Your online resource

for all things culinary


HOME Search this Site All Recipes Special Sections Articles &  Resources Kitchen Equipment Food & Health Growing Food Directories

Missing an Ingredient ? UKFoodOnline.co.uk

 

Chocolate

Information, Origin and History of Chocolate plus Large Chocolate Recipe Collection

 

Ingredient of the Month 

Click here for previous Ingredients of the Month

August  2001

 

 

See Also:    Tempering Chocolate |  Chocolate Ganache  |   National Chocolate Week  |  Chocolate Recipes

 

The common cacao tree is classified as Theobroma cacao and belongs to the family Sterculiaceae. They are very delicate and need much protection in their first four years of growth. With careful cultivation, the trees of most strains will begin bearing fruit in the fifth year. The fruit containing the seeds are about the size of a small pineapple when harvested.                      

 

 

How chocolate is made

The processing of the cacao seeds (cocoa beans) is not a simple task. Firstly the fruit is fermented which takes 3 to 9 days, during which the heat dries the seeds and turns them brown. The beans are then dried in the sun and cleaned in special machines before they are roasted. This loosens the outer shell which separates the shell from its center or "nib" which is further processed into Chocolate Liquor by grinding it to a smooth, liquid state. Further processing takes place for the various types of “eating” chocolate as follows:-

 

Dark Chocolate  is chocolate liquor with additional sweeteners and cocoa butter.

 

Milk Chocolate  is chocolate liquor with additional cocoa butter, milk, sweeteners and flavorings.

 

White Chocolate has no formal definition. White chocolate contains sugar, cocoa butter, milk solids and flavorings such as vanilla but does not contain non-fat cocoa solids,  so is mostly used as a coating.

 

Couverture is a term describing professional-quality coating chocolate that is extremely glossy. It usually contains a minimum of 32% cocoa butter, which enables it to form a much thinner shell than ordinary confectionary coating.

 

Ganache is a thick, extremely rich chocolate spread. It is made by pouring hot cream over chopped up chocolate and whipping the mixture until the chocolate melts and the mixture becomes thick and stiff. See Chocolate Ganache.

Cocoa contains as much as 20% protein, 40% carbohydrate, and 40% fat. It is also mildly stimulating because of the presence of Theobromine, an alkaloid  closely related to caffeine.

 

A Brief History of Chocolate

1502 - Christopher Columbus introduces chocolate to Spain from his fourth voyage to the New World in 1502 but not as the product we know today. It was only consumed as a drink. The word "chocolate" was derived from the Aztec word xocolatl which means bitter water.
1615 – Anne of Austria (wife of Louis XIII) declares chocolate as the drink of the French Court , although this was only after much skepticism, as initially it was considered a "barbarous product and noxious drug".

1640 – chocolate finds its way to England, among other European countries.

Share this page   

 

1657-  the drink becomes a best seller in England and excessive duties are imposed on chocolate. It takes almost 200 years before the duty is dropped.
1828 - Dutch chocolate maker Conrad J. Van Houten created the hydraulic cocoa press. The press enabled chocolate makers to crush the "nibs," or centers, of roasted cacao beans into a paste (Chocolate Liquor). After crushing, some of the cocoa butter was extracted.

1848 - English chocolate maker Joseph Storrs Fry created the first eating chocolate by further refining the cocoa, adding sugar, and mixing the cocoa butter back in. 

1875  -  Swiss Daniel Peter added condensed milk  to  chocolate and marketed the first solid milk chocolate bar.

 

Chocolate in cooking

When using chocolate for culinary purposes, use as  high a quality as you can afford - i.e. containing  higher proportions of cocoa solids,  preferably a minimum of 40% for milk chocolate and 70% for dark chocolate. This information can usually be found in the ingredients section on the label.

 

Be very careful when melting chocolate as too high a heat can make it split. Therefore always melt in a heatproof bowl over very hot water in a small saucepan. It can also be successfully melted in the microwave using a medium setting.  Always store chocolate well wrapped in a cool, dry, dark cupboard.

 

 

 Sign up for Free Newsletter
 

Rate This Page

 

Click on a star to rate how useful you found the information on this page. 5 stars being the top mark

 

 

loading
 
 
 

Still not found what you're looking for?

 

Try our search facility. Type in your main ingredient (s) or whatever you happen to have available in your store cupboard or fridge and allow us to whisk you up a recipe in seconds!

 

 

 

For full advanced search tips visit our main search page via the red "search this site" button at the top of the page

 

Soup/Starters    Soups Fish  | Other  | Vegetarian

 

Main Courses     Barbecues  &  Picnics  |  Beef  & Veal | Casseroles | Fish and Shellfish   |   Lamb  |  Offal   | Pasta,  Rice  and  Pulses  | Pork and Bacon Poultry and  Game |  Quick Main Courses  Salads    |    Stews   |  Vegetarian

 

Side Dishes     Dips and  Dressings  | Jams, Pickles  and  Preserves| Marinades  |   Pasta &  Rice    |    Side Salads    |  Salsas and Relishes |  Sauces   |   Stuffings   |  Vegetables
 

Desserts/Puddings  Cold Desserts Hot Puddings |  Quick Desserts      

 

Cakes & Bakes     Biscuits,   Cookies, Pastries |  Breads  | Cakes

 

International    Worldwide A to Z  | British  | Chinese  |  Indian    

 

Special Diets     Dairy Free  |   Gluten Free   |  Vegan   |  Egg  Free

 

Other Recipe Sections     Cooking Videos | Cooking with Alcohol  | Credit Crunch Economical Recipes|  Edible Flowers | Family Recipes Food in Film  | Holidays | Ingredients  | Leftovers |  Meals in Minutes |  Party Food & Cocktails  |  Pressure Cooking  |  Slow Food | Smoothies | Special Days & Holidays | Sport Recipes | Student Recipes  | Summer Recipes Videos  |  Weekday Menus | What's in Season
 

Reference Pages     5-A-Day Portions  | Cooking Holidays and Schools Conversion Charts  | Directories  | Farmers Markets |  Fish/Shellfish - Types Food &  Health   |  Food Celebration Days  |  Growing Vegetables  |  Growing Herbs  |  Guide to Kitchenware History of  Food   |  Holidays  |  Ingredients   |  Online Shops   |    Preserving Fresh Produce   |  Special days   |  Sport  |  Student Cooking | Table Settings  | UK Food Shopping Directory | Vegetables - General prep & cooking times  | Videos  | What's in Season

 

If you've arrived at this page via a search engine, do take a few minutes to look around the site. We're convinced you'll find lots more excellent recipes and in depth culinary information and articles about a wide range of food related topics. If you're more used to measuring ingredients by the cup, we have the most comprehensive weight to cups conversion table on the net - both solid ingredients and liquids - so now you can easily convert our recipes to suit your preference. Click here to go to the chart.

 

Home  |  Search  |  About Us  |  Contact Us  |   Advertise |    Private Privacy  |   Media Resources  |  Links  |  Sitemap  |  Printing Recipes  |   Abbreviations on this site  

 

This Web Site was designed and created by Recipes4us.co.uk. Copyright © 2000-2012 [Recipes4us] All rights reserved.

 Some Photos © www.fotolia.co.uk