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Who invented chocolate as we know it?
Where does chocolate come from?
How do they make Chocolate from Cocoa
Beans?
How do we get the Chocolate that we know
and love at Uncle Sam's?
What types of Chocolate are there?
Why do some chocolates that I've tasted
had a funny texture, or taste?
Is Chocolate an Aphrodisiac?
Can My Pets eat Chocolate?
Is there much Caffeine in Chocolate?
Does Chocolate Cause Acne?
How should I store the Chocolate I buy
at Uncle Sam's?
Who invented chocolate as we know
it?
The story of chocolate began in the New World with the
Mayans, who drank a dark brew called cacahuaquchtl.
Later, the Aztecs consumed chacahoua and used the cocoa
bean for currency. In 1523, they offered cocoa beans
to Cortez, who introduced chocolate to the Old World,
where it swiftly became a favorite food among the rich
and noble of Europe.
From the beginning, turning raw, bitter cocoa beans
into what one 17th century writer called "the only
true food of the gods" has been a fine art, a delicate
mixture of alchemy and science. Centuries ago it was
discovered that by fermenting and roasting the beans,
an almost otherworldly flavor could be created. In 1875,
after years of trying, a 31-year-old candy maker in
Vevey named Daniel Peter figured out how to combine
milk and cocoa powder. The result — milk chocolate.
Peter, a friend and neighbor of Henri Nestlé,
started a company that would quickly become the world's
leading maker of chocolate. For three decades the company
called Peter, Cailler, Kohler relied on Nestlé
for milk and marketing expertise. In 1929, the almost
inevitable merger took place as Nestlé acquired
Peter, Cailler, and Kohler.
Where does chocolate come from?
Chocolate starts with a tree called the cacao tree (Theobroma
cacao). This tree grows in equatorial regions, especially
in places like South America, Africa and Indonesia.
The cacao tree produces a fruit about the size of a
small pineapple Inside the fruit are the tree's seeds,
also known as cocoa beans.
How do they make Chocolate from
Cocoa Beans?
The beans are fermented for about a week, dried in the
sun and then shipped to the chocolate maker. The chocolate
maker starts by roasting the beans to bring out the
flavor. Different beans from different places have different
qualities and flavors, so they are often sorted and
blended to produce a distinctive mix.
Once roasted and blended, the beans are ground, and
the ground beans form a viscous liquid called chocolate
liquor (the word liquor has nothing to do with alcohol
- that's just what it's called). All seeds contain some
amount of fat, and cocoa beans are no different. However
cocoa beans are half fat, which is why the ground beans
form a liquid. If you have ever ground up peanuts to
make real peanut butter, that is similar - real peanut
butter is a thick liquid. The difference between peanut
oil and cocoa oil is that peanut oil is liquid at room
temperature while cocoa oil is a solid up to about 90
degrees F. Chocolate liquor is pure, unsweetened chocolate.
Eaten in this state it is pretty nasty because it is
bitter, but it is possible to acquire a taste for it.
You can do two different things with chocolate liquor.
You can pour it into a mold and let it cool and solidify.
This is unsweetened chocolate. Or you can press it in
a hydraulic press to squeeze out the fat. When you do
that, what you are left with is a dry cake of the ground
cocoa bean solids and cocoa butter (useful in everything
from tanning products to white chocolate). If you grind
up the cake you have cocoa powder. You can buy both
unsweetened chocolate (baking chocolate) and pure cocoa
powder at the grocery store. Cocoa Powder is generally
a byproduct, and is never contained in REAL CHOCOLATE.
If you see Cocoa Powder on the ingredient label, then
it is IMITATION CHOCOLATE!
How do we get the Chocolate that
we know and love at Uncle Sam's?
You can see that, so far, we haven't really done anything
- we've taken the seeds of a tree, roasted them and
ground them up. Now the process of making the chocolate
we eat can begin, and it takes a lot of talent. There
are three basic things that must be done by the chocolate
maker to make a chocolate bar:
Adding ingredients - the chocolate that we eat contains
sugar, other flavors (like vanilla) and often milk (in
milk chocolate). The chocolate maker adds these ingredients
according to his or her secret recipe.
Conching - a special machine is used to massage the
chocolate in order to blend the ingredients together
and smooth it out. Conching can take as long as 3 days
in the finest chocolates.
Tempering - tempering is a carefully controlled heating
process. Tempering is a process where the chocolate
is slowly heated, then slowly cooled, allowing the cocoa
butter molecules to solidify in an orderly fashion.
Without tempering, the chocolate does not harden properly
or the cocoa butter separates out (like cream separates
from milk). Real Chocolate always requires tempering.
These three steps, along with the blend of cocoa beans
chosen at the start and the way they are roasted, are
the art of chocolate making. The steps control the quality,
taste and texture of the chocolate produced.
What types of Chocolate are there?
Baking Chocolate
- Pure cocoa liquor with nothing added.
Cocoa Powder - Cocoa
bean solids. Cocoa liquor pressed to remove the cocoa
butter.
Semi-sweet Chocolate
- Pure cocoa liquor with extra cocoa butter and some
sugar.
Milk Chocolate -
Pure cocoa liquor with extra cocoa butter, sugar and
milk solids. There is more milk than chocolate liquor
in milk chocolate.
White Chocolate
- Cocoa butter plus sugar and milk. There are no cocoa
bean solids in white chocolate.
Why do some chocolates that I've
tasted had a funny texture, or taste?
Because they are not real chocolate! They are what is
know as "Chocolate flavored Candy",Confectionery
Coating", or "Summer Coating".
They are a blend of cocoa powder and coconut oil and
are like other chocolate products using sugar, milk
and flavorings. The substitution of other fats for cocoa
butter can make these products less expensive or easier
to use than real chocolate. They are notorious for being
high in saturated fat and leaving a greasy coating on
the roof of the mouth. Individuals who purvey these
products as real chocolate are violating FDA Federal
and State Food Laws. At Uncle Sam's we like to give
you the example of an individual who buys a cubic ziconia
and thinks he is getting a diamond! It is out and out
illegal to do this, yet it happens all the time. Be
aware! Look for the ingredients "Chocolate LIQUOR"
and "Cocoa BUTTER".
Is Chocolate an Aphrodisiac?
Chocolate is the traditional gift of love, ranking right
up there with roses as the most romantic gift one can
give.
But is it really an aphrodisiac? There is some evidence
that the answer might be yes. Chocolate contains three
substances, caffeine, theobromine and
phenyethylamine that might be related to this myth.
Caffeine acts as a stimulant. Theobromine stimulates
the heart muscle and the nervous system. And
phenyethylamine is reputed <no conclusive proof exists
yet> to be a mood elevator and an anti-depressant.
The combination of these three substances,
giving you extra energy, making your heart beat faster,
making you a bit jumpy and slightly giddy....well, you
can see how chocolate could be linked to love.
In fact, Montezuma used to drink a frothy chocolate
beverage before going to visit one of his wives. But
before you go out to buy several cases of chocolate
to ply your lover with tonight, remember that these
substances show up only in small quantities in chocolate.
We just think it makes people happy, and you can't be
romantic if you are not happy!
Can My Pets eat Chocolate?
Unequivocally, no. The theobromine in chocolate that
stimulates the cardiac and nervous systems is too much
for dogs, especially smaller pups. A chocolate bar
is poisonous to dogs and can even be lethal. The same
holds true for cats, and other household pets.
Is there much Caffeine in Chocolate?
Although there is less caffeine in chocolate that there
is in a cup of coffee, people who are avoiding caffeine
should unfortunately stay away from chocolate
as well. There are about 30 milligrams of caffeine in
your average chocolate bar, while a cup of coffee contains
around 100 to 150 milligrams.
Does Chocolate Cause Acne?
This is another myth about chocolate. While some people
might be allergic to chocolate, or some of its ingredients,
the belief that chocolate causes acne
universally has been disproved by doctors for some time.
How should I store the Chocolate
I buy at Uncle Sam's?
Chocolate is best kept at around 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit,
the temperature of a nice pantry or dark cabinet. Kept
at this temperature, chocolate (assuming it
isn't covering fruit or other perishables) has a shelf
life of about a year. Freezing chocolate isn't such
a great idea; when you freeze it, then thaw it
out, it will have a greater tendency to bloom(which
means it turns gray and cloudy). It won't hurt it but
will make it look funny. Also we recommend keeping it
away from strong food odors or soaps and chemicals,
as it will have a tendency to acquire a poor taste.
Some have experienced "Soapy" tasting chocolate
and this because it has been stored next to detergent
or soap. We personally recommend a kitchen cabinet on
the outside wall of a house, where there are only dishes
or plates and utensils; no other foodstuffs. It will
be cool, dry, and odor-free.
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