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The History Of Chocolate
The history of chocolate
starts with the first chocolate being drunk rather than eaten.
The chocolate residue found in an ancient Maya pot suggests that
Mayans were drinking chocolate 2,600 years ago, which is the
earliest record of cacao use. The Aztecs associated chocolate
with Xochiquetzal, the goddess of fertility, believing that
cacao seeds originated in paradise and would bless anyone who
ate them with spiritual wisdom, energy and enhanced sexual
powers. The Aztecs discovered that roasting and grinding cocoa
seeds made a nourishing paste that could be dissolved in water.
In the New World, chocolate was consumed in a bitter and spicy
drink called xocoatl, (pronounced ‘shock-ohwattel’) often
seasoned with vanilla, chilli pepper, and achiote, (which we
know today as annatto). Xocoatl was believed to fight fatigue, a
belief that is probably attributable to the theobromine content.
Chocolate was an important luxury good throughout pre-Columbian
Mesoamerica, cocoa beans were often used as currency and only
the highest levels of Aztec society could partake of this sacred
beverage and chocolate continued to be a privilege of the elite
until the early 1700’s.
Although it was said to
be an aquired taste, Christopher Columbus was the first European
to bring cocoa beans to show Kind Ferdinand and Queen Isabella
of Spain, but it was Hernán Cortés who introduced it to Europe
in the early 1500’s. The Spanish guarded the secret of chocolate
from their European neighbours for almost 100 years, during
which time they planted cocoa in their overseas colonies,
setting the scene for what was to become a major world
commodity.
History shows the first
recorded shipment of chocolate to the Old World for commercial
purposes was in a shipment from Veracruz to Sevilla in 1585. It
was still served as a beverage, but the Europeans added sugar
and milk to counteract the natural bitterness and removed the
chilli pepper, replacing it with another Mexican indigenous
spice, vanilla. Improvements to the taste meant that by the 17th
century it was a luxury item among the European nobility. The
first form of solid chocolate was invented in Turin by Doret in
the 18th Century. This chocolate was sold in large quantities
from 1826 by Pierre Paul Caffarel. In 1819, F. L. Cailler opened
the first Swiss chocolate factory. In 1828, Dutchman Coenraad
Johannes van Houten patented a method for extracting the fat
from cocoa beans and making powdered cocoa and cocoa butter. Van
Houten also developed the so-called Dutch process of treating
chocolate with alkali to remove the bitter taste. This made it
possible to form the modern chocolate bar. It is believed that
the Englishman Joseph Fry made the first chocolate for eating in
1847, followed in 1849 by the Cadbury brothers.Daniel Peter, a
Swiss candle maker, joined his father-in-law’s chocolate
business. In 1867, he began experimenting with milk as an
ingredient. He brought his new product, milk chocolate, to
market in 1875. He was assisted in removing the water content
from the milk to prevent mildewing by a neighbour, a baby food
manufacturer named Henri Nestlé. Rodolphe Lindt invented the
process called conching, which involves heating and grinding the
chocolate solids very finely to ensure that the liquid is evenly
blended.
Health Benefits of
Chocolate
Chocolate and Health
Benefits - part of the pleasure of eating chocolate is due to
the fact that its melting point is slightly below human body
temperature therefore it melts in the mouth. Which in turn
releases chemicals in the brain which are associated with the
feeling of love which again makes us feel good.
In the fifteenth century
chocolate was prescribed as a medicine to boost the weakened
body, and by the late sixteenth century Parisians were using
chocolate to treat an astonishing range of maladies, including
indigestion, nervous conditions and venereal disease! The use of
chocolate for medicinal purposes stretches back to the fourth
century, when it was used as a wound dressing. Allegedly Emperor
Montezuma always drank a full goblet of chocolate prior to
entering his harem, triggering the myth that chocolate is an
aphrodisiac. The 17th century diarist, Samuel Pepys, was a firm
believer in the energising properties of chocolate, and took it
to relieve hangovers, while Napoleon carried it with him in
battle, eating it when he needed an energy boost. Both Fry’s of
Bristol and Terry’s of York were founded by apothecaries.
The 20th and 21st
centuries have seen continued debate about the well-being and
health benefits of chocolate, including:-
· Eating chocolate can help you live longer
· It contains powerful antioxidant phenols, which can lower the
risk of heart disease.
· Eating chocolate can help lower blood pressure.
· It contains flavonols, which help prevent oxidation of the
blood cells
· The cocoa butter used to make it is broken down by the liver
and behaves in the body like a mono-unsaturated fat (such as
olive oil)
· Chocolate has aphrodisiac properties - the Aztecs forbade
women to eat it for this very reason.
This legend still persists today, with ongoing speculation that
chocolate reproduces the feelings of being in love, possibly
through the presence of the stimulant PEA (phenylethylamine),
which boosts energy levels and increases serotonin in the brain,
triggering sensations of pleasure.
The more widely
acknowledged belief is that chocolate makes people feel good
because of the sensual pleasure it delivers - which explains
much more succinctly our enduring love for this wonderful
substance.
Chocolate stirs up the emotions like no other food. Since it’s
discovery, we have used it to express our feelings, soothe our
bodies and minds and celebrate a wide array of social occasions.
Chocolate is a calorie-rich food with a high fat content, so
daily intake of chocolate also requires reducing caloric intake
of other foods.Mars, Incorporated, a Virginia-based candy
company, spends millions of dollars each year on flavonol
research. The company is talking with pharmaceutical companies
to license drugs based on synthesized cocoa flavonol molecules.
According to Mars-funded researchers at Harvard, the University
of California, and European universities, cocoa-based
prescription drugs could potentially help treat diabetes,
dementia and other diseases.
Coughing
Research indicates that
chocolate may be effective at preventing persistent coughing.
The ingredient theobromine was found to be almost one third more
effective than codeine, the leading cough medicine. The
chocolate also appears to soothe and moisten the throat.
Acne
There is a popular belief
that the consumption of chocolate can cause acne. Pure chocolate
contains anti-oxidants which aid better skin complexion. The
University of Pennsylvania and the US Naval Academy conducted
experiments that fed subjects chocolate or a bar with similar
amounts of macronutrients (fat, sugar etc.) and found that
consumption of chocolate, frequent or not, had no effect on the
developing of acne. Chocolate bars with milk content may
contribute to acne. It is not the chocolate itself that causes
acne, but rather the milk with which the chocolate is mixed.
Toxicity in animals
In sufficient amounts,
the theobromine found in chocolate is toxic to animals such as
horses, dogs, parrots, small rodents, and cats (kittens
especially) because they are unable to metabolise the chemical
effectively. If they are fed chocolate, the theobromine will
remain in their bloodstream for up to 20 hours, and these
animals may experience epileptic seizures, heart attacks,
internal bleeding, and eventually death. Medical treatment
involves inducing vomiting within two hours of ingestion, or
contacting a veterinarian.
Origins of the Cacao Tree
The cacao tree is a tropical evergreen plant and was christened
Theobroma Cacao during the eighteenth century by the Swedish
botanist, Linnaeus.
Theobroma Cacao means
‘the food of the gods’ from the Greek ‘theos’ meaning ‘god’ and
‘broma’ meaning ‘food’, reflecting the reverence chocolate has.
The tree bears fruit in the form of bright red, green, purple or
yellow pods, which change colour as they ripen. The pods are
harvested from May to December and are cut using long-handled,
curved steel knives, because the trees are too frail to climb.
How to taste chocolate
Each individual chocolate
offers its own distinctive flavours, textures and aromas,
allowing an appreciation of the wealth of variety that can be
created from the fruits of the Cacao tree. As with wine tasting,
there are a few simple steps to truly savouring fine quality
chocolate. Chocolate should always be stored in a cool, dry and
odour-free environment, but not in the fridge. Allow it to reach
room temperature (18-20*C) before tasting. Begin with white
chocolate, followed by the milk varieties, and move onto the
stronger flavours of dark chocolate. Before you begin, sip a
little water or limejuice to cleanse the palate. And repeat
after every tasting.
Tasting solid chocolate
Look at the surface of
the chocolate. It should be smooth and glossy. Now savour its
aroma - this will vary greatly depending on the type of the
chocolate. Chocolate made from good quality cocoa beans can have
floral, fruity, nutty, grassy, spicy, sweet and woody aromas.
Chocolate made from poor quality cocoa beans can produce a
‘rubbery’ aroma (caused by under-fermentation of the beans),
ripe fruit (caused by over-fermentation of the beans) and
staleness (caused by mould on the beans) Snap off the chocolate.
It should make a clean, crisp snap. Place a piece of the
chocolate in your mouth and wait a few seconds. This will allow
you to taste the immediate flavours and aromas. Notice the feel
of it on your tongue (called ‘mouth feel’) - it should feel firm
and melt ‘cleanly’, without a waxy, sticky or grainy texture.
Chew the chocolate to expand the surface area and release the
second level of flavours and aromas. By rolling the chocolate
around the tongue you will experience the full range of flavours
by triggering the four taste zones - sweet and salty (tip of the
tongue), sour (sides) and bitter (back).
Alcohol and chocolate
Wine is easily
overpowered by chocolate, so it is important the wine has a
strong single-note aroma, to withstand the strength of the
chocolate flavour. Port and dessert wines (such as Marsala or
Muscat) work well. For red-wine lovers, cabernets are a good
alternative; they contain a hint of cocoa, as well as spices,
but avoid the more oaky ones, as they will inhibit the flavour
of the chocolate. Fruit wine also works well with dark
chocolate. Rum can work well with ganaches and pralines, while
cognac and armagnac suit dark chocolate or centres that are not
sweet.
Chocolate Producers
Roughly two-thirds of the
world’s cocoa is produced in Western Africa, with close to half
of the total sourced from Côte d’Ivoire. Like many food industry
producers, individual cocoa farmers are at the mercy of volatile
world markets. The price can vary from between £500 ($945) and
£3,000 ($5,672) per ton in the space of just a few years. While
investors trading in cocoa can dump shares at will, individual
cocoa farmers can not ramp up production and abandon trees at
anywhere near that pace. A number of manufacturers produce Fair
Trade chocolate, whereby cocoa farmers are given a higher and
more consistent remuneration. Fair Trade chocolate is produced
by Oxfam, Trade Aid and Green and Blacks, among other companies.
All Fair Trade chocolate can be distinguished by the logo.
Varieties
The three main varieties
of cacao beans used in chocolate are Criollo, Forastero and
Trinitario.Criollo, the variety native to Central America, the
Caribbean islands and the northern tier of South American
states, is the rarest and most expensive cocoa on the market.
The flavour of Criollo is characterized as delicate but complex,
low in classic chocolate flavour, but rich in “secondary” notes
of long duration.Forastero is a large group of wild and
cultivated cacaos, probably native to the Amazon basin. The huge
African cocoa crop is entirely of the Forastero variety. They
are significantly hardier and of higher yield than Criollo.
Forastero cocoas are typically big in classic “chocolate”
flavour, but this is of short duration and is unsupported by
secondary flavours. There are exceptional Forasteros, such as
the “Nacional” or “Arriba” variety, which can possess great
complexity.Trinitario, a natural hybrid of Criollo and Forastero,
originated in Trinidad after an introduction of (Amelonado)
Forastero to the local Criollo crop. These cocoas exhibit a wide
range of flavour profiles according to the genetic heritage of
each tree.Nearly all cacao produced over the past five decades
is of the Forastero or lower-grade Trinitario varieties. The
share of higher quality Criollos and Trinitarios (so-called
flavour cacao) is just under 5% per annum. Different
manufacturers develop their own “signature” blends based on the
above formulas but varying proportions of the different
constituents are used.
Storing Chocolate
Chocolate is very
sensitive to temperature and humidity. Ideal storage
temperatures are between 15 and 17 degrees Celsius (59 to 63
degrees Fahrenheit), with a relative humidity of less than 50%.
Chocolate should be stored away from other foods as it can
absorb different aromas. Ideally, chocolates are packed or
wrapped, and placed in proper storage with the correct humidity
and temperature. Additionally chocolate should be stored in a
dark place or protected from light by wrapping paper. Sunlight
may warm up the surface of the chocolate and cause it to turn
‘grey’ from the formation of cocoa butter crystals; the taste
may be slightly different due to the altered cocoa butter. |
