions. A tree bears about 25 to 50 pods up to 25 to 30 years.Every 2 to 4 weeks the pods are harvested from the tree, carefully opened and the cocoa beans (seeds) and pulp are removed to begin the fermentation process.
Fermentation
Fermentation is a crucial step in the transformation of the cacao bean to “chocolate.” The chocolate fermentation process takes about 4 to 7 days to complete.
Drying and Shipping
The beans need to be dried by exposing them to sun and air to stop fermentation. The process causes the beans to turn brown and are ready to be shipped to the manufacturer.
Roasting
After cleaning, the beans are roasted at 230F to 428F (110 to 220C) for 40 to 50 minutes to develop the chocolate flavors of the nibs (this is the beans minus the shells). Actaully nibs can be eaten too and nibs are excellent in savory cooking as well.
Blending, Grinding and Mixing
In this process different varieties of cocoa beans are custom blended. The nibs are ground into liquid cocoa mass called chocolate liquor, which is a combination of cocoa butter and cocoa solids. At this stage sugar, milk/milk powder (only for white and milk chocolate), extra cocoa butter fat, lecithin (an emulsifier preventing fat separation) and vanilla can be added to the cocoa beans.
Refining
At this stage the chocolate mass is sheared into a smaller particle size. If the particles are too large it will result in a coarse mouth-feel. Too small, and the chocolate particles may result in stickiness on the palate.
Conching
Conching is a process of intense mixing, agitating, and aerating of heated liquid chocolate in machines called conches. Conching can last as long as a few days. It eliminates any off-flavors and unwanted bitter substances that may be still present. The longer a chocolate is conched, the finer and mellower it will be.
Molding
Molding is the final procedure for chocolate processing. This step allows cocoa liquor to cool and harden into different shapes depending on the mold. Finally the chocolate is packaged and distributed around the world.
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