Chocolate or cocoa is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civilization, and the majority of Mesoamerican people, including the Maya and Aztecs, made chocolate beverages.
Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories: bakers' confections and sugar confections. The occupation of confectioner encompasses the categories of cooking performed by both the French patissier and the confiseur.
A chocolate bar or candy 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.
Belgian cuisine is widely varied with significant regional variations, while also reflecting the cuisines of neighbouring France, Germany and the Netherlands. It is sometimes said that Belgian food is served in the quantity of German cuisine but with the quality of French food. Outside the country, Belgium is best known for its chocolate, waffles, fries and beer.
Mars, commonly known as Mars bar, is the name of two varieties of chocolate bar produced by Mars, Incorporated. It was first manufactured in 1932 in Slough, England by Forrest Mars, Sr. The bar consists of caramel and nougat coated with milk chocolate.
Snickers is a chocolate bar consisting of nougat topped with caramel and peanuts, and all encased in milk chocolate. The bars are made by the American company Mars, Inc. The annual global sales of Snickers was over $3 billion as of 2012.
3 Musketeers is a chocolate bar made in the United States and Canada by Mars, Incorporated. It is a candy bar consisting of chocolate-covered, fluffy, whipped nougat. It is a lighter chocolate bar similar to the global Milky Way bar and similar to the American version Milky Way bar only smaller and without the caramel topping. The 3 Musketeers Bar was the third brand produced and manufactured by M&M/Mars, introduced in 1932. Originally, it had three pieces in one package, flavored chocolate, strawberry and vanilla; hence the name, which was derived from the 1844 novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. Rising costs and wartime restrictions on sugar saw the phasing out of the vanilla and strawberry pieces to leave only the more popular chocolate. Costing five cents when it was introduced, it was marketed as one of the largest chocolate bars available, one that could be shared by friends.
A deep-fried Mars bar is a Mars-brand chocolate bar covered in batter then deep fried in oil. The dish originated at a chip shop in Scotland as a novelty item. Since various mass media began reporting on the practice in the mid-1990s – often as a critical commentary on how unhealthy the Scottish diet was – the popularity of the dish has spread.
Heston Marc Blumenthal is a English celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with unusual recipes, such as bacon-and-egg ice cream and snail porridge. His recipes for triple-cooked chips and soft-centred Scotch eggs have been widely imitated. He has advocated a scientific approach to cooking, for which he has been awarded honorary degrees from Reading, Bristol and London universities and made an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
100 Grand is a candy bar produced by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero. The candy bar was created in 1964 by Nestlé. It weighs 1.5 ounces (43 g) and includes chocolate, caramel and crisped rice. The bar contains 201 calories; it is low in cholesterol and sodium, but high in saturated fat and sugar. Its first slogan was, "Tastes so good it's almost illegal!" Its current slogan is, "That's Rich!"
Military chocolate has been a part of standard United States military rations since the original D-ration bar of 1937. Today, military chocolate is issued to troops as part of basic field rations and sundry packs. Chocolate rations served two purposes: as a morale boost, and as a high-energy, pocket-sized emergency ration. Military chocolate rations are often made in special lots to military specifications for weight, size, and endurance. The majority of chocolate issued to military personnel is produced by The Hershey Company.
Salo or slanina is an Eastern European food consisting of cured slabs of fatback with or without skin. It is commonly eaten and known under different names across Eastern and Southeastern Europe, and is traditional to multiple national cuisines in the region. It is usually dry salt or brine cured. The East Slavic, Hungarian and Romanian variety is sometimes treated with paprika or other seasonings, while the South and West Slavic version is often smoked.
Chocolate-covered bacon is an American dish that consists of cooked bacon with a coating of either milk chocolate or dark chocolate. It can be topped with sea salt, crumbled pistachios, walnuts, or almond bits. References on the internet date back at least to 2005. The popularity of the dish has spread worldwide, and the dish has featured on television shows about food. A variant has been served at state fairs, where the bacon is served with chocolate sauce for dipping, and the dish has been developed into a gourmet food bar.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chocolate:
A hedgehog slice is an uncooked flat, square or bar-shaped chocolate snack/dessert, similar to a fudgey chocolate brownie but with alternating lighter and darker areas. The darker areas are chocolate flavoured. The lighter areas are crushed biscuit, rice puffs, or similar. Nuts may also be added. It usually has a topping of chocolate icing on which may be sprinkled coconut, hundreds and thousands, or other kinds of sprinkles or raisins.
Nesquik is a brand of food products made by Swiss company Nestlé. In 1948, Nestlé launched a drink mix for chocolate-flavored milk called Nestlé Quik in the United States; this was released in Europe during the 1950s as Nesquik.
