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Posted on October 23, 2007 by Jason Petrina | Posted under Food & Drink
Chocolate: The Process of the Passion
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A lot has changed in those five hundred years; including the process and the additives that are used to create various forms of edible chocolate. When a craving for chocolate strikes; however, have you ever given any thought to the process that allows us to enjoy this pleasurable passion? The process of creating chocolate all begins with the selection of cacao beans. While these beans are today grown all over the world, it is not surprising that a large majority of the world's supply of cacao beans still come from Central and South America. In fact, Ecuador supplies over half the world's supply of cocoa beans. You might be surprised to learn; however, that there are now dozens of varieties of cocoa beans grown all over the world and each variety can contribute it's own distinct taste and properties to the chocolate you love so much. While there are many different kinds of cacao beans, the world's chocolate makers recognize three different groups. Until the 1750's, criollos were the most popular and plentiful cacao tress in the world. Unfortunately, today there are few trees left and as a result criollos beans are quite rare. Forastero and Trinitario beans comprise the remainder of the main cacao bean populations. The cocoa market further distinguishes beans between what is known as bulk beans and those that are deemed to be fine cocoa beans. Criollo and Trinitario fall into the rank of fine cacao beans while most Forastero beans are classified as bulk beans. In the most traditional processing of chocolate, the beans are sorted by hand and any that are deemed to be of poor quality are culled. Following this, the beans must then be roasted. They are then loaded into a machine known as a winnower and the hard outer shell is removed so that the center of the bean, known as the nib, can be accessed. This is a very important step in the process, because it is the nib that contains the cocoa butter. The cocoa butter is mashed until it produces a thick paste, to which vanilla and sugar are then added. For the next several hours, heat is introduced to the process in order to form a chocolaty liquid that is very well blended. Depending on the process of each chocolate maker, this process may take up to 3 days in some factories. The process is still not complete; however, even after the liquid is blended. It must then be tempered by heating it and cooling it down in several stages over several more hours. You can thank this process for that crisp snap that you hear when you break a chocolate bar in half. Depending on the final product that the chocolate maker envisions for the chocolate, the molding process will begin. Some chocolate will find its ways into candy bars while other chocolate will be formed into delicious and expensive candies. After it is molded, the chocolate will then be packaged and shipped to die hard chocolate fans around the world. About The Author: Jason Petrina is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit - www.articleclick.com |
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