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CHOCOLATE

chocolate

Chocolate is a usually sweet, brown food preparation of roasted and ground cacao seeds. It is made in the form of a liquid, paste, or in a block, or used as a flavoring ingredient in other foods. The earliest evidence of use traces to the Olmecs (Mexico), with evidence of chocolate beverages dating to 1900 BC. The majority of Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Maya and Aztecs. Indeed, the word "chocolate" is derived from the Classical Nahuatl word chocolatl.

TYPES OF CHOCOLATE

HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE

Chocolate’s botanical history is dark and mysterious, rooted in ancient mythological tales. It is said that Quetzalcoatl, the benevolent “Feathered Serpent” god, took human form, descended to earth and presented the ancient people of Mexico with a gift from the garden of Paradise: the cacao tree. He showed them how to plant the tree, harvest the fruit, and prepare his favorite drink, Xocolatl. He instructed Tlaloc, the god of rain, to nourish the tree; Xochiquetzal, the goddess of love, was told to adorn it with flowers and infuse it with her spirit. Linnaeus, the great 18th century botanist, memorialized the legend by naming the tree Theobroma cacao L, “Food of the Gods,” from the Greek words theo (god) and broma (food). Many botanists believe that the first cacao trees grew wild in the Amazon basin or in the Orinoco Valley of South America. The domestication of the cacao tree, however, did not begin until it reached the lush tropical lowlands of Central America and southern Mexico over 3,000 years ago.

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"Anything is good if it's made of chocolate."
― Jo Brand

TYPES OF CHOCOLATE

UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE

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Unsweetened chocolate is chocolate in one of its simplest forms, a solid chocolate made with just cocoa solids and cocoa butter. The natural fat content of a cacao bean is 52-55%, which is typically the amount of fat (cocoa butter) found in unsweetened chocolate. The exact ratio of cocoa solids to cocoa butter will vary slightly from producer to producer, with smoother unsweetened or plain chocolates having slightly more cocoa butter in them. This mixture of cocoa solids and cocoa butter, when it is still liquid during the production of chocolate, is known as chocolate liquor. To produce other chocolates, this liquor can be mixed with milk solids, sugar, vanilla and other ingredients to create a wide range of milk and dark chocolates.
By bakingbites.com

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TYPES OF CHOCOLATE

DARK CHOCOLATE

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Dark chocolate are simply a sweetened form of plain chocolate that contains no milk. It is basically a mixture of chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, and quite often, vanilla. Plus you might see a substance called lecithin on a label. That is added to serve as an emulsifier.Cocoa that is produced via the grinding of its beans into a liquid form is usually referred to as chocolate liquor, which ironically contains no alcohol whatsoever. Unsweetened baking chocolate is chocolate liquor that has been solidified.
In the North America, a standard is set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that bittersweet chocolates are required to contain at least thirty-five percent chocolate liquor. While in the United Kingdom, the figure is usually as high as forty-three percent.It is readily understandable that the more chocolate liquor the chocolate contains, the more intense the flavor you would expect the flavor to be. Some high quality chocolates contain chocolate liquor as high as 65 to 70 percent, or more.

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TYPES OF CHOCOLATE

MILK CHOCOLATE

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Milk chocolate is chocolate with milk powder or condensed milk added. The EU regulations specify a minimum of 25% cocoa solids should be present in milk chocolate. However in the United States milk chocolate only needs to have a 10% concentration of chocolate liquor to be classified as milk chocolate. Much of the milk chocolate consumed on a daily basis today is made into bars that are made up from cocoa solids milk powder, fats such as cocoa butter (but also vegetable and hydrogenated fats), and sugar or sweetener.
Milk chocolate is primarily eaten as a chocolate bar, in a variety of shapes, sizes and flavours. However, it can also be used in some desserts, pastries and confections. Milk chocolate is very heat sensitive because of its high sugar content; therefore it is mostly unsuitable for use in baking (it can change the consistency and texture of the finished product). It’s important not to substitute semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate with milk chocolate as this can ruin the recipe.

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TYPES OF CHOCOLATE

WHITE CHOCOLATE

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White chocolate is made with a blend of sugar, cocoa butter, milk products, vanilla, and a fatty substance called lecithin. Technically, white chocolate is not a chocolate— and it doesn’t really taste like one—because it doesn’t contain chocolate solids. When cocoa beans are removed from their pods, fermented, dried, roasted, cracked open, and their shells discarded, what results is a nib. Chocolate nibs are ground into a paste called chocolate liquor. Chocolate liquor can be separated into cocoa solids, which provide the flavor, and cocoa butter, which is the fat. Though white chocolate contains extracted cocoa butter, it lacks the component that defines real chocolate.

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FAMOUS CHOCOLATE
BRANDS

Lindt

Lindt & Springli is recognized as a leader in the market for premium quality chocolate, offering a large selection of products in more than 120 countries around the world. During 170 years of Lindt & Springli’s existence, it has become known as one of the most innovative and creative companies making premium chocolate.
Today, quality chocolate products by Lindt & Springli are made at 12 own production sites in Europe and the USA. They are distributed by 24 subsidiary companies and branch offices, in more than 300 own stores, and also via a comprehensive network of more than 100 independent distributors around the globe.

Ferrero

The history of the Ferrero Group is a story of success in its third generation, in which the development of a multinational company perfectly combines with the past, present and future of a tenacious Piedmontese family. We have to return to the ‘40s to discover the roots of this success. These were the years when Piera and Pietro, Michele’s parents, transformed a pastry shop into a factory.
The Ferrero’ Family was the first Italian manufacturer after World War II to open production sites and offices abroad in the confectionery sector, turning the Company into a truly international Group. Now Ferrero is a global company, with branches and plants in North and South America, South East Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, Australia; and, more recently, in Turkey, Mexico and China.

Ghirardelli

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is a manufacturer and marketer of premium chocolate products. The company started in San Francisco more than 160 years ago, making it America’s oldest continuously operating chocolate manufacturer. Incorporated in 1852, Ghirardelli began with founder Domingo Ghirardelli selling chocolates and other luxury products to California’s gold miners. Over time, Ghirardelli expanded, eventually developing an entire city block that is now recognized as a San Francisco landmark. Ghirardelli gives back to the community that helped it prosper, including to organizations involved in helping children and families.
In 2011 Ghirardelli became the No. 2 baking brand in the US. The Harris Poll, which measures the strength of brands in several categories, selected Ghirardelli as the Premium Chocolate Brand of the Year in 2012 (the first year premium chocolate was tracked in the poll), 2013, 2014 and 2015. Ghirardelli was one of the first companies to include specific cacao content on its labels in order to help people find the perfect chocolate for their taste. Ghirardelli was the first chocolate company to launch stand up bags, an easy way for people to choose and enjoy chocolate. One of the company’s more recent innovations is mini chocolates, a shareable, on-the-go treat that debuted in 2014.

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