Chocolate
Facts & Tips
Chocolate has been called the
food of the Gods, and as Karl Petzke and Sara Slavin note in
Chocolate, A Sweet Indulgence (Chronicle Books, 1997) "The
craving for chocolate is physical, arising out of the desire
for its uniquely dark, slightly bitter, rich taste. But the craving
is also emotional for chocolate symbolizes, as does no other
food, luxury, comfort, sensuality, gratification and love."
Although chocolate may not actually
be a true aphrodisiac it does contain theobromine, a mild relative
of caffeine and magnesium, a component found in some tranquilizers,
so it has the unique ability to simultaneously both pick you
up and calm you down. In addition, it's said eating chocolate
releases a chemical in your body similar to that which is produced
when you're in love.
Despite the fact we've been consuming
chocolate in copious quantities since the nineteenth century
(although the Aztec emperor Montezuma was drinking it -- about
50 goblets a day -- centuries earlier) Americans don't win the
prize for highest world wide chocolate consumption. No that distinction
goes to the Swiss whose per capita consumption is a whopping
19 pounds a year. The Swiss are followed by the citizens of Norway,
the United Kingdom, Belgium/Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany,
Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden -- and then the U.S.A. where
every man, woman and child is said to munch down 9 pounds a year.
Chocolate is the most popular
dessert flavoring around. But as you'll discover it's a long
way from cocoa bean to chocolate bar. Detailing the process chocolate
expert Elaine Gonzalez writes in The Art of Chocolate (Chronicle
Books, 1998) "Chocolate is made from beans that grow inside
the pods of the cacao trees, which flourish in hot, rainy climates
within 20 degrees of the equator. Cocoa beans, as they are known
in the United States, don't develop their distinctive chocolate
color, flavor and aroma until they have been fermented, dried
and carefully roasted to precise temperatures. The roasted beans
are then shelled and cracked into small pieces called nibs. The
nibs are then ground, producing a thick, semi-fluid mixture called
chocolate liquor, the primary ingredient in all forms of chocolate,
except white chocolate."
Because chocolate is so delicate
to work with many cooks often find they have a problem melting
it properly. Keep in mind that chocolate naturally melts just
below body temperature, so applying direct heat, say atop a stove
is apt to scotch it. Instead utilize a double boiler and melt
it slowly in a heatproof bowl or pot set above a pan of simmering
water, being careful both to stir frequently and make sure none
of the water below or the condensation from the steam created
leaches into the chocolate. Click
to continue...
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