Chocolates

Some interesting information about chocolate.

Of all the forbidden fruits, chocolates are the most desirable. The very thought of chocolates is enough to make the mouth water and, according to some women, the body to gain weight. This is a desire, a craving, a yearning and even a need of the ages. Chocolates are, to many, ambrosia and worth ditching the strict diet.

The tasty treats known as chocolate have an ancient and honorable lineage. Its history dates back at least 2,000 years. The early cultures of Mexico and Central America are where chocolate first made its presence felt. The Mayans and then the Aztecs initially discovered the use of the cacao bean. The Europeans, however, were accountable for spreading the knowledge of chocolate worldwide. The Europeans are also responsible for refining the process. They changed a simple cacao bean from a local Mesoamerican beverage into a global sweet.

Today, chocolates are not currency as they were in the Aztec and Mayan times. The drink was an important part of their culture. It was social - a beverage favored by royalty and drank only by the elite. In religion, chocolate, both the drink and het bean, was a gift for the Gods. Only after the Spanish invaded Mexico in 1521, did it become an expensive European sweet. It had not, however, become the mass-produced “chocolates.” Indeed, chocolate was only available in liquid form. For centuries, it was to remain a drink making its way slowly across the European continent and to North America.

In the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution introduced massive technological changes in the way processing and manufacturing took place. Chocolate became mass-produced. Chocolate beans could now be ground finely, the texture made smooth, solid and creamy. This was the result of the conching machine. New inventions also made it possible for the creations of different grades of chocolate. There are now three basic types:  Dark chocolate which consists of  sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, and (sometimes) vanilla;  milk chocolate made of sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, milk or milk powder, and vanilla and white chocolate a combination of sugar, cocoa butter, milk or milk powder, and vanilla . In addition, there are subdivisions: bitter chocolate, unsweetened or baking chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate. The type of chocolate has its basis in strict standards of the content of cocoa butter.

These different types of chocolate are processed to make chocolate bars, chocolate confections and chocolates. The most popular type of chocolates is those made with milk chocolate. Dark chocolate, although it provides a perfect foil for the sweet filling of most chocolates, plays second-fiddle to its lighter and less chocolaty cousin. White chocolate is used infrequently in chocolates as it is not as popular.

Chocolates became possible with the conching process. After many innovations and advances in chocolate technology, including Daniel Peter’s new process of mixing milk into chocolate while preventing mould or decay, Jules Suchout developed a process for the making of filled chocolate in 1913. These are what we now, much to our taste buds’ delight, call chocolates.