Chocolate

Chocolate usually comes in three varieties: black, white and milk, with cocoa powder contributing to its brown coloring.

Variety of chocolates.

Chocolate (from Nahuatl, xocoatl) is the food that is obtained by mixing sugar with two products derived from the manipulation of cocoa beans: the mass of cocoa and cocoa butter. From this basic combination, the different types of chocolate are made that depend on the proportion between these elements and their mixture, or not, with other products such as milk, coloring, and/or or nuts.

Cocoa has been cultivated by many cultures for at least three millennia in Mesoamerica. The earliest evidence of the use of cocoa belongs to the culture of Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, with traces of chocolate drinks dating from 1900 BC. C. However, the Olmecs of La Venta In Tabasco, they were the first humans to savor, in the form of a drink, ground cocoa beans, which they mixed with water and added various spices, herbs and chili peppers, and they were also the ones who began to cultivate cocoa in Mexico. In fact, most Mesoamerican people made chocolate drinks, including the Mayans and Aztecs.

The botanist Carlos Linnaeus called it Theobroma, which means food of the gods, reaching the point of being an object of worship for the Mayans and Aztecs.

Currently, Ghana and the Ivory Coast are the two main producers and exporters of cocoa globally. Several investigations carried out in these countries have shown many cases related to slavery, human trafficking and child exploitation (see: Child labor in cocoa production). Many activist associations have wanted to raise awareness about the injustices behind chocolate, boycotting producing companies such as Cargill Cocoa or Olam International or purchasing companies such as Nestlé and Hershey's. In July 2019, Ghana and the Ivory Coast reached a joint agreement to set a minimum price for the sale of cocoa, to dignify the lives of its workers.

History of chocolate and its origin

Origin

Codex Nuttall, representation of two kings of mixed culture sharing a chocolate drink.

The cultivation, use, and cultural processing of cacao were early and extensive in Mesoamerica. When pollinated, the seed of the cacao tree finally forms a kind of pod or ear 10 to 35 cm long hanging from the branches, inside the pod there are 30 to 40 almond-shaped brownish-red beans embedded in a pulp. sweet and slimy. The beans or seeds are bitter due to the alkaloids within them; the sweet pulp may have been the first item consumed by humans. Evidence suggests that it may have been fermented and served as an alcoholic drink as early as 1400 BC. C.

While researchers disagree that Mesoamerican culture first domesticated the cacao tree, the use of the fermented bean in a beverage appears to have originated in Mexico. Scientists have been able to confirm its presence in vessels around the world by evaluating the "chemical fingerprint" detectable in the remaining content samples. A ceramic container with residues from the preparation of chocolate drinks has been found at archaeological sites dating to the Early Formative period (1900-900 BCE). For example, a boat of this type found in an Olmec archaeological site on the coast of the Gulf of Veracruz (Mexico) dates the preparation of chocolate by pre-Olmec peoples from 1750 BC. On the Pacific coast of Chiapas, Mexico, a Mokayanan archeological site provides evidence of cocoa drinks dating even earlier, to 1900 BC. C.

Around 1500 B.C. C., the Olmecs of La Venta in Tabasco, Mexico, were the first humans to savor, in the form of a drink, ground cocoa beans, which they mixed with water and added various spices, herbs and chili peppers, and they were also the ones who they began cultivating cacao in Mexico. The earliest evidence of the domestication of the cacao plant dates from the Olmec culture to the Preclassic period. The Olmecs used it for religious rituals or as a medicinal drink, without prescription for personal use. Little evidence remains of how the drink was processed.

In 2008 the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico published studies from the Universities of Columbia, Arizona, Yale, Wisconsin and Kennesaw, in which the analyzes applied to a vessel found in the excavations of Cerro Manatí, located within the ejido del Macayal, in the municipality of Hidalgotitlán, Veracruz, conclude that cocoa consumption may have occurred 800 years earlier than previously thought, in the formative period (1900-900 BC). The vessel is carbon-14 dated to 1750 BC. C. and contains traces of theobromine, a marker component of the presence of cocoa in the vessels, dating from around 1100 BC. C. in the archaeological site of Puerto Oculto (northeast of present-day Honduras), more recent studies (October 2007) undertaken by the team of archaeologists led by John Henderson (Cornell University) and Rosemary Joyce (University of California at Berkeley) do not They only ratify that already in 1000 B.C. C. Chocolate was consumed in the region, but it was very likely that consumption began around ca. 1500 B.C. C. It was found in ceramic samples from Belize from between 600 and 400 B.C. C. According to Michael Coe, the drink was popularized in Mesoamerica by the Olmecs, but evidence indicates an earlier popularity.

In early times consumption seems to have been in the form of a kind of "beer"; that is, a drink based on the fermentation rather than the cocoa beans of the pulp thereof. Such a "chocolate beer", the remains of which are found in ceramic vessels from Puerto Escondido, would have an important ritual function and was most likely used in wedding celebrations. Much later, the Olmecs, Mayans and Mexicas (among other Mesoamerican civilizations) began to consume chocolate derived from the paste of the grains seasoned or seasoned with chili. In semi-liquid and liquid form, chocolate used to be the favorite drink of royalty, who consumed it in special glasses (jícaras). It was also considered (rightly) an invigorating or energizing food, which could be consumed mixed in a mass of cornmeal mixed with chili peppers and honey.

The Mexicas rewarded the best warriors of the time by granting them the right to freely consume chocolate. The soldiers were also given species of little balls made with cocoa powder so that they could prepare their chocolate throughout the war.

A Aztec woman generates foam pouring chocolate from one container to another in the Tudela Codex.

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According to Mayan mythology, Kukulkan gave cacao to the Maya after the creation of mankind, made from corn (Ixim) by the goddess Xmucané (Bogin 1997, Coe 1996, Montejo 1999, Tedlock 1985). The Maya held an annual festival in April to honor the god of cocoa, Ek Chuah, an event that included sacrifices of dogs and other animals with chocolate painted markings, offerings of cocoa, feathers, incense, and gift exchange.

• Centuries after the Mayas, the Mexicas (Aztecs) continued taste for the chocolha Maya. It is known that Emperor Moctezuma liked to drink a cup of this diluted in water, others say that it was taken 50 cups a day. A legend says in Mexico that the same god Quetzalcóatl (almost equivalent to the Mayan Kukulkán) in ancient times gave men in his hands the first cocoa seeds. It was a very common food between mexicas and Mayas. Their preparation was made as follows: the seeds were first toasted and then grounded to make a pasta that was then mixed with water. This mixture was heated until the butter or cocoa fat went up to the surface. The foam was removed and then mixed again –according to certain proportions – with the drink; it eventually swept strongly to form a liquid with a consistent foam that drank cold. This base preparation was added – according to taste – different ingredients, such as chili, achiote, vanilla and honey as sweetener and corn flour as a basic emulsifier to absorb cocoa butter. The result was a very energetic but also very bitter and spicy drink.
• In the Mesoamerica region of Mexico, cocoa seeds were so appreciated by the Aztecs that they were used as the ordinary currency for the trade of the time.

From America to Europe

Scene of a chocolate shop on Petritxol Street in Barcelona.

Cocoa was also used as currency in pre-Hispanic cultures since it was one of the products used to pay tribute to the "tlatohani".

• The first European who tasted this drink, a history of chocolate, could very well have been the same Christopher Columbus in 1502 when he arrived at Guanaja Island (Isla de Pinos, on the coast of current Honduras), on his fourth trip to America. There are different versions about the first time the fruit of cocoa came to Spain. Christopher Columbus may also carry it among the samples collected in the territory of the current Nicaragua during that same fourth trip, from which he returned to Spain in 1504.
• Christopher Columbus, on his return to Spain, brought cocoa samples to the Catholic Kings; however, he was not successful for his bitter and spicy taste and for his dirty appearance. What is certain is that Hernán Cortés tried one of the cocoa-based drinks that produced the Mayas and the Aztecs he contacted when he arrived on the continent in 1519. Cortés, as he tried the brebage prepared by the Aztecs, described it as follows: "When one drinks it, one can travel a whole day without getting tired and without having to feed." In addition to the food value, he had also drawn attention to the monetary value given to him by the Aztecs. And it is very possible that Cortés himself, aware of that value, will also take him with him when he returned to Spain in 1529, before carrying out the first expedition in search of a Central American step connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Of the samples he decided to take with him to the Spain of Carlos I in 1528 is where the history of chocolate in Europe arises. It was apparently in 1534 when one of the Cistercian monks of the expedition of Cortés, Aguilar, brought the cocoa to the abbot of the Monastery of Stone (in Zaragoza) Antonio de Alvaro, where chocolate was first produced in Spain and in Europe, and where a very high quality chocolate is still being prepared. The secret of his elaboration was kept by the monks jealously.
• In the centuryXVI, Hernán Cortés introduced in the Spanish court the chocolate that drank the Aztecs. The ladies of the Spanish royalty reserved it for them and took it to sorbitos in secret, seasoned with spices and sometimes with pepper. The chocolate drink was popular among Mexican religious, and when they returned to Spain they brought cocoa with them to have that drink. Over time it was introduced into the highest strata of European society. This drink was consumed by the members of the Spanish Church because they considered it a food that did not break fast (although on this subject there were strong ecclesiastical discussions). The truth is that everything points to that chocolate was already made in Spain before the second third of the centuryXVI.
• The addition of sugar (and spices such as vanilla and cinnamon) to this drink – which can be called chocolate with a current sense–is an idea with uncertain origin: on the one hand it is known that in Mexico around the end of the centuryXVI Thanks to the Nao of China, the cinnamon from the island of Ceylon or Sri Lanka arrived on a large scale and it is clear that the extension by the Spaniards of the cultivation of sugar cane in America could have facilitated it to be there where both products were mixed for the first time. On the other hand, the news is recurring that this only happened when the cocoa arrived in Europe. In any case, such a combination is almost always associated with members of religious orders: the nuns of a convent of Oaxaca (Mexico) who added sugar to cocoa in 1529 (and then founded the former monastery of Santa Catalina de Siena of Oaxaca in 1540 — currently a hotel—) and the Monastery of Stone in Zaragoza, are the two places, in America and Europe respectively, which seem to have been the first to put into practice.
• There were, on the other hand, some disagreements between the high ecclesiastical spheres because of the so-called exciting power generated by those who took it. For example, the bishop of Chiapas had to prohibit his consumption within the church compound because the Spanish ladies, to make more bearers the meticulous sermons, made themselves serve chocolate for their servants and drank it during the ceremony. This fact irritated the prelate, who threatened to excommunicate them if they followed that practice.
• It can also be argued that Jesuit missionaries – and not explorers of the New World – were responsible for bringing chocolate to Spain, Italy and France for the first time through an international network of convents and monasteries. It was also through Jesuit missionaries such as raw cocoa grains, unprocessed, began to export by boat to Europe.

The 17th century, expansion across Europe

During the 17th century, chocolate was considered both a medicine and a food, and not a companion drink and Pleasure.

• In 1606 comes the manufacture of chocolate to Italy, through Francesco Carletti after a trip to the Spanish possessions of America (although other sources indicate that the introductory was Manuel Filiberto de Saboya, general of the Spanish armies). Through Carletti we have the first references to the elaboration of chocolate by the indigenous (tough cocoa seeds, water and sugar) and, above all, to the existence of solidified cocoa in squares, which served to be transported in the trips as a provision, and if necessary dissolved in water.
• In 1615 the cocoa arrived in France through the marriage of the daughter of Philip III, Ana, with King Louis XIII of France.
• In 1646 he arrived in Germany from Italy. For years, the Germans considered it a medicine, and only sold in drugstores and pharmacies.
• In 1657 it begins to spread in England, where for the first time in Europe chocolate is offered in the form of cupcakes (1674). More important is the date of 1746, since in a club of chocolate fans there is a great innovation: the water, the only thing used until then to mix with cocoa, is replaced by milk, sometimes adding eggs, alcohol and old wine.
• Around 1660 all the spices used in the manufacture of chocolate were eliminated. In Spain, a mixture was prepared with 28 g of chocolate, 57 g of sugar and a quarter of a liter of water, heated and whipped to produce foam. In France, half of the water was used to be replaced by milk.
• At the end of the centuryXVII appear the first Chocolates: both the container in which chocolate was specifically prepared and used to serve. The first was resistant to fire, often of scrambled copper, quite high and with an orifice on the lid to allow the mango of the grinder with which it turned to the chocolate. The serving chocolate – porcelain or silver– had a lid with a handle to facilitate its opening and the wooden handle was placed in a straight angle. To ensure stability when boiling it was often placed on a three-legged stand which allowed it to be placed on an alcohol stove. Special cups were also made for chocolate, mancerin in Spain and trembleuse in France.

The 18th century

• In order to prepare the chocolate the grinder was indispensable: a wooden blender with which the cocoa drink was rolled to make it more homogeneous, velvety and spurious. The process of elaboration developed by the Spaniards at the beginning of the centuryXVIII It consisted of the following: once roasted, decayed and ground, the cocoa mass was ground until it became a fine pasta and mixed with lots of sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, musk and dye. Chocolate shaped blocks was given, but it was still used basically to prepare drinks and was hardly used as a treat or to make cakes.
• In 1711, Carlos VI, a pretender to the crown of Spain in the war of succession, became Austrian emperor and moved from Madrid to Vienna, taking the Spanish hobby for the chocolate to the Austrian capital. Vienna became famous for its exquisite chocolate cups served with fresh water glasses.
• In 1755 Americans discovered chocolate. The first factory was founded in 1765. Quaker Milton Hershey introduces the chocolate tablet with milk and almonds at the beginning of the centuryXX..
• Europeans loved the new taste and also attracted the supposed healing properties of chocolate. In 1763, the British brewers were so threatened by the growing popularity of this product, which called for laws to limit its manufacture. The fierce competition in the chocolate industry led some to add starch to give more and the English even added a pinch of pulverized brick to intensify its color. The demand for better quality and taste chocolate continued to increase.
• The Spanish Reposter Juan de la Mata writes one of the first treatises on pastry, Art of pastry: containing all kinds of making dry sweets, and devotes several chapters on how chocolate is made in Spain.

Chocolate in the 19th century

Chocolate in its primary form. Prior to solidification.

• The artisanal elaboration of chocolate was replaced in 1777 in Spain by the mechanics. At the beginning of the centuryXIXalong with the development of cocoa plantations around the world, the chocolate industry was organized and refined in several countries.
• The first important step was the solidification of chocolate to get the tablet. The Italian Doret was the first to solidify the chocolate in Turin.
• The first chocolate factory was installed in Switzerland in 1819.
• The first tablet was that of Fry and Sons, in England about 1847, a mixture of liquor, cocoa and sugar that would appear commercially in Birmingham in 1849 under the name Chocolat Dèlicieux à Manger.
• The second step was taken to 1828 by a Dutchman, Conrad Van Houten, in inventing a hydraulic press that was able to squeeze the ground grains of cocoa and separate the butter well from the new product that could be obtained thanks to that greased: the cocoa powder. The machine could extract up to 50% of the cocoa butter. Along with the development of the process known as dutching (add potassium to reduce the color and make cocoa dissolve more easily in milk or water), the Dutch were placed at the head of chocolate production.
• The third milestone was Italian and consisted of the invention of the chocolates (called 'divu' = colilla' in the piamontese language): fat as acorns, prepared with a handmade cocoa paste and coarsely moulded. The chocolate gianduja it is of Italian origin and takes its name from the turine mask.
• The fourth big moment was Swiss: the invention of milk chocolate by Daniel Peter in 1875 thanks to the use of dairy flour (powder milk) created by Henri Nestlé. It is also Swiss invention the 'conchado'.
• During the centuryXVII Two chocolate tasting schools were confronted with drink: the Spanish love the thick chocolate, where bread or cakes were wet, and the French, tasteful of the spicy smoothie and quickly drank.
• In the second half of the centuryXIXAs described, the Swiss invented a process to further refine the chocolate. This process, called conchado or homogenized, consists of passing the pasta between porcelain discs for several hours, which produces a soft chocolate that melts in the mouth. The misunderstandings claim that the best quality chocolate is the one that is homogenized for a minimum of seventy-two hours.
• Ingenuity entrepreneurs like Hershey, Kohler, Lindt, Nestlé, Peter,ard and Tobler—family names due to certain brands of chocolate—have contributed a lot to this industry, well inventing more effective machinery, well improving formulas.
• The variety criolla chocolate is the most expensive and rare in the markets of the United States and Europe, but it is a common drink in Central America.

According to the International Journal of Acupuncture, the most precious type of cocoa is Criollo, a native of Venezuela. Its grains, very aromatic, are less acidic and very slightly bitter. The trees of the Forastero variety are robust, resistant and, due to their high yield, represent the main part of world production. Its beans have a more intense flavor, very few secondary aromas and are bitter or acidic.

Chocolate in the 21st century: the "bean to bar"' movement

The "bean to bar" or "Chocolate from the bean to the tablet" It appears in the early 21st century in the United States and quickly spreads to become very popular among affluent consumers. high. With the same speed it is distorted and large companies begin to use "bean to bar" in their labels so that a reformulation of the terms of the same is necessary.

The movement first reaches Europe and a little later to Latin America and Asia. Also with the same speed the bases of the "bean to bar" which we could summarize like this:

• With regard to raw materials:
  • Selection of cocoa in origin of varieties "end of aroma", criollos or trinitarios mostly, with special interest in the processes of harvest and post-harvest.
  • Cultivated respectful of the environment and the people who produce it.
• Regarding the work in the workman:
  • Processed in small batch or "battles".
  • Control of all processes to moulding.

This flow of work is increasing significantly throughout the world, although it still does not even account for 10% of the total chocolate produced.

Etymology

For many, the word chocolate is an adaptation of the Nahuatl word xocoatl, which referred to a "foamy drink made of cocoa" and whose literal meaning is sour water. Therefore, two etymologies are postulated for xocoatl:

1. This is the result of adding to the word of Nahuatl origin (from the central-occurring region of Mexico) ātl (water) the word xoco (“agrio”), the word xocolia ("to shout") or xocolli (“agria”).
2. This is an adaptation of chocolhaa, word from the maya that literally means "liquid or hot drink" but the term maya of chocolate design is Chukwa' which contradicts such authors.

• Michael Coe, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Yale, curator of the Yale Peabody Museum and co-author of the book The True History of Chocolate (1996) states that the word xocoatl "it does not appear in any ancient text or source (previous to conquest), in Nahuatl language, the language of Aztec culture." He also quotes the distinguished Mexican philologist Ignacio Dávila Garibi, who proposes that "the Spaniards created the word by taking the word Maya chocol and then replaced the term Maya for water haawith the Aztec Atl. "
• Philologist Joan Corominas puts out the following hypothesis: as the oldest news about the preparation of this brebaje are that the ancient Mexicans did so with ceiba seed (pochotland cocoa (cacahuatlMaybe it comes from pocho-cacacahua-ātl, cocoa drink and ceiba, abbreviated by the Spaniards chocahuatl; in the present form there may have been phonetic influence of other Mexican brebages, as welllātl (cooked corn bever) pinolātl (pinole bever) and chilātl (drink of chili).
• According to the English missionary Thomas Gage, who referred to chocolate in 1648, the term would have an onomatophysical origin, because xoc I would imitate the noise that produced the drink when stirred in the container in which it was prepared or whipped.

Making chocolate

Cacao plant showing the fruits that contain the seeds from where the chocolate is extracted.

Machinery for the "stone" process of cocoa seeds.

After the treatment that the cocoa beans are subjected to in the harvesting areas, they are sent to the different chocolate factories. Upon arrival, the beans are examined and graded.

The first thing that is done is the washing and roasting of the cocoa beans; the objective is to increase the aroma and favor the detachment of the skin of the seeds. A subsequent brushing system allows removing these skins and impurities or foreign bodies.

Next, the cocoa beans are roasted, a very important process for the final quality of the product. In large rotating spheres, the beans are roasted for a few minutes at between 110 and 120 °C, removing moisture and acidity, while favoring the development of aromas. Each type of bean that will be part of a certain chocolate mixture is roasted separately.

After cooling, the broad beans, whose shells have begun to explode due to the effect of roasting, are taken to a husking and screening machine, which opens the toasted beans and separates the skins, lighter, from the upper part. edible, heavier. The peels and skins are recycled as compost for gardens, or to make low-quality butters commercially called Cocoa.

Cocoa has a scent and flavor relatively similar to powdered chocolate, but lacks the original characteristics of cocoa-based chocolate. It is mostly achieved industrially and is dark brown in color. The husk is used to make drinks that are still typical of some places, only a handful of husk is macerated for a few minutes, then it is boiled with milk and drunk hot. But this resulting drink lacks nutrients and sometimes the husk usually contains copper in high amounts. Because it is very bitter, cocoa is a resource with great economic return, especially for industries that modify the flavor of cocoa with large amounts of added sugar that it needs because it is so bitter.

The next step is mixing. Certain amounts of different varieties of grains are weighed and introduced into a cylindrical tank, prior to their passage to the grinding machines. Mixing different beans to make cocoa powder is less demanding than chocolate.

Next, the cocoa beans are ground. The crushed beans pass through a battery of mills and are subjected to a shake at a constant temperature of 60-80 °C; The duration of this treatment can go from 18 to 72 hours. The duration influences the texture of the resulting chocolate: the less shake, the more roughness. Due to the crushing effect, the cellular tissue of the beans, which contains 50 to 60% cocoa butter, allows the release of part of this fat, which is then liquefied by the effect of the heat generated by rubbing. The result is a fluid but dense paste, the cocoa paste: a suspension of cocoa-containing substances in cocoa butter.

For its use in the different products, this paste is homogenized and heated to 100 °C, to be then propelled in hydraulic presses. This extracts the greatest possible amount of cocoa butter, which is filtered and compacted into large blocks. Cocoa paste, with a fat percentage reduced between 8 and 22%, is presented in the form of bread or loaf. This solid part is extremely hard, as it solidifies at 600 atmospheres.

Cocoa toaster.

The characteristic crunch and delicate shine of good chocolate is due to the crystalline structure of cocoa butter.

Cocoa butter, apart from its use in making chocolates, is used in soaps and cosmetics, as it has a melting point slightly lower than body temperature, which makes it a a perfect base for lipsticks and other creams.

Cocoa mixes

The final flavor of chocolate depends on the selection and blending of various types of cocoa beans. These types of cocoa beans can be subdivided between the strong varieties and the soft ones, which are usually mixed proportionally:

• Strong varieties: Saint Lucia, Acra,Trinidad, Granada, Suriname, Cuba and Dominican.

• Soft varieties: Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Caracas, Above, Java, Madras, Jamaica and Seychelles.

Types of chocolate

Chocolate in branch (woodsBlack and white.

The making of chocolate goes through its last phase with the careful mixing of the paste and cocoa butter with sugar, refining the resulting composition by means of crushers-refiners that produce a very thin paste. Next, the most important operation is carried out, the conching (or concheado), which will give the chocolate all its finesse and smoothness.

The conchado is a supplementary kneading in troughs that originally had the shape of a shell. The paste is beaten and stretched in the trough by rollers, with a slow to-and-fro movement, for a period of time and at temperatures that vary depending on the product to be obtained (in any case, a few hours and, often, several days). All these operations are carried out at a temperature higher than the melting point of the cocoa butter, which therefore remains liquid.

The last step is tempering, which consists of completely melting the chocolate at 50 °C so that the crystalline structures of the cocoa butter are broken, cooling it to 30 °C to restore its structure, and finally slightly increase the temperature so that the crystals clump together again in small chains.

Normally, chocolate has added vanilla (or some derivative such as vanillin) as a flavoring, and soy lecithin as an emulsifier and stabilizer to improve the texture and maintain the qualities of the chocolate; in total, both products do not exceed 1% of the chocolate.

The different types of chocolate are made by modifying the proportions between their components and adding other products to the basic composition of paste, butter and sugar. Its presentation can be in the form of tablets or powder:

Chocolate tablet

Dark Chocolate

Hard chocolate with toasted almonds, craftsmanship.

Dark chocolate (also called fondant chocolate; dark chocolate; bitter chocolate; bitter chocolate; American chocolate; hard chocolate) is the chocolate itself, since it is the result of mixing the paste and cocoa butter with sugar, without the addition of any other product (except for the flavoring agent and emulsifier mentioned above). The proportions of the manofacture dependes on the manofacturer. However, it is understood that a dark chocolate must present a proportion of cocoa mass greater than, approximately, 50% of the product, since it is from that amount when the bitterness of the cocoa begins to be perceptible. In any case, there are dark chocolate tablets on the market with different proportions of cocoa, even up to 100%.

It is considered an aphrodisiac food because thanks to its magnesium content it helps fight muscle contractions and premenstrual pain. In places like Oaxaca, Mexico, almonds are added to its preparation and it is made in stone. Currently, there are groups of artisans such as the "chocolateconalas" They still keep this tradition.

In some cases, sugar is usually replaced by a sweetener (mainly sucralose). In this case it is used for dietary regimens.

Coverage chocolate

Couverture chocolate is the chocolate that chocolatiers and pastry chefs use as a raw material. It can be black or with milk, but in any case it is a chocolate with a proportion of cocoa butter of around 30%, which is twice as much as in the other types of chocolate. The couverture is used to achieve a high gloss when tempering the chocolate and because it melts easily and is very moldable.

Drinking chocolate

Drinking chocolate is dark chocolate (usually less than 50% cocoa), to which a small amount of starch (usually cornmeal) has been added so that when cooking it increases its thickness. It usually dissolves in milk. There is a diversity of tastes in them, you can find bitter, semi-bitter and/or sweet. Today, it is also possible to find this chocolate in stores in a liquid form.

Milk chocolate

Milk chocolate is the most popular cocoa derivative. It is basically a sweet, so the proportion of cocoa paste is usually below 40%. However, many of the most important chocolate brands produce milk chocolate bars with unusual proportions of cocoa, even above 50%, aimed at both the gourmet market and the confectionery business. cake shop. Milk chocolate, as its name suggests, has added, powdered or condensed milk.

White chocolate

In the case of white chocolate, strictly speaking, it is not chocolate as such, since its composition lacks cocoa paste, which is the material that provides the properties of cocoa. It is made with cocoa butter (at least 20%), milk (powdered or condensed) and sugar. It is an extremely energetic and sweet product (it has no bitter aftertaste). Visually very attractive, it is a decorative element widely used in confectionery.

Pink Chocolate

Pink chocolate, completely natural and without any type of additive or colorants added, is obtained from the ruby cocoa bean.

Filled Chocolate

Chocolate, as its name indicates, is a chocolate cover (in any of its variants and with a weight greater than 25% of the total) that covers nuts (hazelnuts, almonds...), liqueurs, fruits, etc., as well as wafer type cookies.

Guidelines for tasting chocolate bars

Tasting chocolate consists of experimenting, analyzing and appreciating its organoleptic characteristics with the five senses. It is important to remember that the temperature and humidity of the environment can affect the tasting.

• Visual analysis

A good chocolate will have a very dark and shiny brown color, uniform, without any blemishes, bubbles or cracks.

• Touch analysis

The touch must be firm, never sticky, and, when broken, it must offer minimal resistance; if it splits into splinters, it is too dry; and if it is difficult to split it is very waxy. In the mouth, the dissolution will be easy, continuous and complete, that is, without any trace of graininess.

• Hearing analysis

When split, the sound should be dry but brittle.

• Olfactory analysis

Direct and indirect olfaction (through the retronasal route) will be taken into account.

• Favorite analysis

The taste should be basically bitter with a touch of acidity and sweetness, and then there may be hints of pineapple, banana, vanilla, cinnamon, saffron, etc. Although to enjoy a true chocolate it is necessary to essentially manipulate cocoa beans with balanced margins of sugar, this does not happen with the chocolate that is commonly known, since all chocolate is industrialized by separating butter and cocoa mass. This changes the flavor and also the quality. A good chocolate is one that in essence of ingredients is made from cocoa without modifying its natural substances. Artisanal chocolate is a good example.

Powdered chocolate

The chocolate powder is intended to be dissolved in milk. It is made with a proportion of cocoa that ranges between 25 and 32%, and is presented more or less defatted.

Currency

It is a disc-shaped piece of chocolate covered with a metallic or gold colored wrapper.

Chocolates

Chocolates are small portions (suitable for eating in one bite) of a solid mix of chocolate (dark, white, or milk) or a chocolate shell (dark, white, or milk) filled with various elements.

Along with tablet and powdered chocolate, they constitute the most important and widespread form of commercial presentation of chocolate. Unlike the other presentations, the chocolates are associated with behaviors of gratitude, gift or recognition in social relationships. Its production is very careful by practically all the chocolate industries.

Types of chocolates

Cast chocolate and a piece of chocolate bar.

Truffles.

• Conchita: almond (or pistachio) bathed in black chocolate.
• Creams and fondants: sugar syrup containing sugar crystals and often fruit and other aromatizers.
• Crocante: melted sugar crispy containing almonds or chopped hazelnuts.
• Cubanito: coco bathed in chocolate and coated with powdered chocolate.
• Dolphin: chocolate and chunks of caramelized peanut.
• Duja: like the Gianduja.
• Hedgehog: I practiced with almond chips bathed in black chocolate.
• Fruit Vienna: apricot pulp bathed in chocolate.
• Glasses: fruit bathed in chocolate.
• Cattle: chocolate and butter cream.
• Gianduja: almonds / hazelnuts / ground nuts, sugar and black chocolate or milk.
• wood / old wood / branch chocolate: chocolate with milk.
• Lola: Filling of almond praliné, spirulina and Jojoba seed / satiating and appetite inhibitor.
• Mazapán: melted sugar and ground almonds.
• Nougat: mounted egg white, boiled sugar or honey, dried fruits and fruit.
• Ostra: I practiced chocolate.
• Pallets: flattened version of the winch.
• Praliné: like the Gianduja.
• Truffled curl: truffle chocolate pump with cognac flavor.
• Rock: praliné chocolate with almedra or hazelnut pieces and rock-shaped.
• Toffee: sugar, glucose, candy, butter candy and milk candy.
• Coconut tree: white chocolate with coconut flavor.
• Truffle: cattle with dried fruit covered with cocoa powder. Trufa Montblanc: with cream; Trufa Dior: with coffee

Nutritional composition

For the nutritional composition, see the suggested external links at the end

The two main ingredients in chocolate are caloric: fat and sugar.

• Carbohydrates: They provide them mainly sugars, which contribute almost half of the total energy. The cocoa as a raw material also contains starch and fiber, but these components are then more diluted in the final products of chocolate.

• Fats: provide the other half of the energy of chocolate produced. The exception is cocoa powder, which has very little fat content.

• Fiber: it is found in appreciable amounts both in powder cocoa and insoluble; however, the finished products of chocolate contain little significant amounts.

• Minerals: in black chocolates and in powder cocoa the contribution of minerals is reduced by its dilution with other ingredients; instead, chocolate with milk and white chocolate are enriched mainly with the contribution of calcium.

• Proteins: they do not have a prominent place, except in milk chocolate and white chocolate, whose dairy ingredients increase their protein value. In addition, cocoa as a raw material also offers higher percentages.

• Vitamins: above all the contribution of folic acid. White and milk chocolates have greater amounts of vitamin A than the rest of the cocoa derivatives due to the dairy they contain.

• Energy: chocolates in general (and to a lesser extent cocoa powder) are very energetic foods (tonics).

• However, in recent times, it has been found why cocoa and its derivatives (the chocolate is the main of them to the present) are beneficial to human health:

It is rich in polyphenols-flavonoids, such as epicatechin, powerful antioxidants that protect the circulatory system, especially the heart, "dark chocolate" It is particularly rich in polyphenols that, among other beneficial effects, prevent or reduce the effects of CFS and myalgic encephalomyelitis.

It has a high dose of serotonin promoter thanks to tryptophan, a very important amino acid in our body that regulates neurotransmitters, and a good dose of anandamide, both naturally existing psychotropics in humans and obtained in sufficient (minimum) doses when consuming chocolate, facilitate a sensation of pleasure (without falling into unreality or stupefaction), for its part, such a sensation of pleasure strengthens the immune system, it has also been observed that the intake of chocolate compensates the investments of peptides that usually occur in the central nervous system of human beings during their adolescence when they fall in love.

The main known contraindications (March 2007) to the consumption of chocolate are the following: excess calories (this is if an excessive diet of chocolate is followed, even more so if it is mixed with hydrogenated fats, sugars or added carbohydrates), When the consumption of industrialized products based on chocolate is frequent, it is also common for carbohydrates to be replaced by saccharins or cyclamates, which can also carry health risks.

"Dark" It is currently considered the most beneficial since white chocolate is low in cocoa but with many fats and carbohydrates. Up to 100 g of dark chocolate per day is recommended, this decreases the risk of vascular accidents and hypertension, although studies (Druk taubel, Diane Becker, Norma Hollemberg) published at the beginning of July 2007 indicate that the mere consumption of a small bar of dark chocolate per day already reduces systolic pressure by 8-9%. However, an article published in December 2007 in The Lancet notes that many chocolate manufacturers remove flavonoids because of their bitter taste, adding sweeteners and fats instead.

Health

View of the main health effects attributed to chocolate.

Although chocolate is commonly eaten for pleasure, there are beneficial health effects associated with its consumption. Cocoa or dark chocolate benefit the circulatory system. Other suggested beneficial effects include an anticancer, brain-stimulating, antitussive, and antidiarrheal effect. An aphrodisiac effect has yet to be proven.

Studies have found that dark chocolate and cocoa products containing at least 200mg of cocoa flavonols can improve vascular flexibility, which helps with blood circulation, and regular consumption of cocoa flavonols even in 80 mg daily doses, it enhances vasodilation, or dilation, which helps the body regulate blood pressure and blood flow to organs.

On the other hand, the uncontrolled consumption of a large amount of any high-calorie food, such as chocolate, increases the risk of obesity without a corresponding increase in physical activity. Raw chocolate is rich in cocoa butter, a fatty component that is removed during chocolate refining and then added back in varying proportions during the manufacturing process. Manufacturers may add other fats, sugars and milk, all of which increase the caloric content of chocolate.

There is a risk of mild lead poisoning from some types of chocolate. Chocolate is toxic to many animals due to its insufficient ability to metabolize theobromine.

A study reported by the BBC indicated that melting chocolate in the mouth produced an increase in brain activity and heart rate that was more intense than that associated with passionate kissing and lasted four times longer.

It is important to note that chocolate can cause allergic reactions in some people, who should avoid its consumption.

Circulatory benefits

Recent studies have suggested that cocoa or dark chocolate may have certain beneficial effects on human health. This is mainly caused by a particular substance present in cocoa called epicatechin. Cocoa possesses significant antioxidant action, protecting against LDL oxidation, perhaps more than other polyphenol antioxidant-rich foods and beverages. Some studies also observed a moderate reduction in blood pressure after ingesting dark chocolate daily. There has been a diet called the "Chocolate Diet" that emphasizes eating chocolate and cocoa powder in capsules. However, consumption of milk chocolate or white chocolate, or whole milk with dark chocolate seems to largely negate the health benefit. Processed cocoa powder (also called Dutch chocolate), processed with alkali, greatly reduces the antioxidant capacity compared to raw chocolate powder. The alkali processing of cocoa destroys most of the flavonoids.

A third of the fat in chocolate comes in the form of a saturated fat called stearic acid and a monounsaturated fat called oleic acid. However, unlike other saturated fats, stearic acid does not raise LDL cholesterol levels in the bloodstream. Consuming relatively high levels of dark chocolate and cocoa does not appear to raise serum LDL cholesterol levels, and some studies indicate that it could reduce them. In fact, small but regular amounts of dark chocolate lower the chance of heart attack, a result of cholesterol imbalance according to the lipid hypothesis.

Aphrodisiac

Romantic lore commonly identifies chocolate as an aphrodisiac. The aphrodisiac properties of chocolate are more often associated with the simple and sensual pleasure of its consumption. Although there is no proof that chocolate is an aphrodisiac, a gift of chocolates is a ritual of family courtesy, between co-workers or friends.

Other benefits

Studies suggest that a special type of cocoa may be a nootropic and slow the decline in brain function that occurs with aging.

Other research indicates that chocolate may be effective in preventing persistent coughs. Theobromine was found to be almost a third more effective than codeine, the leading cough medication.

Theobromine in chocolate (especially dark or bitter) also acts as a natural antidepressant.

Flavonoids may inhibit the development of diarrhea suggesting antidiarrheal effects of cocoa.

Risk of obesity

The biggest concern nutritionists have is that while eating dark chocolate may not affect serum cholesterol, blood pressure, or LDL oxidation, it is not yet known whether it favorably affects certain biomarkers of cardiovascular disease. In addition, the amount necessary to have this effect would provide relatively large amounts of calories that, if not used, would promote weight gain. Obesity is a significant risk factor for many diseases including cardiovascular diseases.

Acne

There is a popular belief that chocolate can cause acne. This belief is not based on scientific studies. Several studies point not to chocolate but to the high glycemic nature of certain foods such as sugar, corn syrup, and other simple carbohydrates as a cause of acne. Chocolate itself has a low glycemic index. Other dietary causes of acne cannot yet be excluded but more rigorous investigation is required.

Lead

Chocolate has one of the highest concentrations of lead in the typical Western diet, with the potential to cause mild lead poisoning. Recent studies have shown that while lead is poorly absorbed by beans, lead tends to bind to the cacao shell and contamination can occur during the manufacturing process. A recent publication found significant amounts of lead in chocolate. In a 2004 USDA study, mean lead levels in samples tested ranged from 0.0010 to 0.0965 µg of lead per gram of chocolate, but another study by a research team of 2002 found that some chocolates contained up to 0.769 µg per gram, close to the international (voluntary) standard limits for lead in cocoa powder or beans, which is 1 µg of lead per gram. In 2006, the FDA of Drugs and Food, the US authority that regulates these products) lowered the amount of lead allowed in candy by a fifth, but compliance is only voluntary. While studies show that the lead consumed with chocolate may not be absorbed by the human body, there is no threshold for the effect of lead on brain function in children and even small amounts of lead can cause developmental deficits. neurological, including uneven IQ.

Animal Toxicity

In sufficient amounts, theobromine found in chocolate is toxic to animals such as horses, dogs, parrots, small rodents, and cats because they are unable to metabolize this chemical effectively. If they are fed chocolate, the theobromine will remain in their bloodstream for up to 20 hours and these animals can experience seizures, heart attacks, internal bleeding and eventually death. Medical treatment by a veterinarian includes induction of vomiting within two hours of ingestion and administration of benzodiazepines or barbiturates for seizures, antiarrhythmics for cardiac arrhythmias, and fluid diuresis.

A typical 40 lb (20 kg) dog will typically experience severe intestinal pain after eating less than 240 grams of dark chocolate but will not necessarily develop bradycardia or tachycardia unless eating at least 1 pound (1.1 lb)) of milk chocolate. Dark chocolate has 2 to 5 times more theobromine and is therefore more dangerous for dogs. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, approximately 1.3 grams of baker's chocolate per kilogram of canine body weight is enough to cause symptoms of toxicity. For example, a typical 25-gram baker's chocolate bar would be enough to cause symptoms in a dog weighing approximately 20 kg. Of course, baker's chocolate is rarely consumed directly due to its unpleasant taste, but other dark chocolates may have extrapolated toxicity based on this case. Because dogs like the taste of chocolate products just as much as humans and are capable of finding and eating larger amounts than are typically served to humans, they should be kept out of reach. There are reports that the ground made from the rind of the cocoa bean is dangerous to dogs and livestock.

As a stimulant

Chocolate contains a variety of substances, some of which have an effect on organic chemistry. These include:

• Sugar or occasionally sweeteners.
• Theobromine, the main alkaloid in cocoa and chocolate and partly responsible for its stimulating effect.
• Triptófano, an essential amino acid and precursor of serotonin.
• Feniletilamine, an endogenous alkaloid sometimes described as a chemist of love. It is metabolized quickly by monoamino oxidase B and do not reach the brain in significant quantities.
• Caffeine, present in low amounts.

Chocolate is a mild stimulant for humans mainly due to the presence of theobromine.