All food products have a history. With cocoa, we
have to go back to the time of Columbus while on one of his adventures, he
came across the cocoa bean. He brought the cocoa bean back to Spain but
alas, no one was interested in these bitter beans called cocoa. It was not
until the Aztecs prepared these beans that the cocoa beans aroused
interest.
For many years Spain kept this method of preparing
chocolate a secret. It was only when Jews fleeing to Bayonne, France that
the long-kept secret leaked outside of Spanish occupied lands. After that,
interest in the cocoa bean spread to Austria, England, the Netherlands,
and North America.
For cakes and chicken
Today, chocolate has spread out to virtually all
continents on the globe. We are most familiar with chocolate for desserts,
cakes, chocolate bars, etc. But in Mexico, for example, chocolate
is mixed with chili to form a molè-sauce which is eaten with chicken. The
Spanish also ate chocolate sauce with glazed pearl onions and with wild
fowl. Whereas, the Germans are fond of chocolate soup and chocolate
potato tarts.
Harvesting and export
Most cocoa beans come from the "cocoa
belt" which stretches from America, Africa and Asia from 10°
latitude N to 10° latitude S.
When
the cocoa bean is harvested, the flesh of the bean is removed from the
shell. The flesh is then fermented. Fermentation can take between 5 to 7
days and is very important for the development of the aroma and color of
the beans. Hereafter the flesh is dried and ready for export.
The three types of chocolate.
There are three types of chocolate. The dark chocolate consists of
cocoa mass, cocoa-butter and sugar. The milk chocolate consists of
cocoa mass, cocoa-butter, sugar and powdered milk. The white
chocolate doesn't contain any cocoa mass but consists of cocoa
butter, powdered milk and sugar.
Did you know that cocoa has . . .
A little caffeine which can have a stimulating effect.
Many healthy minerals which include calcium and
magnesium.
Dark chocolate which consists of 3 mg of iron per 100
grams of cocoa.
An antioxidant just like wine .
As much as 70 g of sugar in 100 g of chocolate!
