Chocolate
Shadow Gaunt
March 2018
Chocolate. Chocolate with caramel, dark chocolate, strawberries coated in chocolate, and many more varieties of chocolate almost any of us can find in stores today. But chocolate wasn’t always how it is today. A long time ago, it was a frothy drink, which was, quite truthfully, disgusting. So how did chocolate come to the sweet we love?
It all started in the Americas. The main ingredient in chocolate is cocoa. Cocoa comes from the Theobroma Cacao tree. The Theobroma Cacao tree grows in Central America, the west coast of Africa, South Asia, and northern South America and can grow up to 40 feet tall.
There are three species of the tree; Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario. Most cocoa, about 80%, comes from the Forastero group. About 10% of the cocoa comes from the Criollo group, the most prized species because it’s more aromatic and sweeter.
First, the Olmec cultivated chocolate from 1500-100 BCE. They made it into a bitter drink. Then came the Mayans, 1800 BCE-1500 CE, who learned the chocolate recipe from the Olmecs. Then the Southwestern Americans from 1000-1125 CE. Finally, the Aztecs, 1420-1520 CE, used chocolate in religious ceremonies, connecting chocolate with Quetzalcoatl. The Aztec drink usually included lots of spices to make up for the bitter taste.
The English introduction to chocolate occurred in the 16th century with Columbus. Columbus brought cocoa beans back to Spain and it soon became a popular drink, however, people added honey, sugar, and other sweeteners. By the late 16th century, chocolate was a very popular drink among the rich.
In 1868, Dutch chemist Coenraad van Houten created a machine that, firstly, removed Cacao butter from cocoa seeds and created the solid chocolate we know today.
To make the chocolate bars we know today a series of steps must be followed:
And this is the end of the chocolate adventure. Chocolate is an extremely popular product with several books and films dedicated to it. There are many varieties of chocolate and even chocolate tasters.
Chocolate. Chocolate with caramel, dark chocolate, strawberries coated in chocolate, and many more varieties of chocolate almost any of us can find in stores today. But chocolate wasn’t always how it is today. A long time ago, it was a frothy drink, which was, quite truthfully, disgusting. So how did chocolate come to the sweet we love?
It all started in the Americas. The main ingredient in chocolate is cocoa. Cocoa comes from the Theobroma Cacao tree. The Theobroma Cacao tree grows in Central America, the west coast of Africa, South Asia, and northern South America and can grow up to 40 feet tall.
There are three species of the tree; Forastero, Criollo, and Trinitario. Most cocoa, about 80%, comes from the Forastero group. About 10% of the cocoa comes from the Criollo group, the most prized species because it’s more aromatic and sweeter.
First, the Olmec cultivated chocolate from 1500-100 BCE. They made it into a bitter drink. Then came the Mayans, 1800 BCE-1500 CE, who learned the chocolate recipe from the Olmecs. Then the Southwestern Americans from 1000-1125 CE. Finally, the Aztecs, 1420-1520 CE, used chocolate in religious ceremonies, connecting chocolate with Quetzalcoatl. The Aztec drink usually included lots of spices to make up for the bitter taste.
The English introduction to chocolate occurred in the 16th century with Columbus. Columbus brought cocoa beans back to Spain and it soon became a popular drink, however, people added honey, sugar, and other sweeteners. By the late 16th century, chocolate was a very popular drink among the rich.
In 1868, Dutch chemist Coenraad van Houten created a machine that, firstly, removed Cacao butter from cocoa seeds and created the solid chocolate we know today.
To make the chocolate bars we know today a series of steps must be followed:
- Harvesting. You must harvest the cocoa seeds from the trees.
- Fermenting. This allows microorganisms to ferment the Cacao pods, creating a strong taste, or the taste of chocolate.
- Drying. You dry the beans. This process takes 1-2 weeks.
- Winnowing. During this process, you remove the shell and husk from the cocoa bean. This turns the Cacao beans into cacao nibs.
- Grinding. Here you grind the cacao nibs into a paste.
- Mixing and conching. During this process, you refine the chocolate and mix it with any additional supplies you want such as milk, sugar, spices, etc.
- Tempering. This is the final and hardest step. This is the process of heating and cooling chocolate to get the desired crystal or solid form.
And this is the end of the chocolate adventure. Chocolate is an extremely popular product with several books and films dedicated to it. There are many varieties of chocolate and even chocolate tasters.
Sources:
-Obscure notes from a lecture on chocolate
-Wikipedia
-Obscure notes from a lecture on chocolate
-Wikipedia