History and production of chocolate

This is not what I'm searching for. Written on 30-04-2010 by Loretta

Chocolate is a well known delicacy, made out of cocoa, which is obtained from the cocoaplant. Chocolade is een bekende lekkernij die gemaakt wordt van cocoa. Chocolate can be processed into bars, but can also be used for other products, such as chocolatepudding, chocolate drops, chocolate letters, and chocolate sprinkles.

History

In South America, the Aztecs produced a bitter drink made out of cocoa beans, which they called xocoatl. They believed this concoction was a gift of God. There are even old legends which claim that the seeds of the cocoa plant come directly from Paradise. The god Quetzalcoatl, so the legend tells, travelled from Paradise to Earth, and the cocoa plant was brought as a gift. He told the Aztecs how to roast and grind the seeds, in order to make it a paste which would resolve in water. Drinking this concoction would make one wise and strong. Probably, the name ‘chocolate’ is derived from the word the Aztecs used: xocoatl.

The Spaniards were the first to add sugar to the chocolate drink. Halfway the 16^th century, the first cocoa beans were brought into Europe. Hernando Cortez, Spanish explorer, took the chocolate with him from Montezuma, king of the Aztecs, in Mexico, and brought it to king Karel V. The secret behind chocolate was kept secret for almost a century long. It was the Italian Antonio Carletti who broke the silence, leading to the spreading of chocolate all over Europe, at the beginning of the 17^th century. During the war of eighty years, chocolate reached The Netherlands as well. At that time, chocolate was a costly medium of exchange; it was hardly affordable for many people.

Around 1700, the English started adding milk to the chocolate, and so chocolate milk emerged. In 1828, the Dutchman C.J. van Houten invented the cocoa press. With this, the chocolate became a lot cheaper. During the industrial revolution, the mass production really took off, and in 1847 the first real chocolate bar was made by Fry & Sons. After this, a Swiss experimented some more, and discovered how to make an eatable chocolate bar made out of milk chocolate.

Production

After the cocoa beans are gathered, they are dried, cleaned and roasted. This roasting is done at a temperature of 110 to 160 degrees Celsius, and is very important for the flavouring to develop, and for improving taste. Next, the little pieces of cocoa, so called ‘nibs’, are grinded so a massive, dark pap emerges. Under a large pressure, the fat is pressed out of the pap. This fat is yellow colored, and consist of approximately 55% fat: cocoa butter. The remaining part is cocoa powder, which can be used, for example, to make chocolate milk. The butter is melted in order to make chocolate bars.

Substances in chocolate

Chocolate contains fenylethylamine. This substance can also naturally be found in the human brains. People who are often depressed or gloomed, probably have a shortage of this substance. Eating chocolate would make these people more happy. However, it is not only the substance in a direct way that influences peoples mood, just the smell can reach this effect as well. Researchers think this has something to do with cannabinoids, which is another substance of chocolate. This substance resembles cannabis, which is a natural type of drugs, making people feel chilled.

But there is more to chocolate. It also contains substances which protect against stroke. These substances are called flavonoids, and eliminates harmful oxygenates, which are presumed to play a role in the emergence of cardio vasculair disease. Those flavonoids also occur in other products, such as tea, vegetables, red wine and apples. There is a big difference however, chocolate consist four times as much flavonoids compared to those other products. Pure chocolate contains even more.

lthough chocolate contains a lot of good and protective substances, it also consist of less healthy substances, such as fat. Besides that, it contains a lot of sugar, which is not good for ones teeth.

Sorts and products

Chocolat comes in a lot of different types. Besides that, chocolate is processed into various products. A short summary:

Sorts of chocolate

Three types of chocolate can be roughly distinguished:

Pure, which contains (in Europe) at least 35% cocoa.
Milk, which contains at least 25% cocoa, and besides that also contains 14% milk powder
White. Actually, this is not real chocolate, for there isn’t any cocoa in it at all, but only contains cocoa butter.

Products

Sandwich filling. Chocolate paste, sprinkles or flakes are well known chocolate products. They are available in all three types.
Chocolate letter. This is chocolate in the form of a letter. Available in all types, but only in the season of st. Nicholas, which is in December.
‘Snackbars’. Chocolate is also processed into little bars, for example combined with nuts, rice or biscuit. Mars, Twix, Nuts, Lion, and Kitkat are examples of such bars.
Eastern. Chocolate products with eastern as theme are only available around that season. One can think of eastern bunnies, eggs, and chickens, all made out of chocolate.
Desserts. Chocolate ice and pudding are well known desserts with chocolate processed into it.

However, that’s not all. There are many more products that can be made out of chocolate, such as cookies, and drinks.

Preserving chocolate

Chocolate can best be preserved at room temperature, which is around 18 °C. Besides that, many people keep their chocolate in the refrigerator. But, besides that the chocolate will get very hard, it will condensate as well. This means that little drops of water will appear on the chocolate, the instant it is cooled down. This will not benefit the taste of chocolate, for you will also taste the water. When kept at a room temperature, the chocolate can be preserved for over two years.

Chocolate facts

The chocolate was invented in the 17th century by the duke of Plessis-Praslin. He had the idea to make a delicacy which he could use to distract agitators. The duke saw a kitchen boy scrape melted sugar from the pan. His discovery is also known as praline.
At an auction in London in 2001, a 100 years old bar was auctioned. Robert Scott, a pioneer of the South pole, brought 3500 tons of cocoa with him on one of his expeditions. One of these bars brought in 1650 guilders at the auction.
In Italy, in 1999, chocolate was sewed. In april that year, a symbolic process was held against chocolate, for it was accused of being addictive and being a threat for health. The chocolate’s advocate pointed out the positive effects of chocolates. Chocolate was thought to stimulate breathing, and protect against stress. It also gets people to feel good, both physically and mentally.