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Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring in other foods. The cacao tree has been used as a source of food for at least 5,300 years, starting with the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what is present-day Ecuador. Later, Mesoamerican civilizations consumed cacao beverages, of which one, chocolate, was introduced to Europe in the 16th century.
Nutella is a brand of brown, sweetened hazelnut cocoa spread. Nutella is manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero and was introduced in 1964, although its first iteration dates to 1963.
The cocoa bean, also known simply as cocoa or cacao, is the dried and fully fermented seed of Theobroma cacao, the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter can be extracted. Cacao trees are native to the Amazon rainforest. They are the basis of chocolate and Mesoamerican foods including tejate, an indigenous Mexican drink.
A chocolate bar is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily breakable, chocolate bar is also called a tablet. In some varieties of English and food labeling standards, the term chocolate bar is reserved for bars of solid chocolate, with candy bar used for products with additional ingredients.
Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved or melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener. It is often garnished with whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate made with melted chocolate is sometimes called drinking chocolate, characterized by less sweetness and a thicker consistency.
Milk chocolate is a form of solid chocolate containing cocoa, sugar and milk. It is the most consumed type of chocolate, and is used in a wide diversity of bars, tablets and other confectionery products. Milk chocolate contains smaller amounts of cocoa solids than dark chocolates do, and contains milk solids. While its taste has been key to its popularity, milk chocolate was historically promoted as a healthy food, particularly for children.
Dutch processed cocoa, Dutch cocoa, or alkalized cocoa, is cocoa solids that have been treated with an alkalizing agent to reduce the natural acidity of cocoa, giving it a less bitter taste compared to "natural cocoa" extracted with the Broma process. It forms the basis for much of modern chocolate, and is used in ice cream, hot chocolate, and baking.
Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible fat extracted from the cocoa bean. It is used to make chocolate, as well as some ointments, toiletries, and pharmaceuticals. Cocoa butter has a cocoa flavor and aroma. Its melting point is slightly below human body temperature. It is an essential ingredient of chocolate and related confectionary products. Cocoa butter does not contain butter or other animal products; it is vegan.
Chocolate liquor, also called cocoa liquor, is pure cocoa in liquid or semi-solid form. It is produced from cocoa bean nibs that have been fermented, dried, roasted, and separated from their skins. The nibs are ground into a paste which is melted to become the liquor, and the liquor is either separated into cocoa solids and cocoa butter, or cooled and molded into blocks of raw chocolate. Like the nibs from which it is produced, it contains both cocoa solids and cocoa butter in roughly equal proportion. Its main use is in making chocolate.
Coenraad Johannes van Houten was a Dutch chemist and chocolate maker known for the treatment of cocoa mass with alkaline salts to remove the bitter taste and make cocoa solids more water-soluble; the resulting product is still called "Dutch process chocolate". He is also credited with introducing a method for pressing the fat from roasted cocoa beans, though this was in fact his father, Casparus van Houten's invention.
White chocolate is a form of chocolate made of cocoa butter, sugar and milk. Unlike milk and dark chocolate, it does not contain cocoa solids, which darken the chocolate. White chocolate has an ivory color, and can smell of biscuit, vanilla or caramel, although it can also easily pick up smells from the environment and become rancid with its relatively short shelf life. Like milk and dark chocolate, white chocolate is used to make chocolate bars and as a coating in confectionery.
Cocoa may refer to:
Raw chocolate, or raw ground chocolate paste when ground, is chocolate produced from cocoa beans that does not contain any additives like sugar.
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans mixed with fat and powdered sugar to produce a solid confectionery. There are several types of chocolate, classified primarily according to the proportion of cocoa and fat content used in a particular formulation.
The history of chocolate dates back more than 5,000 years, when the cacao tree was first domesticated in present-day southeast Ecuador. Soon after domestication, the tree was introduced to Mesoamerica, where cacao drinks gained significance as an elite beverage among different cultures including the Maya and the Aztecs. Cacao was extremely important: considered a gift from the gods, it was used as a currency, medicinally and ceremonially. Multiple cacao beverages were consumed, including an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting the pulp around cacao seeds, and it is unclear when a drink that can be strictly understood as chocolate originated. Early evidence of chocolate consumption dates to 600 BC; this product was often associated with the heart and was believed to be psychedelic.
Dry cocoa solids are the components of cocoa beans remaining after cocoa butter, the fatty component of the bean, is extracted from chocolate liquor, roasted cocoa beans that have been ground into a liquid state. Cocoa butter is 46% to 57% of the weight of cocoa beans and gives chocolate its characteristic melting properties. Cocoa powder is the powdered form of the dry solids with a small remaining amount of cocoa butter. Untreated cocoa powder is bitter and acidic. Dutch process cocoa has been treated with an alkali to neutralize the acid.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chocolate:
Dry roasting is a process by which heat is applied to dry foodstuffs without the use of oil or water as a carrier. Unlike other dry heat methods, dry roasting is used with foods such as nuts and seeds, in addition to some eaten insects such as house crickets. Dry-roasted foods are stirred as they are roasted to ensure even heating.
Dark chocolate is a form of chocolate made of cocoa solids, cocoa butter and sugar. Without added sweetener, dark chocolate is known as bitter chocolate or unsweetened chocolate. Dark chocolate, above white and milk chocolate, is valued for claimed, albeit unsupported health benefits and for being a sophisticated choice of chocolate. Like milk and white chocolate, dark chocolate is used to make chocolate bars and as a coating for confectionery.
The chocolate industry in the Philippines developed after the introduction of the cocoa tree to Philippine agriculture. The growing of cacao or cocoa boasts a long history stretching from the colonial times. Originating from Mesoamerican forests, cacao was first introduced by the Spanish colonizers four centuries ago. Since then the Philippine cocoa industry has been the primary producer of cocoa beans in Southeast Asia. There are many areas of production of cacao in the Philippines, owing to soil and climate. The chocolate industry is currently on a small to medium scale.
References
- ↑ "Ask The Editors: Unsweetened Vs. Dutch Cocoa Powder". Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- 1 2 "Ask the Alchemist #2: When do I press the cocoa butter out?". Chocolate Alchemy. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
