CULINARY INFO
Chocolate

"All of the evil that people have thrust upon chocolate is really more deserved by milk chocolate, which is essentially contaminated. The closer you get to a pure chocolate liquor (the chocolate essence ground from roasted cacao beans) the purer it is, the more satisfying it is, the safer it is, and the healthier it is."
Arnold Ismach, The Darker Side of Chocolate

WHAT IS COCOA?
Firstly lets look at the plant itself, which is called; Cacao, Theobroma cacao, is a tropical evergreen tree in the family Byttneriaceae. It is native to Central and South America and is cultivated extensively for its seed, which is the source of COCOA, CHOCOLATE, and cocoa butter. Cacao is a wide-branched evergreen that grows up to 7.5 m (25 ft) tall and bears seedpods up to 30 cm (1 ft) long and 10 cm (4 in) thick, with a hard leathery shell. Pods contain as many as 40 seeds, or beans, some up to 2.5 cm (1 in) wide.

Several species of Theobroma are cultivated in tropical America. The principal species used for cocoa, is grown throughout the wet, lowland tropics, especially in south-east Asia, South America, and West Africa, where the trees are planted under the shade of taller trees. They usually bear fruit 4 years after they have been planted. Workers harvest cacao beans with knives. After extraction from the fruit, the beans are placed in piles, covered with banana leaves, and allowed to ferment; afterward they are dried to prevent moulding. They are then sacked and shipped to chocolate or cocoa manufacturers. Cacao beans were once used as money by the people of Mexico and Central America.

There are three broad types of cocao plant: FORASTERO and CRILLO plus TRINITARIO which is a hybrid of Forastero and Crillo. Within these types are several varieties.

FORASTERO, which now forms the greater part of all cocoa grown, is hardy and vigorous producing beans with the strongest flavour. AMELONADO is the Forastero variety most widely grown in West Africa and Brazil. It has a smooth yellow pod with 30 or more pale to deep purple beans.

CRILLO with its mild or weak chocolate flavour is grown in Indonesia, Central and South America. Crillo trees are not as hardy and they produce softer pods which are red in colour, containing 20-30 white, ivory or very pale purple beans.

TRINITARIO plants are not found in the wild as they are cultivated hybrids of the other two types. Trinitario cocoa trees are grown mainly in the Caribbean area but also in Cameroon and Papua New Guinea. The mostly hard pods are variable in colour and they contain 30 or more beans of variable colour but white beans are rare.

What is cocoa?
Cocoa is finely pulverised de-fatted, roasted CACAO kernels, to which natural and artificial spices and flavours may be added. It is commercially manufactured by pumping hot CHOCOLATE liquor (semi-liquid ground cacao kernels) into hydraulic cage presses where, under extreme pressure, part of the fat, or cocoa butter, is removed. The fat content of cocoa varies from less than 10% to 22% or more for breakfast or high fat cocoa. Cocoa may be Dutch-processed by mild alkali treatment to change and darken colour and improve flavour. Cocoa is the flavouring ingredient in many confections, baked goods, ice creams, puddings, and beverages. It is also used to flavour some tobaccos and pharmaceuticals.

Chocolate production
Workers cut the fruit of the cacao tree, or pods open and scoop out the beans. These beans are allowed to ferment and then dry. Then they are cleaned, roasted and hulled. Once the shells have been removed they are called nibs. Nibs are blended much like coffee beans, to produce different colours and flavours. The manufacture of chocolate begins with a thorough cleaning of the beans.

Beans are blended to achieve delicate nuances of flavour and then roasted. When cooled, the cacao beans are broken and winnowed by separating the nib from the shell in an air current. The waste shell is totally removed. The clean, cool cacao nib is ground under rotating stones, discs, or rollers. The resulting chocolate liquor, more than 50 percent fat (cocoa butter) and is liquid above 32 deg C (90 deg F).

With a proper mix of chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter and milk solids (for milk chocolate) the production of chocolate begins. These ingredients, automatically weighed and conveyed to large mixers with S-shaped blades are thoroughly blended and then conveyed to large five-roll refiners. These heavy machines with rollers from 100 to 150 cm long and 30-40 cm in diameter, crush the mixture four times. The particles are reduced to microscopic fineness to produce the smoothness typical of eating chocolate.

With a proper mix of chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, and milk solids (for milk chocolate), the production of chocolate begins. These ingredients, automatically weighed and conveyed to large mixers with S-shaped blades, are thoroughly blended and then conveyed to large five-roll refiners. These heavy machines, with rollers from 100 to 150 cm (40 to 60 in) long and 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16 in) in diameter, crush the mixture four times. The particles are reduced to microscopic fineness to produce the smoothness typical of fine eating chocolate. The chocolate is now ‘conched’, a unique process that completely mixes the chocolate at high temperatures; 54 - 71C (130 – 160ºF) while exposing it to a blast of fresh air. During conching, complex chemical changes take place that further develop the chocolate's delicate flavour. The addition of vanilla or other natural or artificial flavors provides a final flavor note. Lecithin, an emulsifier derived from the soybean, is also added; this establishes the precise viscosity necessary for proper flow in molding or coating. From there different varieties of chocolate are produced. The chocolate is now ready for use in molded bars, hollow molded bunnies or Easter eggs, or as the coating around a candy. Whatever the product, chocolate is probably the world's favorite flavour and truly deserves the designation Theobroma cacao, given it by the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1728, when he classified the cacao plant as the "food of the gods. .