How Chocolate is made
The Geography of Chocolate
Chocolate Economy
Coffee, Tea, Wine and Chocolate
Chocolate Health
Dark, Milk and White Chocolates
Fair Trade Chocolate
Chocolate, dark, milk, white
Dark, Milk and White Chocolates: A Trinity of Tastes!
There are three general categories of chocolate, and each one has its particular fans. Most of us grew up with milk chocolate, which forms a majority of the chocolate products we see in the world. The reasons for the prevalence of milk chocolate include historical, biological and economic factors. The first chocolate that really made the big time as a mass produced product was the candy bar, which came out in the late 1800s. In 1875, Henry Nestle and Daniel Peter invented milk chocolate, and candy bars became combinations of delicious flavors. Milk chocolate, containing plenty of sugar and the sweet smooth quality imparted by milk, appeals to children, who love sweet things-and in most cases, the sweeter the better! Biologically, we're all predisposed to love sweet foods; research with infants has shown that even tiny babies prefer sweet tastes to any other.
Economically, adding milk products and sugar to chocolate makes it cheaper to produce and thus more profitable for companies. Sugar and milk are abundant: mixing them generously with the more costly chocolate means money in the bank for manufacturers. If you read much about chocolate, you quickly learn that the huge companies making mass-produced chocolate also tend to be companies involved in the milk sector. In fact, some manufacturers have tried to take nearly all the chocolate out of their "chocolate" bars. The FDA ruled that, in order to be called "chocolate", the product had to contain at least 10% chocolate as an ingredient. But think about it: a 10% chocolate bar contains 90% of sugar, milk and flavoring. Not very chocolate, is it? I
If you've wondered why darker chocolate tends to cost more, it's because you're getting more of it. And keep in mind that if it's health benefits you're looking for, the darker the chocolate, the better. In fact, if you like your chocolate downright bitter, so much the better for you. Consider buying the chocolate nibs-pure, unadulterated, unsweetened roasted beans from the lovely, the incomparable Theobrama cacao.
One thing to watch out for as a chocolate consumer is something called "couverture" or "coating" chocolate. This is the chocolate product sold in stores as a coating you can use without having to temper it. What's the catch? It ain't chocolate. At least, many chocolate coatings (beware especially those found on the shelves of craft stores) contain a little chocolate, but mostly they contain vegetable oil or lecithin and artificial ingredients. The idea is, it looks like chocolate, it melts and cools shiny like chocolate and if you're expecting chocolate, maybe you won't notice the lack in flavor. The cocoa butter has been removed and sold for a profit in some other product, and the missing fat has been replaced by vegetable oil which won't "bloom", will stay shiny, but won't taste like much.
.... Next page