Do You Know Something About Chocolate?

Chocolate

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For other uses, see Chocolate (disambiguation).

Chocolate
Chocolate most commonly comes in dark, milk, and white varieties, with cocoa solids contributing to the brown color
Main ingredient(s):
Chocolate liquor
Recipes at Wikibooks:
Chocolate
Media at Wikimedia Commons:
Chocolate

Chocolate

ⁱ/ˈtʃɒk(ə)lət/ is a processed, typically sweetened food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico and Central America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC by the Olmecs in south central Mexico. The majority of the Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Mayans and the Aztecs,^[1] who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl [ʃoˈkolaːt͡ɬ], a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor.
After fermentation, the beans are dried, then cleaned, and then roasted, and the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs. The nibs are then ground to cocoa mass, pure chocolate in rough form. Because this cocoa mass usually is liquefied then molded with or without other ingredients, it is called chocolate liquor. The liquor also may be processed into two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Unsweetened baking chocolate (bitter chocolate) contains primarily cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, a combination of cocoa solids, cocoa butter or other fat, and sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk but no cocoa solids.
Cocoa solids contain alkaloids such as theobromine, phenethylamine and caffeine.^[2] These have physiological effects on the body and are linked to serotonin levels in the brain. Some research has found that chocolate, eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure.^[3] The presence of theobromine renders chocolate toxic to some animals,^[4] especially dogs and cats.
The Europeans sweetened and fattened chocolate by adding refined sugar and milk, two ingredients unknown to the Mexicans. In the 19th century, Briton John Cadbury developed an emulsification process to make solid chocolate, creating the modern chocolate bar. Chocolate has become one of the most popular food types and flavors in the world, and a vast number of foodstuffs involving chocolate have been created. Chocolate chip cookies have become very common, and very popular, in most parts of Europe and North America. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain holidays. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, to produce chocolate milk and hot chocolate.
Although cocoa is originally from the Americas, today Western Africa produces almost two-thirds of the world's cocoa, with Côte d'Ivoire growing almost half of it.

1 Etymology
2 History
- 2.1 Mesoamerica history
- 2.2 European adaptation
3 Types
4 Production
5 Health effects
6 Labeling
7 Manufacturers
8 In popular culture
- 8.1 Holidays
- 8.2 Books and film
9 See also
10 Notes
11 Further reading
12 External links
Types

Main article: Types of chocolate

Chocolate is commonly used as a coating for various fruits and fillings, such as cherries.

Disk of chocolate (about 4cm in diameter), as sold in Central America, for making hot cocoa. Note that the chocolate pictured here is soft, can easily be crumbled by hand, and already has sugar added.

Several types of chocolate can be distinguished. Pure, unsweetened chocolate contains primarily cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, combining chocolate with sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. In the U.K. and Ireland, milk chocolate must contain a minimum of 20% total dry cocoa solids; in the rest of the European Union, the minimum is 25%.^[34] "White chocolate" contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk, but no cocoa solids. Chocolate contains alkaloids such as theobromine and phenethylamine, which have some physiological effects in humans, but the presence of theobromine renders it toxic to some animals, such as dogs and cats.^[35] It has been linked to serotonin levels in the brain. Dark chocolate has been promoted for unproven health benefits,^[36] as it seems to possess substantial amount of antioxidants that reduce the formation of free radicals.
White chocolate is formed from a mixture of sugar, cocoa butter and milk solids. Although its texture is similar to that of milk and dark chocolate, it does not contain any cocoa solids. Because of this, many countries do not consider white chocolate as chocolate at all.^[37] Although white chocolate was first introduced by Hebert Candies in 1955, Mars, Incorporated, was the first to produce it within the United States. Because it does not contain any cocoa solids, white chocolate does not contain any theobromine, meaning it can be consumed by animals. It is usually not used for cooking.
Dark chocolate is produced by adding fat and sugar to the cacao mixture. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration calls this "sweet chocolate", and requires a 15% concentration of chocolate liquor. European rules specify a minimum of 35% cocoa solids.^[34] Dark chocolate, with its high cocoa content, is a rich source of epicatechin and gallic acid, which are thought to possess cardioprotective properties. Dark chocolate has also been said to reduce the possibility of a heart attack when consumed regularly in small amounts.^[38] Semisweet chocolate is a dark chocolate with a low sugar content. Bittersweet chocolate is chocolate liquor to which some sugar (typically a third), more cocoa butter, vanilla and sometimes lecithin have been added. It has less sugar and more liquor than semisweet chocolate, but the two are interchangeable in baking.
Unsweetened chocolate is pure chocolate liquor, also known as bitter or baking chocolate. It is unadulterated chocolate: the pure, ground, roasted chocolate beans impart a strong, deep chocolate flavor.
Raw chocolate, often referred to as raw cacao, is always dark and a minimum of 75% cacao. Because the act of processing results in the loss of certain vitamins and minerals (such as magnesium), some consider raw cacao to be a more nutritious form of chocolate.^[39]
Chocolate may have whitish spots on the dark chocolate part. This is called chocolate bloom and is an indication that sugar and/or fat has separated due to poor storage. It is not toxic.

Production

See also: Children in cocoa production and Cocoa production in Côte d'Ivoire

Chocolate is created from the cocoa bean. A cacao tree with fruit pods in various stages of ripening

Roughly two-thirds of the entire world's cocoa is produced in West Africa, with 43% sourced from Côte d'Ivoire,^[40] where child labor is a common practice to obtain the product.^[41]^[42]^[43] According to the World Cocoa Foundation, some 50 million people around the world depend on cocoa as a source of livelihood.^[44] In the UK, most chocolatiers purchase their chocolate from them, to melt, mold and package to their own design.^[45]
Chocolate is any product made primarily of cocoa solids and cocoa butter.
Production costs can be decreased by reducing cocoa solid content or by substituting cocoa butter with another fat. Cocoa growers object to allowing the resulting food to be called "chocolate", due to the risk of lower demand for their crops.^[44] The sequencing in 2010 of genome of the cacao tree may allow yields to be improved.^[46]
There are two main jobs associated with creating chocolate candy, chocolate makers and chocolatiers. Chocolate makers use harvested cacao beans and other ingredients to produce couverture chocolate (covering). Chocolatiers use the finished couverture to make chocolate candies (bars, truffles, etc.).^[47]

Cacao varieties

Toasted cacao beans at a chocolate workshop at the La Chonita Hacienda in Tabasco, Mexico.

Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, the dried and partially fermented seeds of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), a small (4–8 m (or 15–26 ft) tall) evergreen tree native to the deep tropical region of the Americas. Recent genetic studies suggest that the most common genotype of the plant originated in the Amazon basin and was gradually transported by humans throughout South and Central America. Early forms of another genotype have also been found in what is now Venezuela. The scientific name, Theobroma, means "food of the deities".^[48] The fruit, called a cacao pod, is ovoid, 15–30 cm (or 6–12 in) long and 8–10 cm (3–4 in) wide, ripening yellow to orange, and weighing about 500 g (1 lb) when ripe.
Cacao trees are small, understory trees that need rich, well-drained soils. They naturally grow within 20 degrees of either side of the equator because they need about 2000 millimeters of rainfall a year, and temperatures in the range of 21 to 32 °C. Cacao trees cannot tolerate a temperature lower than 15 °C (59 °F).^[49]
The three main varieties of cacao beans used in chocolate are criollo, forastero, and trinitario.

Criollo
Representing only five percent of all cocoa beans grown,^[50] criollo is the rarest and most expensive cocoa on the market, and is native to Central America, the Caribbean islands and the northern tier of South American states.^[51] There is some dispute about the genetic purity of cocoas sold today as criollo, as most populations have been exposed to the genetic influence of other varieties.
Criollos are particularly difficult to grow, as they are vulnerable to a variety of environmental threats and produce low yields of cocoa per tree. The flavor of criollo is described as delicate yet complex, low in classic chocolate flavor, but rich in "secondary" notes of long duration.^[52]

Forastero
The most commonly grown bean is forastero,^[50] a large group of wild and cultivated cacaos, most likely native to the Amazon basin. The African cocoa crop is entirely of the forastero variety. They are significantly hardier and of higher yield than criollo. The source of most chocolate marketed,^[50] forastero cocoas are typically strong in classic "chocolate" flavor, but have a short duration and are unsupported by secondary flavors, producing "quite bland" chocolate.^[50]

Trinitario
Trinitario is a natural hybrid of criollo and forastero. Trinitario originated in Trinidad after an introduction of forastero to the local criollo crop. Nearly all cacao produced over the past five decades is of the forastero or lower-grade trinitario varieties.^[53]