Chocolate kingdom

Chocolate, originally from Central and South America, its originator is “xocolatl”, meaning “bitter water”. Its main raw material, cocoa beans, are produced in a narrow strip of land within 18 degrees north and south of the equator. When used as a beverage, it is often called “hot chocolate” or cocoa. Let’s explore the origin and chocolate kingdom.

The origin of chocolate

Chocolate was originally derived from the cacao bean, the fruit of the wild cacao tree in the tropical rainforests of Central America. More than 1,300 years ago, the Yorktan Mayan Indians used roasted cocoa beans to make a drink called chocolate. Early chocolate was a greasy drink, because fried cocoa beans contained more than 50% fat, people began to add flour and other starch substances to the drink to reduce its greasy.

He Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes discovered in Mexico in the early 16th century: the local Aztec king drank a drink made from cacao beans with water and spices, Cortes tasted it, brought it back to Spain in 1528, and planted cacao trees on a small island in West Africa.The Spanish ground the cocoa beans into powder, added water and sugar, and made a drink called “chocolate” after heating, which was popular with the public. The method of making it was soon taught by the Italians and soon spread throughout Europe.

Spread chocolate

In 1642, chocolate was introduce to France as a medicine and consumed by Catholics. In 1765, chocolate entered the United States and was praise by Benjamin Franklin as a “healthy and nutritious dessert.” The Dutch Van HOUTEN created a cocoa press to extract the remaining powder from the cocoa liquid in 1828. The cocoa butter from Van HOUTEN’s press was mix with crushed cocoa beans and sugar to create the world’s first chocolate. After fermentation, drying and roasting, the cocoa beans are process into cocoa liquid blocks, cocoa butter and cocoa powder, which will produce a rich and unique aroma, which is the main body of chocolate.

In 1847, cocoa butter was add to the chocolate drink to create what is now know as a chewable chocolate bar. In 1875, the Swiss invented the method of making milk chocolate, which led to chocolate as we see it. World War I stimulated the production of chocolate, and chocolate was ship to the battlefield for distribution to soldiers in 1914.

Chocolate is make from a mixture of various ingredients, but its flavor is mainly determined by the taste of the cocoa itself. Cocoa contains theobromine and caffeine, which give it a pleasant bitter taste; The tannins in cocoa have a slightly astringent taste, and the cocoa butter produces a plump, smooth taste. Cocoa bitter, astringent, sour, cocoa butter smooth, with sugar or milk powder, milk fat, malt, lecithin, vanillin and other accessories, and then through exquisite processing technology, so that chocolate not only maintain the unique taste of cocoa and make it more harmonious, pleasant and delicious.

Chocolate kingdom

1.Belgium

Belgium created the Hami Chocolate brand in 1983 with the aim of presenting the best Hatton chocolate in Belgium to the world. 85% of the products are exported to more than 60 countries around the world, the product categories are: elegant comprehensive chocolate, 12 constellation heart chocolate, black truffle chocolate, finger sucking taste. Gilliane, founded 30 years ago by Guy and Liliane Foubert, is currently Belgium’s largest producer of bossed chocolate, producing 75 tons of high-quality chocolate every day and selling it to 132 countries worldwide. Gilliam is a chocolate brand award the Gold Medal by the Belgian Royal Family, including the shell (gold shell), Snowball, Classics, gems, Lovers and the essence of the world 7 series. It is known as the “supreme in the chocolate kingdom”.

2.Switzerland

In fact, Switzerland also has a chocolate kingdom: in addition to clocks and army knives, Switzerland has a very famous thing, that is chocolate. The variety of chocolate in Switzerland is very rich and the price is also moderate, which is the best choice for gifts. Milk chocolate was invente in Switzerland. Because it is very difficult to regulate the temperature of milk, although a lot of research has been carry out across Europe, but has not been successful, and later, the Swiss Darnell Peter invented the production method in 1875.

At the beginning of the 19th century, chocolate was just a foreign product for the Swiss. However, two centuries later, Switzerland has become the world’s idea of the chocolate kingdom. The main reason for this is that the Swiss, who are good at innovation, have perfected the method of making chocolate again and again, and made chocolate realize the transformation from an expensive luxury to a mass consumer.

There are so many forms of chocolate, and there are different groups that like it. In Europe, the largest consumer market for chocolate, solid chocolate with nothing in it is the most popular. However, in Eastern society, chocolate mixed with nuts is more popular, especially peanut and cookie flavors, perhaps the pursuit of taste is different, the East likes more changes in the taste, the United States is 50/50.

Judging chocolate quality

Chocolate is one of the most popular sweets among consumers, and although there are many varieties, the quality is also uneven. Experts point out that the quality of chocolate can be identify by the following methods.

1.Melting point

The melting point of chocolate at 36 degrees Celsius, the mouth will melt, and there will be no slag residue between the teeth.

2.Hardness

Knock on the table, high-quality chocolate texture is harder, eat the mouth is very crisp.

3.Surface

Open the package, good quality chocolate, its appearance of the most distinctive feature is bright brown. Dark dark chocolate or due to the production technology is not high, or poor quality, and poor quality chocolate is almost no luster, the appearance is very rough, and even cracking phenomenon.

4.Smell

Excellent quality chocolate with a strong and unique aroma. In order to supplement and enrich this aroma, raw materials that produce other aromas are often add to chocolate, such as milk powder, milk fat, malt, almonds, flavored dairy products, etc. If the chocolate aroma is weak, the quality is poor.

5.Taste

Various materials are compose to produce the comprehensive taste of chocolate. The flavor is largely determine by the cocoa butter in the cocoa. The theobromine and theanine in cocoa butter give a pleasant bitter taste, and the tannin in cocoa butter gives a slightly astringent taste. Sugar is the basis of sweetness, and it also plays a role in adjusting the taste, making the bitter, astringent and sour taste of cocoa become delicious. If there is rancid and musty taste, it is poor quality chocolate.

6.Character

Fine texture is one of the important characteristics of chocolate. This feature needs to be identify with the tongue, the delicate smoothness of chocolate is determin by the fineness of the composition of chocolate raw materials, different fineness of the substance, the pressure given to the tongue is different, and therefore produces the feeling of thickness. In addition, whether it is fine and smooth is also a factor to measure the processing accuracy.

7.Soft and hard changes

Chocolate is sensitive to heat. When the summer temperature is higher, it is easy to become soft, or even lose its original shape, and when the weather turns cool, it is slowly hard, which is due to the characteristics of cocoa butter in chocolate. Good quality chocolate, all have this change.

8.brittleness

In the winter, if you break a thin piece of chocolate, you can clearly hear the sound of brittleness when broken, and you can also see the neat crystal pattern on the cracked section of chocolate. When chocolate is cold, it cracks because chocolate contains a lot of cocoa butter, because brittleness is a unique property of cocoa butter. If the chocolate lacks brittleness, it means that there is less cocoa butter in the chocolate and the quality is poor.