French chocolate is chocolate produced in France. France is considered the "home of dark chocolate", [1] and French chocolate has a smooth texture and is characterised by its dark roast flavour.
French chocolate is chocolate produced in France. France is considered the "home of dark chocolate", [1] and French chocolate has a smooth texture and is characterised by its dark roast flavour.
Anne of Austria, the daughter of the Spanish King Philip III, is often attributed as introducing chocolate to France in 1615 despite a lack of contemporary documentation. [2] [a] Other figures that have been speculated to have introduced or popularised chocolate in France include Cardinal Richelieu, who used it as a medicine, and Marie Thérèse upon marrying Louis XIV in 1660. In 1643 chocolate was being written about in France as a "foreign drug". [3] Chocolate gained popularity in elevated social circles around the 1650s and 1660s. [4]
During the 18th century, the French emphasized cacao quality in making chocolate. Chocolate recipes commonly included vanilla, which was twice as common in French recipes for chocolate at this time than British recipes. [5]
Chocolate gained importance in confectionery during the 19th century. The combined use of the mélangeur and roller mills allowed the production of a smooth chocolate, particularly suitable for eating. [6] French assortments dominated the confectionery market until the appearance of milk chocolate in 1890s. [7]
During the 19th century, chocolate in French society was considered simultaneously a health food and being potentially dangerous. [8] During the second half of the 19th century, France was the second largest consumer of chocolate behind only Spain. [9]
As of 1988, French consumers generally ate milk chocolate from family businesses. What constituted a French taste in chocolate was unclear, and the French ate less chocolate than other Europeans. Chocolate was strongly associated with gift giving on specific seasons, social occasions and ceremonies. While aficionados maintained that dark chocolate was superior, among the public distinctions in chocolate were not made, and artisanal chocolatiers were not distinguished as a craft from pastry chefs. Foreign firms mass-producing chocolate emulated French merchandising and had captured 48% of the confectionary gift market by 1989. To receive advanced training, chocolatiers had to travel to Switzerland and Belgium. [10] Parisian craft leaders and local chocolatiers appealed to officials for authenticating French artisans and their methods and products. [11]
During the 1990s, chocolatiers institutionalized a craft identity, codifying a taste standard borrowed from wine connoisseurship, based on dark chocolate. Chocolate makers appropriated symbols from Aztec, local and national histories to create a French chocolate identity. [12] In 1995, the Salon du Chocolat opened, attracting 40,000 visitors with exhibits of chocolate making and a haute fashion show. In 1998, the Académie française du Chocolat et de la Confiserie was formed to codify correct linguistic use. [12]
By 2000, French chocolate was considered culturally authentic and gourmet in French society. A trend of consumers choosing chocolate for their high cocoa percentages and bean origins and varieties. By 2008, the French were among the highest consumers of chocolate. [12]
As of 2014, the Salon du Chocolat's fashion show was still being exhibited. The Festival of Gourmet Art also continued, which featured chocolate accessories and paintings. [12] Chocolate makers and consumers were interested in sourcing high-quality, single-origin beans. Firms such as Valrhona moved to bean-to-bar production, cultivating relationships with small producers. [13]
French chocolate's flavour is a dark roast, with a smooth texture. [14]
In 1990, the Ministry of Education approved requests to organize the first Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman of France) competition in the chocolate and candy making category. [12]
Chocolatier involvement in the Best Craftsman of France competition requires high time, social and financial investment for success. This has led to a consolidation of the industry in heirs of successful chocolatiers. [15]
As of 2008, the Confederation of artisinal chocolate and sugar candy producers (confédération des chocolatiers et confiseurs de france) was an industry group for chocolatiers in France. [16]
As of 2024, France levied a 5.5% VAT on dark chocolate and a 20% VAT on white chocolate. [17]
As of 2014, chocolate was officially omitted as an element of French gastronomy. [16]
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.
Caramel is a confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, or as a topping for ice cream and custard.
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.
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.
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.
Valrhona is a French premium chocolate manufacturer based in the small town of Tain-l'Hermitage in Hermitage, a wine-growing district near Lyon. It is now a subsidiary of Savencia Fromage & Dairy. The company was founded in 1922 by a French pastry chef, Albéric Guironnet, from the Rhône valley and has five subsidiaries and 60 local distributors across the globe. It is one of the leading producers of gastronomic chocolate in the world. The company also maintains the École du Grand Chocolat, a school for professional chefs with a focus on chocolate-based dishes and pastries. In 2015 Valrhona opened the École Valrhona Brooklyn, a pastry school in Brooklyn; there are also two Écoles Valrhona in France and one in Japan.
Chocolate liqueur is a chocolate-flavored liqueur made from a base liquor of whisky or vodka. Unlike chocolate liquor, chocolate liqueur contains alcohol. Chocolate liqueur is often used as an ingredient in mixology, baking, and cooking.
A chocolate truffle is a French chocolate confectionery traditionally made with a chocolate ganache centre and coated in cocoa powder, coconut, or chopped nuts. A chocolate truffle is handrolled into a spherical or ball shape. The name derives from the chocolate truffle's similarity in appearance to truffles, a tuber fungus. It was created in the city of Chambéry by the pastry chef Louis Dufour.
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.
Swiss chocolate is chocolate produced in Switzerland. Switzerland's chocolates have earned an international reputation for high quality with many famous international chocolate brands.
Gianduja or gianduia is a homogeneous blend of chocolate with 30% hazelnut paste, invented in Turin during Napoleon's regency (1796–1814). It can be consumed in the form of bars or as a filling for chocolates.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chocolate:
Dark chocolate is a form of chocolate made of cocoa solids, cocoa butter and sugar. Dark chocolate without added sweetener is known as bitter chocolate,unsweetened chocolate, plain chocolate, or 100% chocolate. Dark chocolate has a higher cocoa percentage than white chocolate, milk chocolate, and semisweet chocolate. Dark chocolate is valued for claimed—though unsupported—health benefits, and for being a sophisticated choice of chocolate. Similarly to milk and white chocolate, dark chocolate is used to make chocolate bars and as a coating for confectionery.
Ruby chocolate is a style or distinct variety of chocolate that is pink or purple in colour. Barry Callebaut, a Belgian–Swiss cocoa company, introduced it as a distinct product on 5 September 2017 after beginning development of their product in 2004. It has a pink color, and Barry Callebaut says it is a fourth natural type of chocolate. Some other industry experts have said that some cacao pods are naturally pink or purple in colour, and thus pink chocolate has been available before.
Bean-to-bar is a business model in which a chocolate manufacturer controls the entire manufacturing process from procuring cocoa beans to creating the end product of consumer chocolate.
Peter's Chocolate was a Swiss chocolate producer founded in 1867 by Daniel Peter in Vevey. It is notably the company who produced the first successful milk chocolate bar. It merged with Kohler in 1904, with Cailler in 1911, and was bought by Nestlé in 1929. The brand was purchased by Cargill in 2002. Peter's Chocolate was recurrently advertised with the image of a traditionally dressed man waving a chocolate bar, often with an Alpine scenery.
Flavor cocoa or fine cocoa are cocoa beans that are sold at a premium, contrasted with bulk cocoa.
Rogue Chocolatier was an American bean-to-bar chocolate maker founded and almost entirely operated by Colin Gasko. Started in 2007, Rogue used cocoa beans from locations not typically used in chocolate production, and through an unusually long and meticulous production process, created small quantities of chocolate bars for retail. Across the business's lifespan, it operated out of Minnesota and Massachusetts.
The present mode of making French chocolate in cakes differs somewhat from the mode of producing soluble cocoas. [...] When thoroughly incorporated, the mill is cleared, and the partially prepared chocolate is passed between three horizontal rollers, which thoroughly crush any particles not previously sufficiently ground. This operation is repeated several times, to bring the chocolate into a perfectly smooth condition; it is then again placed in the mélangeur to be finally mixed, when it is ready to be moulded into cakes or fancy forms, or to be used for covering the bon-bons called chocolate creams.
The cocoa, chocolate and confectionery market in the 1890s was still dominated by Van Houten's alkalised essence, Swiss milk chocolate and French sweets. [...] and the French retained their premier reputation for producing chocolate assortments or 'creams'.
