Chocolate: Food of the Gods

The story of chocolate, as far back as we know it, begins more than 2000 years ago in equatorial Central America where the Mayan Indians held cocoa beans in high regard. Images of cocoa pods were carved into the walls of their elaborate stone temples, and Mayan writings refer to cacao as “food of the gods.” It was the Mayans who first created a beverage from crushed cocoa beans which was enjoyed by royalty and shared at sacred ceremonies.

Chocolate’s importance in the Aztec Empire also is clearly recorded. The Aztecs called the prized drink they made from cocoa beans “chocolatl,” which means “warm liquid.” Like the earlier Mayans, the Aztecs drank the unsweetened beverage during special ceremonies. Montezuma II, a royal monarch of the Aztecs, maintained great storehouses filled with cocoa beans and reportedly consumed 50 or more portions of chocolatl daily from a golden goblet. Cocoa beans, however, weren’t only consumed. They also were used as a form of currency. According to records of the time, a rabbit could be purchased for four cocoa beans.

Europe was first introduced to the principal ingredient of chocolate when Christopher Columbus brought a handful of the dark, almond-shaped beans back to Spain from his last voyage to the Caribbean islands in 1502. He presented many strange and wonderful objects from the lands he explored to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Included among them were cocoa beans, placed before royalty as little more than a curiosity. They appeared most unpromising. The King and Queen of Spain never dreamed how important cocoa beans would become. It remained for Hernando Cortes, the Spanish explorer, to grasp the commercial possibilities of cocoa beans.

Chocolate Travels to Spain

When Cortes arrived in what is now known as Mexico in 1519, the Aztecs mistakenly believed that he was the reincarnation of a former god-king who had been exiled from the land. They did not realize that Cortes was seeking Aztec gold which was rumored to exist. Montezuma greeted the Spanish explorers with a large banquet which included cups of a bitter chocolate drink. By the time the Aztecs realized their mistake, the Spanish had begun to overpower them. Within three years, Cortes and his followers brought about the fall of the Aztec empire.

During this time, Cortes realized the economic potential for cocoa beans. He experimented with chocolatl, adding cane sugar to make it more agreeable to Spanish tastes. He also established additional cacao plantings in the Caribbean region before returning to Spain.

Back in Spain, the new version of chocolatl found favor with the wealthy, and continued to undergo flavor refinements. Newly imported spices, such as cinnamon and vanilla, were added to the drink. Ultimately, someone decided the drink would taste better if served steaming hot, creating the first hot chocolate, which quickly won followers among the Spanish aristocracy. Spain proceeded to plant more cacao trees in its overseas colonies in Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Jamaica to ensure an ample supply of cocoa beans. Remarkably, the Spanish were able to keep their ventures in cocoa cultivation and their creation of early cocoa drinks a secret from the rest of Europe for nearly one hundred years.

Chocolate Spreads Across Europe

Spanish monks were assigned the task of processing the cocoa beans. It may have been these monks who let out the secret by discussing cocoa with their French counterparts. Then, in 1580, the first cocoa processing plant was established in Spain. It did not take long before chocolate was acclaimed throughout Europe as a delicious, health-giving drink. For a while it reigned as the chosen beverage at the fashionable Court of France. Chocolate drinking spread across the English Channel to Great Britain, and in 1657 the first of many famous English Chocolate Houses appeared.

Mass production of cocoa became possible with the introduction of a perfected steam engine, which mechanized the cocoa grinding process. By 1730, cocoa had dropped in price from three dollars or more per pound to within financial reach of all.

The invention of the cocoa press in 1828 was another major breakthrough in cocoa production. This not only helped reduce prices even further, but more importantly, improved the quality of the beverage by squeezing out about half of the cocoa butter (the fat that occurs naturally in cocoa beans) from the ground-up beans, leaving behind a cake-like residue that could be further processed into a fine powder. From then on, chocolate drinks had more of the smooth consistency and the recognizable flavor of those enjoyed today.

The 19th Century witnessed two more revolutionary developments in the history of chocolate. In 1847, an English company introduced the first solid eating chocolate made by combining melted cocoa butter with sugar and cocoa powder. This chocolate had a smooth, velvety texture and quickly replaced the old coarse-grained chocolate which formerly dominated the world market. The second development occurred in 1876 in Vevey, Switzerland, when Daniel Peter devised a way of adding milk to chocolate, creating the product we enjoy today known as milk chocolate.

Chocolate Comes to America

In the United States of America, the production of chocolate proceeded at a faster pace than anywhere else in the world. It was in pre-revolutionary New England — 1765, to be exact — that the first chocolate factory was established in this country. During World War II, the U.S. government recognized chocolate’s role in the nourishment and group spirit of the Allied Armed Forces, so much so that it allocated valuable shipping space for the importation of cocoa beans. Many soldiers were thankful for the chocolate bars, which gave them the energy to carry on until more food rations could be obtained. Today, the U.S. Army’s Meals Ready to Eat contain chocolate bars and chocolate candies, and chocolate has been taken into space as part of the diet of U.S. astronauts.

Growing the Cocoa Bean

Cocoa beans are the product of the cacao tree. The origin of the cacao tree is in dispute. Some say it originated in the Amazon basin of Brazil, others place it in the Orinoco Valley of Venezuela, while still others contend that it is native to Central America.

Wherever its first home, we know the cacao tree is strictly a tropical plant thriving only in hot, rainy climates. Thus, its cultivation is confined to lands not more than 20 degrees north or south of the equator.

The Need for Shelter

The cacao tree is very delicate and sensitive. It needs protection from wind and requires a fair amount of shade under most conditions. This is true especially in its first two to four years of growth.

A newly planted cacao seedling is often sheltered by a different type of tree. It is normal to plant food crops for shade such as banana, plantain, coconuts or cocoyams. Rubber trees and forest trees are also used for shade. Once established, however, cacao trees can grow in full sun light, provided there are fertile soil conditions and intensive husbandry. Cacao plantations (trees under cultivation), and estates, usually in valleys or coastal plains, must have evenly distributed rainfall and rich, well drained soil.

As a general rule, cacao trees get their start in a nursery bed where seeds from high yielding trees are planted in fiber baskets or plastic bags. The seedlings grow so fast that in a few months they are ready for transplanting, container and all.

The First Fruit

With pruning and careful cultivation, the trees of most strains will begin bearing fruit in the fifth year. With extreme care, some strains can be induced to yield good crops in the third and fourth years.

Everything about the tree is just as colorful as its history. An evergreen, the cacao tree has large glossy leaves that are red when young and green when mature. Overlays of clinging moss and colorful lichens are often found on the bark of the trunk, and in some areas beautiful small orchids grow on its branches. The tree sprouts thousands of tiny waxy pink or white five-pedaled blossoms that cluster together on the trunk and older branches. But, only three to 10 percent will go on to mature into full fruit.

The fruit, which will eventually be converted into the world's chocolate and cocoa, has green or sometimes maroon colored pods on the trunk of the tree and its main branches. Shaped somewhat like an elongated melon tapered at both ends, these pods often ripen into a golden color or sometimes take on a scarlet hue with multicolored flecks.

At its maturity, the cultivated tree measures from 15 to 25 feet tall, though the tree in its wild state may reach 60 feet or more.

The potential age of a tree is open to speculation. There are individual trees known to be over 200 years of age, but no one has determined the real life span of the species. However, in 25 years the economic usefulness of a tree may be considered at an end, and it often becomes desirable to replant with younger trees.

Varieties of Cacao

While the cacao tree bears fruit (or pods) all year round, harvesting is generally seasonal. The pods come in a variety of types since cacao trees cross-pollinate freely. These types can be reduced to three classifications: Criollo, the prince of cacaos, is a soft thin-skinned pod, with a light color and a unique, pleasant aroma. Forastero, a more plentiful type, is easier to cultivate and has a thick-walled pod and a pungent aroma. Trinitario, which is believed to be a natural cross from strains of the other two types, has a great variety of characteristics but generally possesses good, aromatic flavor; and these trees are particularly suitable for cultivation.

In the Western Hemisphere, strange as it may seem, plantations composed of just one species of cocoa beans are uncommon. Even single trees with all the characteristics of a specific type are rare. Uniformity exists only where cacao plantations have been developed from the rooted branch cuttings of single mother trees.

In recent years, cacao growers have turned increasingly to hybridization as a means of improving the quality of the bean and making it more disease resistant. Scientists using state-of-the-art biotechnology techniques are also trying to improve the quality of cacao and its resistance to disease.

Handling the Harvest

The job of picking ripe cacao pods is not an easy one. The tree is so frail and its roots are so shallow that workmen cannot risk injuring it by climbing to reach the pods on the higher branches.

The planter sends his tumbadores, or pickers, into the fields with long handled, mitten-shaped steel knives that can reach the highest pods and snip them without wounding the soft bark of the tree. Machetes are used for the pods growing within reach on the lower trunk.

Where Experience Counts

It requires training and experience to know by appearance which fruit is ripe and ready to be cut. Ripe pods are found on trees at all times since the growing season in the tropics, with its evenly distributed rainfall, is continuous.

For most localities there is a main harvest lasting several months and a mid-crop harvest lasting several more months. Climatic differences cause wide variations in harvest times with frequent fluctuations from year to year even within the same location.

What Happens after Picking

Gathers follow the harvesters who have removed the ripe pods from the trees. The pods are collected in baskets and transported to the edge of a field where the pod breaking operation begins. One or two lengthwise blows from a well-wielded machete is usually enough to split open the woody shells. A good breaker can open 500 pods an hour.

A great deal of patience is required to complete harvesting. Anywhere from 20 to 50 cream-colored beans are scooped from a typical pod and the husk and inner membrane are discarded. Dried beans from an average pod weigh less than two ounces, and approximately 400 beans are required to make one pound of chocolate.

The beans are still many steps away from the familiar finished product. Exposure to air quickly changes the cream-colored beans to a lavender or purple. They do not look like the finished chocolate nor do they have the well-known fragrance of chocolate at this time.

Preparing the Crop for Shipment

The cocoa beans or seeds that are removed from the pods are put into boxes or thrown on heaps and covered. Around the beans is a layer of pulp that starts to heat up and ferment. Fermentation lasts from three to nine days and serves to remove the raw bitter taste of cocoa and to develop precursors and components that are characteristic of chocolate flavor.

Fermenting is a simple "yeasting" process in which the sugars contained in the beans are converted to acid, primarily lactic acid and acetic acid.

The process generates temperatures as high as 125 degrees Fahrenheit, which kill the germ of the bean and activate existing enzymes in the beans to form compounds that produce the chocolate flavor when the beans are roasted. The result is a fully developed bean with a rich brown color, a sign that the cocoa is now ready for drying.

Drying is Important

Like any moisture-filled fruit, the beans must be dried if they are to keep. In some countries, drying is accomplished simply by laying the beans on trays or bamboo matting and leaving them to bask in the sun. When moist climate conditions interfere with sun-drying, artificial methods are used. For example, the beans can be carried indoors and dried by hot-air pipes.

With favorable weather the drying process usually takes several days. In this interval, farmers turn the beans frequently and use the opportunity to pick them over for foreign matter and flat, broken or germinated beans. During drying, beans lose nearly all their moisture and more than half their weight.

When the beans are dried, they are prepared for shipping in 130 to 200 pound sacks. They are seldom stored except at shipping centers, where they await inspection by buyers.

Marketing for export

Buyers sample the quality of a crop by cutting open a number of beans to see that they are properly fermented. Purple centers indicate incomplete fermentation.

If the prevailing crop is found satisfactory, the grower is paid at the current market price. The market price depends not only on the abundance of the worldwide crop and the quality of farmers' crops in a number of countries, but on a number of economic conditions throughout the world. The industry has set up Cocoa Exchanges, similar to stock exchanges, in principle cities such as New York, London, Hamburg and Amsterdam.

From the Bean to Chocolate

We now come to the remarkable art of chocolate making, a process that is comparable with the skill and finesse of the world's greatest chefs. The manufacturing process requires much time and painstaking care. Just to make an individual-size chocolate bar, for instance, takes from two to four days or more.

Manufacturing methods will differ in detail from plant to plant, but there is a general processing pattern which prevails everywhere. It is this pattern that makes the chocolate industry distinctive from every other industry.

For example, all manufacturers carefully catalogue each shipment according to its particular type and origin. This is very important, because it enables them later to maintain exact control over the flavor blending of beans for roasting.

In touring a chocolate factory, one is particularly impressed by the close controls maintained throughout operations. Work is carried out in an atmosphere of scientific exactness and nothing is left to chance.

Precision instruments regulate temperatures, stabilize the moisture content of the air, and control the time intervals of manufacturing operations and other items necessary to achieve quality results.

The equipment of a factory is heavy, massive and complex. Often representing an investment of many millions of dollars, there are literally tons of equipment that the cocoa beans must pass through on their way to becoming chocolate.

Automation Does the Job

Besides the equipment already described, the industry employs a number of fascinating machines to do the work of shaping and packaging chocolate into the familiar forms that we see every day on store counters. Some of the shaping machines perform at amazing speeds, squirting out jets of chocolate that solidify into special shapes at a rate of several hundred a minute.* Other machines do a complete job of wrapping and packaging at speeds that human hands would find impossible.

(* Separate from the chocolate industry but of interest nonetheless, is the enrober-a machine employed by many candy manufactures in the creation of assorted chocolates. The enrober receives lines of assorted centers (nuts, nougats, fruit or whatever desired filling) and showers them with a waterfall of liquid chocolate. This generally covers and surrounds each center with a blanket of chocolate. Yet other confectionery machines create a hallow-molded shell of chocolate which is then filled with a soft or liquid center before the bottom is sealed with chocolate.)

The mechanized nature of the entire chocolate-making process contributes greatly to the industry's high standards of hygiene and sanitation. To keep check on these standards, chocolate factories constantly run quality tests, which show whether the process is proceeding within the strict limitations designed for each product. These tests cover an amazing range-there are tests for the viscosity of chocolate, for the cocoa butter content, for acidity, for the fineness of a product and, of course, tests for purity and taste of the desired finished product.

All chocolate manufacturers, it is important to note, must meet the standards as set forth in the rules and regulations of The Food and Drug Administration. These govern manufacturing formulas, even to the extent of specifying the minimum content of the chocolate liquor and milk used. They also impose strict rules regarding the flavorings and other ingredients that may be used.

Reasons for Secrecy

Where methods of manufacturing are concerned; however, manufacturers have a completely free hand and have developed individual variations from the "pattern." Each manufacturer seeks to protect his own methods by conducting certain operations under an atmosphere of secrecy. Modern technology, in this respect, is reminiscent of the day of the Spanish monopoly.

Today's "secrets," unlike those of old, include many small but important details which center around key manufacturing operations. No chef guards his favorite recipes more zealously than the chocolate manufacturer guards his formulas for blending beans or the time intervals he gives to his conching. Time intervals, temperatures and proportions of ingredients are three critical factors that no company wants to divulge.

A Sanitary Atmosphere

A visit to a chocolate factory certainly will not reveal any secrets; however, the visitor will be impressed by the gleaming appearance that such a place has. Chocolate manufacturers conduct all operations under sanitary, laboratory-like conditions in keeping with the purity of the products they make. They follow a daily regimen of machine maintenance and general housekeeping that is not exceeded in the food industry.

Cleanliness is, indeed, the universal byword of the chocolate industry. Chocolate factories not only have careful programs for industrial sanitation and for the personal hygiene of their employees, but they are continually striving to improve their programs.

A Plant Within a Plant

Technicians use laboratories to analyze every phase of chocolate preparation-from raw materials to finished products. They test samples for the market as well as experimental products produced in a company's pilot plants.

These pilot plants consist of miniature equipment which duplicates a company's entire chocolate making process and those of some of their customers, as well as providing sample quantities of any product desired. Chocolate manufacturers are making increasing use of pilot plants in conjunction with their laboratory research programs to develop interesting new products and find new ways of making the old ones.

Conclusion

Particular emphasis has been given to the activities that have made the chocolate industry distinctive from all other industries. Each activity is characterized by a heritage of quality workmanship-certainly one of the hallmarks of chocolate making.

Chocolate making is much more than a series of scientific and mechanical phenomena. In a word, it is a true art, which started centuries ago and has been preserved and perfected to make chocolate America's favorite flavor.

The First Steps

The main ingredient used to make chocolate is cocoa beans. Cocoa grows in South and Central America, Africa and parts of Asia in warm, wet environments. The beans come from the inside of cocoa pods, the fruit of the cocoa, or cacao, tree. The pods are harvested by hand and the beans are scooped out and left to dry. After drying and fermenting, the beans are bagged and shipped to the factory.

The first step in manufacturing is cleaning. This is done by passing the cocoa beans through a cleaning machine that removes dried cacao pulp, pieces of pod and other extraneous material that had not been removed earlier.

To bring out the characteristic chocolate aroma, the beans are roasted in large rotary cylinders. Depending upon the variety of the beans and the desired end result, the roasting lasts from 30 minutes to two hours at temperatures of 250 degrees Fahrenheit and higher. As the beans turn over and over, their moisture content drops, their color changes to a rich brown, and the characteristic aroma of chocolate becomes evident.

What Follows Roasting

Proper roasting is one of the keys to good flavor, but there are still several more steps to follow. After roasting, the beans are quickly cooled and their thin shells, made brittle by roasting, are removed. In most factories, this is done by a "cracker and fanner," a giant winnowing machine that passes the beans between serrated cones so they are cracked rather than crushed. In the process, a series of mechanical sieves separate the broken pieces into large and small grains while fans blow away the thin, light shell from the meat or "nibs."

The nibs, which contain about 53 percent cocoa butter, are next conveyed to mills, where they are crushed between large grinding stones or heavy steel discs. The process generates enough frictional heat to liquefy the cocoa butter and form what is commercially known as chocolate liquor. The term liquor does not refer to alcohol, it simply means liquid. When the liquid is poured into molds and allowed to solidify, the resulting cakes are unsweetened or bitter chocolate.

Up to this point, the manufacturing of cocoa and chocolate is identical. The process now diverges, but there is an important interconnection to be noted. The by-product of cocoa shortly becomes an essential component of chocolate. That component is the unique vegetable fat, cocoa butter, which forms about 25 percent of the weight of most chocolate bars.

How to Make Cocoa Powder

The chocolate liquor, destined to become a cup of cocoa, is pumped into giant hydraulic presses weighing up to 25 tons, where pressure is applied to remove the desired cocoa butter. The fat drains away through metallic screens as a yellow liquid. It is then collected for use in chocolate manufacturing.

Cocoa butter has such importance for the chocolate industry that it deserves more than a passing mention. It is unique among vegetable fats because it is a solid at normal room temperature and melts at 89 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit, which is just below body temperature. Its success in resisting oxidation and rancidity makes it very practical. Under normal storage conditions, cocoa butter can be kept for years without spoiling.

The pressed cake that is left after the removal of cocoa butter can be cooled, pulverized and sifted into cocoa powder. Cocoa that is packaged for sale to grocery stores or put into bulk for use as a flavor by dairies, bakeries, and confectionery manufacturers, may have 10 percent or more cocoa butter content. "Breakfast cocoa," a less common type, must contain at least 22 percent cocoa butter.

In the so-called "Dutch" process, the manufacturer treats the cocoa with an alkali to develop a slightly different flavor and give the cocoa a darker appearance characteristic of the Dutch type. The alkali acts as a processing agent rather than as a flavor ingredient.

How to Make Eating Chocolate

While cocoa is made by removing some of the cocoa butter, eating chocolate is made by adding it. This holds true of all eating chocolate, whether it is dark, bittersweet, or milk chocolate. Besides enhancing the flavor, the added cocoa butter serves to make the chocolate more fluid.

One example of eating chocolate is sweet chocolate, a combination of unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter and perhaps a little vanilla. Making it entails melting and combining the ingredients in a large mixing machine until the mass has the consistency of dough.

Milk chocolate, the most common form of eating chocolate, goes through essentially the same mixing process-except that it involves using less unsweetened chocolate and adding milk.

Whatever ingredients are used, the mixture then travels through a series of heavy rollers set one atop the other. Under the grinding that takes place here, the mixture is refined to a smooth paste ready for "conching."

What is Conching?

Conching is a flavor development process which puts the chocolate through a "kneading" action and takes its name from the shell-like shape of the containers originally employed. The "conches," as the machines are called, are equipped with heavy rollers that plow back and forth through the chocolate mass anywhere from a few hours to several days. Under regulated speeds, these rollers can produce different degrees of agitation and aeration in developing and modifying the chocolate flavors.

In some manufacturing setups, there is an emulsifying operation that either takes the place of conching or else supplements it. This operation is carried out by a machine that works like an eggbeater to break up sugar crystals and other particles in the chocolate mixture to give it a fine, velvety smoothness.

After the emulsifying or conching machines, the mixture goes through a tempering interval-heating, cooling and reheating-and then at last into molds to be formed into the shape of the complete product. The molds take a variety of shapes and sizes, from the popular individual-size bars available to consumers to a ten-pound block used by confectionery manufacturers.

Ready for Shipment

When the molded chocolate reaches the cooling chamber, cooling proceeds at a fixed rate that keeps hard-earned flavor intact. The bars are then removed from the molds and passed along to wrapping machines to be packed for shipment to distributors, confectioners and others throughout the country.

For convenience, chocolate is frequently shipped in a liquid state when intended for use by other food manufacturers. Whether solid or liquid, it provides candy, cookie, and ice cream manufacturers with the most popular flavor for their products. Additionally, a portion of the United State's total chocolate output goes into coatings, powders and flavorings that add zest to our foods in a thousand different ways.

Many of the old myths about chocolate and health are crumbling under the weight of scientific fact. The once-prevalent belief that something that tastes so good just cannot be good for you has given way to a more balanced picture of chocolate and cocoa products and their relation to health and nutrition.

The following are brief reviews on recent findings which counter several of the common misinterpretations of the effects of chocolate on health.

Chocolate and Acne

Over the past two decades, research has revealed that chocolate neither causes nor aggravates acne. Acne, a condition resulting from the extreme activity of the skin's oil glands during puberty, is not linked primarily to diet. In research conducted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Department of Dermatology, a control group was given a bar with no chocolate which resembled a chocolate bar and had 28 percent vegetable fat to imitate the fat content of chocolate liquor and cocoa butter. A similar group was given real chocolate, but the test bars contained almost 10 times as much chocolate liquor as a normal 1.4 ounce chocolate bar. At the end of the test, the average acne condition of the persons in the group eating chocolate was almost the same as those who had no chocolate.

A group of 80 midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, all of whom had acne conditions ranging from mild to moderate, were divided into groups, both experiencing the same living, dining and physical activities. One group avoided all chocolate for four weeks, the other included a minimum of three bars in their daily diet. After four weeks, the groups exchanged eating patterns. Clinical observations, facial overlays and photographs showed no significant changes in the acne conditions in either group.

Chocolate and Caffeine

The amount of caffeine ingested when people eat chocolate in normal quantities is very small. 1.4 ounces of milk chocolate, for example, contains about 6 milligrams of caffeine, about the same as the amount found in a cup of decaffeinated coffee. Thus, the role of caffeine in chocolate is largely a non-issue.

Chocolate and Dental Caries

Tooth decay has become less of a problem for Americans over the last 30 years. Between 1960 and 1980 the incidence of cavities dropped by 50 percent. Today, more than one-third of all college-aged Americans have never had a single cavity.

It is widely accepted that all foods containing "fermentable carbohydrates" have the potential to contribute to caries formation. Fermentable carbohydrates are present in starches and sugars, including those that occur naturally in foods and those added in processed foods. Frequency and duration of tooth exposure to fermentable carbohydrates have been identified as factors in caries.

Although chocolate contains fermentable carbohydrates, a number of dental research studies suggest that chocolate may be less apt to promote tooth decay than has been traditionally believed. Research at the Forsyth Dental Center in Boston and at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine has shown that cocoa and chocolate have the ability to offset the acid-producing potential of the sugar they contain. Acid, produced by certain oral bacteria that digest or "ferment" sugars, can damage tooth enamel and cause decay. Cocoa and chocolate have also been shown to reduce the demineralization process-an activity which directly results in the formation of dental caries.

In a study conducted at the Eastman Dental Center in Rochester, New York, milk chocolate and chocolate chip cookies were found to be among the snack foods which contribute least to dental decay. The researchers reported that: "Milk chocolate has a high content of protein, calcium, phosphate and other minerals, all of which have exhibited protective effects on tooth enamel. In addition, due to its natural fat content, milk chocolate clears the mouth relatively faster than other candies. These factors are thought to be responsible for making milk chocolate less cariogenic."

Chocolate and Nutrients

Chocolate provides a number of nutrients the body requires daily. A milk chocolate bar weighing 1.4 ounces contains about three grams of protein, fifteen percent of the Daily Value of riboflavin, nine percent of the Daily Value for calcium and seven percent of the Daily Value for iron.

Almonds and peanuts added to chocolate increase the nutrients in a bar. This is particularly true for protein. Milk chocolate bars with almonds also have increased amounts of calcium, iron and riboflavin.

Chocolate and Weight Control

Contrary to the popular stereotype, most overweight people do not eat excessive amounts of cake, cookies, confectionery or other foods containing sugar. Their sugar intake tends, in fact, to be below average.

More important in controlling weight is the total number of calories consumed each day and the amount of energy expended in physical activity. Overweight children, for example, are generally less active than those of normal weight; thus, they may remain overweight even when their caloric intake is reasonable or even limited.

Moreover, many people overestimate the calories in chocolate. A 1.4 ounce milk chocolate bar contains approximately 210 calories-low enough to incorporate into a weight control diet. The occasional chocolate confection may also reduce the possibility of a binge, which can occur as a result of feeling deprived of highly satisfying foods such as chocolate.

Chocolate and Cocoa Butter

Cocoa butter, the fat that occurs naturally in cocoa beans, gives chocolate its distinctive smoothness and "melt-in-the-mouth" texture. Research has shown that cocoa butter, despite its high saturated fat content, does not raise blood cholesterol levels as do other saturated fats. This is due to its high stearic acid content. Stearic acid, one of the principal fatty acids in cocoa butter, has been found to be used in the body differently, in that it may reduce levels of cholesterol in the blood.

Chocolate Milk

Lastly, about chocolate milk. Chocolate milk provides more zinc, potassium, niacin and riboflavin than plain whole milk. In terms of calcium, protein and vitamin B, plain milk has slightly more. For all other nutrients, plain milk and chocolate milk are about the same.

Additionally, children are more likely to drink chocolate milk than plain milk. Studies have shown that the amount of chocolate milk left undrunk by children in grades 1 through 5 was about two-thirds less than when only plain milk was offered.

Moreover, research conducted at the University of Rhode Island suggests chocolate milk may have benefits for individuals who are lactose intolerant. Research reveals that lactose intolerant individuals who consumed chocolate milk showed significant reductions in their symptoms.

Chocolate Liquor

Produced by grinding the cocoa bean nib (center) to a smooth, liquid state. The chocolate liquor can then be cooled and molded into blocks also known as unsweetened baking chocolate. The liquor and blocks contain roughly 53 percent cocoa butter.

Semi-sweet (Bittersweet) Chocolate

Chocolate liquor to which sweeteners and cocoa butter have been added. Also known as dark chocolate. According to government standards, it must contain at least 35 percent chocolate liquor. Its fat content averages 27 percent.

Milk Chocolate

Cocoa butter, milk, sweeteners and flavorings are added to chocolate liquor. Lends itself to good use for garnishes and candy coatings. All milk chocolate made in the U.S. contains at least 10 percent chocolate liquor and 12 percent whole milk.

Sweet Chocolate

Contains more sweeteners than semi-sweet chocolate and at least 15 percent chocolate liquor. Sweet chocolate is used mostly for decorating and garnishing. The fat content is similar to semi-sweet.

White Chocolate

White chocolate contains cocoa butter but no non-fat cocoa solids. Mostly used as a coating, it contains sugar, cocoa butter, milk solids and flavorings.

Chocolate!

Chocolate is America's favorite flavor. A recent survey revealed that 52 percent of U.S. adults said they like chocolate best. The second favorite flavor was a tie (at 12 percent each) between berry flavors and vanilla.
U.S. chocolate manufacturers currently use 40 percent of the almonds produced in the United States and 25 percent of domestic peanuts.
U.S. chocolate manufacturers use about 3.5 million pounds of whole milk every day to make chocolate.
Sixty-five percent of American chocolate eaters prefer milk chocolate.
The melting point of cocoa butter is just below the human body temperature (98.6 degrees) — which is why it literally melts in your mouth.
The first "chocolate box" was introduced by Richard Cadbury in 1868, when he decorated a candy box with a painting of his young daughter holding a kitten in her arms. Cadbury also invented the first Valentine's Day candy box.*
Older children are significantly more likely to prefer chocolate than younger children (59 percent of 9-11year-olds prefer chocolate vs. 46 percent of 6-8 year-olds), according to an NCA survey.
Here are some record-winning chocolates, according to the Guinness Book of World Records:

The largest chocolate bar ever manufactured weighed 5,026 lbs. and was exhibited by Elah-Dufour United Food Companies at Eurochocolate in Turin, Italy in March 2000.

The largest box of chocolates ever made was a Frango mint chocolates box weighing 3,226 lbs. created by Marshall Field's, Chicago, Illinois, USA on November 14, 2002. The box contained 90,090 individual chocolates.

On April 4, 1996, the Rotary Club of Piet Retief, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, made a chocolate and marshamallow Easter egg which was just over 25-ft high. The egg weighed 8,968 lbs. and was supported by an internal steel frame.

The Northwest Fudge Factory in Ontario, Canada, created a slab of fudge that weighed 2,002 lbs, making it the record-holding largest slab of fudge. The chocolate-and-vanilla-swirl fudge measured 166 ft. long, 9 in. wide and 3 in. high. The fudge took a total of 86 hours to prepare and 13 individuals to pour it into shape.

* from Chocolate Fads, Folklore and Fantasies, Linda K. Fuller, Ph.D., 1994.

What is the difference between bittersweet and semisweet?

Practically speaking, there is no difference. By FDA standards, both chocolates must contain at least 35 % chocolate liquor (unsweetened chocolate). After this requirement is met, the individual manufacturers can add more chocolate liquor, as well as sugar, additional cocoa butter, milk solids, lecithin and flavorings, such as vanilla and vanillin. (The addition of milk solids does not make these chocolates "milk chocolate" but instead is sometimes added in very small amount as a way to smooth out the flavor.)

In past years, it was safe to generalize that European bitter chocolate was referred to as "bittersweet" and American chocolate was referred to as "semisweet". This is no longer a safe rule of thumb as more and more American manufacturers use the term "bittersweet". Either can be used in a recipe, but depending on the type used when the recipe was developed, the outcome may be very similar to the original intent, or quite different. It's a good idea to experiment to discover your favorite types of chocolate - and if a recipe specifies a brand or type (such as "extra bittersweet") try to use it. Both semisweet and bittersweet chocolate may be referred to as "dark chocolate".

What is white chocolate?

According to FDA standards, white chocolate is a combination of cocoa butter, sugar, butterfat, milk solids, lecithin and flavorings. It contains no chocolate liquor and so gets its mild chocolate flavor from the cocoa butter. It also gets its ivory color from this most sublime fat. If you buy a product that is labeled "white chocolate" and yet it looks bright white, chances are it contains no cocoa butter but instead a mixture of vegetable fat, milk solids, sugar, lecithin an flavorings. Check the ingredients declaration on the package to see if contains cocoa butter. Such products also may be called confectionery or summer coating - the word chocolate will be conspicuously absent.

White chocolate is sensitive to heat - more so than dark chocolate - and so when melting it, take great care. Keep the water in a double broiler between 110° F and 120° F. White chocolate chips are tricky to melt in particular because they contain the least amount of cocoa butter of any form of white chocolate.

What is Dutch processed cocoa?

Dutch processed cocoa, which is also called "alkalized" cocoa powder, has been treated with an alkali during processing to produce a less harsh tasting, darkly colored cocoa. This process is purely to control flavor and color. Many people erroneously assume that alkalized cocoa powder is "better" than non-alkalized or "natural" cocoa powder. It is no better, just more mellow tasting and darker colored. For best results, use the type indicated in the recipe.

All cocoa powder is made from chocolate liquor that has nearly all the cocoa butter removed under pressure so that it forms a press cake. This is ground into powder. While cocoa powder is considered low in fat (compared to other chocolates), it still contains 22 % cocoa butter.

What is chocolate bloom?

Chocolate bloom is the tell-tale sign that chocolate has not been stored correctly. The most obvious type of bloom, fat bloom, looks like gray-white blotches and streaks on the chocolate and occurs when the chocolate is exposed to heat during storage. Sugar bloom, which leaves the chocolate feeling rough, occurs when the chocolate is stored in damp conditions. Melting and/or tempering bloomed chocolate eliminates the problem, although chocolate affected with sugar bloom should not be melted and used for fine candy making.

What is the best way to store chocolate?

Store chocolate at cool room temperature in a dark place with good air circulation; the refrigerator in not recommended although if your kitchen is particularly hot and humid, it might be your only choice. Wrap it well to protect it from odors.

Ideally, chocolate should be wrapped first in foil and then in plastic and stored at a constant temperature of 65°F and 50% humidity. Slightly higher temperatures and humidity are acceptable although the chocolate may not last as long. Stored under perfect conditions, unsweetened and dark chocolate will last for 10 years, and certainly up to a year in good home kitchen conditions; milk and white chocolate for 7 to 8 months.

Formed chocolate candies such as truffles and pralines can be frozen and defrosted in the refrigerator before being brought to room temperature for serving.

Why is some chocolate so much more expensive than other chocolate?

The price of chocolate varies greatly from inexpensive candy bars to pricey truffles. Like wine, the price varies depending on the processing and quality of the original ingredients (a chocolate made from high quality cacao beans and other ingredients, with a greater percentage of cocoa butter, with more extensive refining during manufacture) and the amount of fine hand work needed to fashion the chocolate into a confection.

Why do we love chocolate so?

Since people first started enjoying chocolate, it has held a special place in the culinary universe. It is unique among foods, used as an ingredient, a flavoring, and a foodstuff in its own right, and as such is hard to define. Eating a small piece of chocolate is a heavenly experience - cocoa butter melts at body temperature and so there is that moment when the chocolate is no longer solid, and not yet liquid. This sensation is irresistible to chocolate lovers. But there is more. Chocolate's aroma, its ability to create "taste memories" and its indescribably rich flavor all combine to make it a food most people cannot resist. But at the same time cannot fully explain. And why should we?

Source: Mary Goodbody
From March 2000 Issue of Chocolatier Magazine
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