Chocolate

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For other uses, see Chocolate (disambiguation).

Chocolate

Chocolate most commonly comes in dark, milk, and

white varieties, with cocoa solids contributing to the
brown color

Main ingredient(s) Chocolate liquor

Chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate i
/ˈtʃɒk(ə)lət/ is a processed, typically sweetened food produced from the seed of the
tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Although cacao has been cultivated by many cultures for at least
three millennia in Mexico and Central America, the earliest evidence of use traces to
the Mokaya, with evidence of chocolate beverages dating back to 1900 BC.[1] In fact, the
majority of Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Mayans and Aztecs,
[2]
who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl [ʃoˈkolaːt͡ɬ], a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter
water". The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste and must be fermented to develop
the flavor.
 After fermentation, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted. The shell is removed to produce
cacao nibs, which are then ground to cocoa mass, pure chocolate in rough form. Because the
cocoa mass is usually liquefied before being molded with or without other ingredients, it is
called chocolate liquor. The liquor also may be processed into two components: cocoa
solids and cocoa butter. Unsweetened baking chocolate (bitter chocolate) contains primarily
cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is
in the form of sweet chocolate, a combination of cocoa solids, cocoa butter or other fat, and
sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed
milk. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk but no cocoa solids.

Cocoa solids contain alkaloids such as theobromine, phenethylamine and caffeine.[3] These have
physiological effects on the body and are linked to serotonin levels in the brain. Some research
has found that chocolate, eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure. [4]The presence of
theobromine renders chocolate toxic to some animals,[5] especially dogs and cats.

Chocolate has become one of the most popular food types and flavors in the world, and a vast
number of foodstuffs involving chocolate have been created. Chocolate chip cookies have
become very common, and very popular, in most parts of Europe and North America. Gifts of
chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain holidays. Chocolate is
also used in cold and hot beverages such as chocolate milk and hot chocolate.

Although cocoa originated in the Americas, today Western Africa produces almost two-thirds of
the world's cocoa, with Côte d'Ivoiregrowing almost half of it.

Contents

[hide]

 1 Etymology
 2 History

o 2.1 Mesoamerica history

o 2.2 European adaptation

 3 Types
 4 Production

o 4.1 Cacao varieties

 4.1.1 Criollo

 4.1.2 Forastero

 4.1.3 Trinitario

o 4.2 Processing

o 4.3 Blending

o 4.4 Conching

o 4.5 Tempering

o 4.6 Storage

 5 Health effects

 6 Labeling

 7 Manufacturers

 8 In popular culture

o 8.1 Holidays

o 8.2 Books and film

 9 See also

 10 Notes

 11 Further reading

 12 External links

Etymology
"Traités nouveaux & curieux du café du thé et du chocolate", by Philippe Sylvestre Dufour,
1685.

The word "chocolate" entered the English language from Spanish. [6] How the word came into
Spanish is less certain, and there are competing explanations. Perhaps the most cited explanation
is that "chocolate" comes from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, from the wordchocolātl,

which many sources derived from xocolātl [ʃokolaːtɬ], from xococ 'sour' or 'bitter', andātl 'water'
or 'drink'.[6] However, as William Bright noted,[7] the word "chocolatl" does not occur in central
Mexican colonial sources, making this an unlikely derivation. Santamaria[8] gives a derivation
from the Yucatec Maya word "chokol" meaning 'hot', and the Nahuatl "atl" meaning 'water'.
Sophie and Michael D. Coe agree with this etymology.

Pointing to various sources dating from the time of the Spanish conquest, they
identifycacahuatl ("cacao water") as the original Nahuatl word for the cold beverage consumed
by the Aztecs. Noting that using a word with caca in it to describe a thick brown beverage would
not have gone over well with most speakers of Spanish because "caca" means 'faeces' in Spanish,
the Coes suggest that the Spanish colonisers combined the Nahuatl atl with the Yucatec
Mayachocol, for, unlike the Aztec, the Maya tended to drink chocolate heated. The Spanish
preferred the warm Mayan preparation of the beverage to the cold Aztec one, and so the
colonisers substituted chocol in place of the culturally unacceptable caca.[9]

More recently, Dakin and Wichmann derive it from another Nahuatl term, "chicolatl" from
eastern Nahuatl, meaning "beaten drink". They derive this term from the word for the frothing
stick, "chicoli".[10] However, the Coes write that xicalli referred to the gourd out of which the
beverage was consumed and that the use of a frothing stick (known as a molinillo) was a product
ofcreolisation between the Spanish and Aztec; the original frothing method used by the
indigenous people was simply pouring the drink from a height into another vessel.[9]

History

See also: History of chocolate

Mesoamerica history

A Mayan chief forbids a person to touch a jar of chocolate

Mayan writing referring to cocoa.

Chocolate has been prepared as a drink for nearly all of its history. For example, one vessel
found at an Olmec archaeological site on the Gulf Coast of Veracruz, Mexico dates chocolate's
preparation by pre-Olmec peoples as early as 1750 BC.[11] On the Pacific coast
of Chiapas, Mexico, a Mokaya archaeological site provides evidence of cacao beverages dating
even earlier, to 1900 BC.[1][11] The residues and the kind of vessel they were found in indicate the
initial use of cacao was not simply as a beverage, but that the white pulp around the cacao beans
was likely used as a source of fermentable sugars for an alcoholic drink.[12]

An early Classic (460–480 AD) period Mayan tomb from the site in Rio Azul had vessels with
the Maya glyph for cacao on them with residue of a chocolate drink, suggests that the Maya were
drinking chocolate around 400 AD.[13] Documents in Maya hieroglyphs stated chocolate was
used for ceremonial purposes, in addition to everyday life. [14] Mayans grew cacao trees in their
backyards,[15] and used the cacao seeds the trees produced to make a frothy, bitter drink.[16]

By the 15th century, the Aztecs gained control of a large part of Mesoamerica and adopted cacao
into their culture. They associated chocolate with Quetzalcoatl, who according to one legend was
cast away by the other gods for sharing chocolate with humans, [17] and identified its extrication
from the pod with the removal of the human heart in sacrifice. [18] In contrast to the Mayans, who
liked their chocolate warm, the Aztecs drank it cold, seasoning it with a broad variety of
additives including the petals of the Cymbopetalum penduliflorum tree, chile
pepper, allspice, vanilla and honey.
The Aztecs were not able to grow cacao themselves as their home in the Mexican highlands was
unsuitable for it, so chocolate was a luxury that was imported into the empire. [17] Those who
lived in areas ruled by the Aztecs were required to offer a cacao seeds in payment of the tax they
deemed "tribute".[17] Cocoa beans were often used as currency.[19] For example, the Aztecs used a
system in which one turkey cost one hundred cacao beans and one fresh avocado was worth three
beans.[20]

European adaptation

See also: History of chocolate in Spain

Chocolate soon became a fashionable drink of the nobility after the discovery of the
Americas. The morning chocolate by Pietro Longhi; Venice, 1775–1780.

Until the 16th century, no European had ever heard of the popular drink from
the Centraland South American peoples.[17] Christopher Columbus and his
son Ferdinandencountered the cacao bean on Columbus's fourth mission to the Americas on
August 15, 1502 when he and his crew seized a large native canoe that proved to contain cacao
beans among other goods for trade.[21] Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés may have been the
first European to encounter it, as the frothy drink was part of the after-dinner routine
of Montezuma.[13][22] Jose de Acosta, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in Peru and then
Mexico in the later 16th century, wrote of its growing influence on the Spaniards:

Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant
taste. Yet it is a drink very much esteemed among the Indians, where with they feast noble men
who pass through their country. The Spaniards, both men and women that are accustomed to the
country are very greedy of this Chocolate. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot,
some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that "chili"; yea, they make paste
thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh.[23]

While Columbus had taken cacao beans with him back to Spain,[21] chocolate made no impact
until Spanish friars introduced it to the Spanish court. [17] After the Spanish conquest of the
Aztecs, chocolate was imported to Europe. There, it quickly became a court favorite. It was still
served as a beverage, but the Spanish added sugar as well as honey to counteract the natural
bitterness.[24] By 1602, chocolate had made its way from Spain to Austrial.[25] By 1662, the bishop
of Rome had declared that religious fasts were not broken by consuming chocolate drinks.
Within about a hundred years, chocolate established a foothold throughout Europe.[17]

Silver chocolate pot with hinged finial to insert a molinet or swizzle stick. London 1714-15
(Victoria and Albert Museum)
The new craze for chocolate brought with it a thriving slave market, as between the early 1600s
and late 1800s the laborious and slow processing of the cacao bean was manual. [17] Cacao
plantations spread, as the English, Dutch, and French colonized and planted. With the depletion
of Mesoamerican workers, largely to disease, cacao production was often the work of poor wage
laborers and African slaves. Wind-powered and horse-drawn mills were utilized to speed
production. But chocolate would remain a treat for the elite and the wealthy until the arrival of
the Industrial Revolution brought steam-powered engines to speed the processing of the bean.
[24]
The first steam-driven chocolate mill was created by a French inventor named Debuisson in
the early 1700s.[17]

As the processes for chocolate making sped the production, new techniques and approaches
revolutionized the texture and text. In 1815, Dutch chemist Coenraad Van Houten introduced
alkaline salts to chocolate, which reduced its bitterness.[17] A few years thereafter, in 1828, he
created a press to remove about half the natural fat (cacao butter) from chocolate liquor, which
made chocolate both cheaper to produce and more consistent in quality. This innovation
introduced the modern era of chocolate.[21] Known as "dutch cocoa", this machine-pressed
chocolate was instrumental in the transformation of chocolate to its solid form when in
1847 Joseph Fry learned to make chocolate moldable by adding back melted cacao butter.
[24]
Milk had sometimes been used as an addition to chocolate beverages since the mid-17th
century, but in 1875 Daniel Peter invented milk chocolate by mixing a powdered milk developed
by Henri Nestlé with the liquor.[17][21] In 1879, the texture and taste of chocolate was further
improved when Rudolphe Lindt invented the conching machine.[26]

Besides Nestle, a number of notable chocolate companies had their start in the late 19th and early
20th centuries. Cadbury was manufacturing boxed chocolates in England by 1868. [17] In
1893, Milton S. Hershey purchased chocolate processing equipment at the World's Columbian
Exposition in Chicago and soon began the career of Hershey's chocolates with chocolate-coated
caramels.

Types

Main article: Types of chocolate

Chocolate is commonly used as a coating for various fruits and fillings, such as cherries.

Disk of chocolate (about 4cm in diameter), as sold in Central America, for making hot cocoa.
Note that the chocolate pictured here is soft, can easily be crumbled by hand, and already has
sugar added.

Several types of chocolate can be distinguished. Pure, unsweetened chocolate contains primarily
cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is
in the form of sweet chocolate, combining chocolate with sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet
chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. In the U.K. and Ireland,
milk chocolate must contain a minimum of 20% total dry cocoa solids; in the rest of the
European Union, the minimum is 25%.[27] "White chocolate" contains cocoa butter, sugar, and
milk, but no cocoa solids. Chocolate contains alkaloids such as theobromine and
phenethylamine, which have some physiological effects in humans and has been linked to
serotonin levels in the brain, but the presence of theobromine renders it toxic to some animals,
such as dogs and cats.[28] Dark chocolate has been promoted for unproven health benefits, [29] as it
seems to possess substantial amounts of antioxidants that reduce the formation of free radicals.

White chocolate is formed from a mixture of sugar, cocoa butter and milk solids. Although its
texture is similar to that of milk and dark chocolate, it does not contain any cocoa solids.
Because of this, many countries do not consider white chocolate as chocolate at all. [30]Although
white chocolate was first introduced by Hebert Candies in 1955, Mars, Incorporated, was the
first to produce it within the United States. Because it does not contain any cocoa solids, white
chocolate does not contain any theobromine, meaning it can be consumed by animals. It is
usually not used for cooking.

Dark chocolate is produced by adding fat and sugar to the cacao mixture. The U.S. Food and
Drug Administration calls this "sweet chocolate", and requires a 15% concentration of chocolate
liquor. European rules specify a minimum of 35% cocoa solids. [27] Dark chocolate, with its high
cocoa content, is a rich source of epicatechin and gallic acid, which are thought to possess
cardioprotective properties. Dark chocolate has also been said to reduce the possibility of a heart
attack when consumed regularly in small amounts.[31]Semisweet chocolate is a dark chocolate
with a low sugar content. Bittersweet chocolate is chocolate liquor to which some sugar
(typically a third), more cocoa butter, vanilla and sometimes lecithin have been added. It has less
sugar and more liquor than semisweet chocolate, but the two are interchangeable in baking.

Unsweetened chocolate is pure chocolate liquor, also known as bitter or baking chocolate. It is
unadulterated chocolate: the pure, ground, roasted chocolate beans impart a strong, deep
chocolate flavor.

Raw chocolate, often referred to as raw cacao, is always dark and a minimum of 75% cacao.
Because the act of processing results in the loss of certain vitamins and minerals (such as
magnesium), some consider raw cacao to be a more nutritious form of chocolate.[32]

Chocolate may have whitish spots on the dark chocolate part. This is called chocolate bloom and
is an indication that sugar and/or fat has separated due to poor storage. It is not toxic.

Production

See also: Children in cocoa production and Cocoa production in Côte d'Ivoire
Chocolate is created from the cocoa bean. A cacao tree with fruit pods in various stages of
ripening

Roughly two-thirds of the entire world's cocoa is produced in West Africa, with 43% sourced
from Côte d'Ivoire,[33] where child labor is a common practice to obtain the product. [34][35]
[36]
According to the World Cocoa Foundation, some 50 million people around the world depend
on cocoa as a source of livelihood. [37] In the UK, most chocolatiers purchase their chocolate from
them, to melt, mold and package to their own design.[38]

Chocolate is any product made primarily of cocoa solids and cocoa butter.

Production costs can be decreased by reducing cocoa solid content or by substituting cocoa
butter with another fat. Cocoa growers object to allowing the resulting food to be called
"chocolate", due to the risk of lower demand for their crops.[37] The sequencing in 2010 of
genome of the cacao tree may allow yields to be improved.[39]

There are two main jobs associated with creating chocolate candy: chocolate makers, and
chocolatiers. Chocolate makers use harvested cacao beans and other ingredients to
producecouverture chocolate (covering). Chocolatiers use the finished couverture to make
chocolate candies (bars, truffles, etc.).[40]

Cacao varieties

Toasted cacao beans at a chocolate workshop at the La Chonita Hacienda inTabasco, Mexico.

Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, the dried and partially fermented seeds of the cacao tree
(Theobroma cacao), a small (4–8 m (or 15–26 ft) tall) evergreen tree native to the deep tropical
region of the Americas. Recent genetic studies suggest that the most common genotype of the
plant originated in the Amazon basin and was gradually transported by humans throughout South
and Central America. Early forms of another genotype have also been found in what is
now Venezuela. The scientific name,Theobroma, means "food of the deities".[41] The fruit, called
a cacao pod, is ovoid, 15–30 cm (or 6–12 in) long and 8–10 cm (3–4 in) wide, ripening yellow to
orange, and weighing about 500 g (1 lb) when ripe.

Cacao trees are small, understory trees that need rich, well-drained soils. They naturally grow
within 20 degrees of either side of the equator because they need about 2000 millimeters of
rainfall a year, and temperatures in the range of 21 to 32 °C. Cacao trees cannot tolerate a
temperature lower than 15 °C (59 °F).[42]

The three main varieties of cacao beans used in chocolate are criollo, forastero, and trinitario.

Criollo

Representing only five percent of all cocoa beans grown,[43] criollo is the rarest and most
expensive cocoa on the market, and is native to Central America, the Caribbean islands and the
northern tier of South American states. [44] There is some dispute about the genetic purity of
cocoas sold today as criollo, as most populations have been exposed to the genetic influence of
other varieties.

Criollos are particularly difficult to grow, as they are vulnerable to a variety of environmental
threats and produce low yields of cocoa per tree. The flavor of criollo is described as delicate yet
complex, low in classic chocolate flavor, but rich in "secondary" notes of long duration.[45]

Forastero

The most commonly grown bean is forastero,[43] a large group of wild and cultivated cacaos,
most likely native to the Amazon basin. The African cocoa crop is entirely of the forastero
variety. They are significantly hardier and of higher yield than criollo. The source of most
chocolate marketed,[43] forastero cocoas are typically strong in classic "chocolate" flavor, but
have a short duration and are unsupported by secondary flavors, producing "quite bland"
chocolate.[43]

Trinitario

Trinitario is a natural hybrid of criollo and forastero. Trinitario originated in Trinidad after an
introduction of forastero to the local criollo crop. Nearly all cacao produced over the past five
decades is of the forastero or lower-grade trinitario varieties.[46]

Processing

Video of cacao beans being ground and mixed with other ingredients to make chocolate at
a Mayordomo store in Oaxaca, Mexico
Cacao pods are harvested by cutting the pods from the tree using a machete, or by knocking them
off the tree using a stick. The beans with their surrounding pulp are removed from the pods and
placed in piles or bins, allowing access to microorganisms so that fermentation of the pectin-
containing material can begin. Yeast produce ethanol, lactic acid bacteria producelactic
acid and acetic acid bacteria produce acetic acid. The fermentation process, which takes up to
seven days, also produces several flavor precursors, eventually resulting in the familiar chocolate
taste.[47]

It is important to harvest the pods when they are fully ripe because if the pod is unripe, the beans
will have a low cocoa butter content, or there will be insufficient sugars in the white pulp for
fermentation, resulting in a weak flavor. After fermentation, the beans must be quickly dried to
prevent mold growth. Climate and weather permitting, this is done by spreading the beans out in
the sun from five to seven days.[48]

The dried beans are then transported to a chocolate manufacturing facility. The beans are cleaned
(removing twigs, stones, and other debris), roasted, and graded. Next, the shell of each bean is
removed to extract the nib. Finally, the nibs are ground and liquefied, resulting in pure chocolate
in fluid form: chocolate liquor.[49] The liquor can be further processed into two components:
cocoa solids and cocoa butter.[50]

Blending

Main article: Types of chocolate

Chocolate liquor is blended with the cocoa butter in varying quantities to make different types of
chocolate or couvertures. The basic blends of ingredients for the various types of chocolate (in
order of highest quantity of cocoa liquor first), are as follows:
Fountain chocolate is made with high levels of cocoa butter, allowing it to flow gently over
achocolate fountain to serve asdessert fondue.

 Dark chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, and (sometimes) vanilla;
 Milk chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, milk or milk powder, and vanilla;

 White chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, milk or milk powder, and vanilla.

Usually, an emulsifying agent, such as soy lecithin, is added, though a few manufacturers prefer
to exclude this ingredient for purity reasons and to remain GMO-free, sometimes at the cost of a
perfectly smooth texture. Some manufacturers are now using PGPR, an artificial emulsifier
derived from castor oil that allows them to reduce the amount of cocoa butter while maintaining
the samemouthfeel.

The texture is also heavily influenced by processing, specifically conching (see below). The
more expensive chocolate tends to be processed longer and thus have a smoother texture and
mouthfeel, regardless of whether emulsifying agents are added.
Different manufacturers develop their own "signature" blends based on the above formulas, but
varying proportions of the different constituents are used. The finest, plain dark chocolate
couvertures contain at least 70% cocoa (both solids and butter), whereas milk chocolate usually
contains up to 50%. High-quality white chocolate couvertures contain only about 35% cocoa.

Producers of high-quality, small-batch chocolate argue that mass production produces bad
quality chocolate.[43] Some mass-produced chocolate contains much less cocoa (as low as 7% in
many cases), and fats other than cocoa butter. Vegetable oils and artificial vanilla flavor are often
used in cheaper chocolate to mask poorly fermented and/or roasted beans.[43]

In 2007, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association in the United States, whose members
include Hershey, Nestlé, and Archer Daniels Midland, lobbied the Food and Drug
Administration to change the legal definition of chocolate to let them substitute partially
hydrogenated vegetable oils for cocoa butter, in addition to using artificial sweeteners and milk
substitutes.[51] Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not allow a product
to be referred to as "chocolate" if the product contains any of these ingredients. [52][53]

Conching

Main article: Conching

Chocolate melanger mixing raw ingredients

The penultimate process is called conching. A conche is a container filled with metal beads,
which act as grinders. The refined and blended chocolate mass is kept in a liquid state by
frictional heat. Chocolate prior to conching has an uneven and gritty texture. The conching
process produces cocoa and sugar particles smaller than the tongue can detect, hence the smooth
feel in the mouth. The length of the conching process determines the final smoothness and
quality of the chocolate. High-quality chocolate is conched for about 72 hours, lesser grades
about four to six hours. After the process is complete, the chocolate mass is stored in tanks
heated to approximately 45–50 °C (113–122 °F) until final processing.[54]

Tempering

The final process is called tempering. Uncontrolled crystallization of cocoa butter typically
results in crystals of varying size, some or all large enough to be clearly seen with the naked eye.
This causes the surface of the chocolate to appear mottled and matte, and causes the chocolate to
crumble rather than snap when broken.[55] The uniform sheen and crisp bite of properly processed
chocolate are the result of consistently small cocoa butter crystals produced by the tempering
process.

The fats in cocoa butter can crystallize in six different forms (polymorphous crystallization).[55]
[56]
The primary purpose of tempering is to assure that only the best form is present. The six different
crystal forms have different properties.

Crystal Melting temp. Notes

I 17 °C (63 °F) Soft, crumbly, melts too easily

II 21 °C (70 °F) Soft, crumbly, melts too easily

III 26 °C (79 °F) Firm, poor snap, melts too easily

IV 28 °C (82 °F) Firm, good snap, melts too easily

V 34 °C (93 °F) Glossy, firm, best snap, melts near body temperature (37 °C)

VI 36 °C (97 °F) Hard, takes weeks to form

Molten chocolate and a piece of a chocolate bar

As a solid piece of chocolate, the cocoa butter fat particles are in a crystalline rigid structure that
gives the chocolate its solid appearance. Once heated, the crystals of the polymorphic cocoa
butter will be able to break apart from the rigid structure and allow the chocolate to obtain a
more fluid consistency as the temperature increases. This is known as the melting process. When
the heat is removed, the cocoa butter crystals will become rigid again and come closer together,
allowing the chocolate to solidify.[57]

This temperature in which the crystals obtain enough energy to break apart from their rigid
conformation would depend on the milk fat content in the chocolate and the shape of the fat
molecules as well as the form of the cocoa butter fat. Chocolate with a higher fat content will
melt at a lower temperature.[58]

Making chocolate considered "good" is about forming as many type V crystals as possible. This
provides the best appearance and texture and creates the most stable crystals, so the texture and
appearance will not degrade over time. To accomplish this, the temperature is carefully
manipulated during the crystallization.
Generally, the chocolate is first heated to 45 °C (113 °F) to melt all six forms of crystals. [55]
[56]
Next, the chocolate is cooled to about 27 °C (81 °F), which will allow crystal types IV and V
to form. At this temperature, the chocolate is agitated to create many small crystal "seeds" which
will serve as nuclei to create small crystals in the chocolate. The chocolate is then heated to
about 31 °C (88 °F) to eliminate any type IV crystals, leaving just type V. After this point, any
excessive heating of the chocolate will destroy the temper and this process will have to be
repeated. However, there are other methods of chocolate tempering used. The most common
variant is introducing already tempered, solid "seed" chocolate. The temper of chocolate can be
measured with a chocolate temper meter to ensure accuracy and consistency. A sample cup is
filled with the chocolate and placed in the unit which then displays or prints the results.

Two classic ways of manually tempering chocolate are:

 Working the molten chocolate on a heat-absorbing surface, such as a stone slab, until
thickening indicates the presence of sufficient crystal "seeds"; the chocolate is then gently
warmed to working temperature.
 Stirring solid chocolate into molten chocolate to "inoculate" the liquid chocolate with
crystals (this method uses the already formed crystals of the solid chocolate to "seed" the
molten chocolate).

Chocolate tempering machines (or temperers) with computer controls can be used for producing
consistently tempered chocolate, particularly for large volume applications.

Storage
Packaged chocolate in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company shop is stored in controlled conditions

Chocolate is very sensitive to temperature and humidity. Ideal storage temperatures are between
15 and 17 °C (59 and 63 °F), with a relative humidity of less than 50%. Various types of
"blooming" effects can occur if chocolate is stored or served improperly. Fat bloom is caused by
storage temperature fluctuating or exceeding 24 C while sugar bloom is caused by temperature
below 15 C or excess humidity. To distinguish between different types of bloom, one can rub the
surface of the chocolate lightly, and if the bloom disappears, it is fat bloom. One can get rid of
bloom by re-tempering the chocolate or using it for anything that requires melting the chocolate.
[59]

Chocolate is generally stored away from other foods, as it can absorb different aromas. Ideally,
chocolates are packed or wrapped, and placed in proper storage with the correct humidity and
temperature. Additionally, chocolate is frequently stored in a dark place or protected from light
by wrapping paper.

If refrigerated or frozen without containment, chocolate can absorb enough moisture to cause a
whitish discoloration, the result of fat or sugar crystals rising to the surface. Moving chocolate
from one temperature extreme to another, such as from a refrigerator on a hot day, can result in
an oily texture. Although visually unappealing, chocolate suffering from bloom is perfectly safe
for consumption.[60][61][62]

Health effects
Chocolate with various fillings.

Main articles: Health effects of chocolate and Theobromine poisoning

Positive


Cocoa or dark chocolate may positively affect the circulatory system.[63]

Several studies have suggested that eating chocolate can help reduce the risk of
certaincardiovascular problems[64][65][66] and also reduce blood pressure in both overweight
and normal adults.[64]


Chocolate may boost cognitive abilities.[67]


Dark chocolate may lower cholesterol levels in adults.[68] Although basic research has
provided preliminary evidence that polyphenols in chocolate might inhibit oxidation of LDL
cholesterol,[69] few results from clinical trials are conclusive about such an effect in humans.
[70][71]


According to one study, chocolate consumption correlates with lower Body Mass Index.
[72]

Other possible effects under basic research include anticancer, brain stimulator, cough
preventor and antidiarrhoeal activities.[73]


Cocoa beans contain a large amount of chemicals called flavonoids. Some scientists
believe that these flavonoids can be used to create natural supplements to ease diarrhea
symptoms. Dark chocolate contains high concentrations of cocoa and may offer mild relief.
[74]

Negative


Chocolate is believed to cause heartburn because of one of its constituents, theobromine,
relaxes the oesophageal sphinctermuscle, hence permitting stomach acidic contents to enter
into the oesophagus.[75] Theobromine is also toxic to many animals because they are unable
to metabolize it (see theobromine poisoning).[5]

The unconstrained consumption of large quantities of any energy-rich food, such as
chocolate, without a corresponding increase in activity, is thought to increase the risk
of obesity. Raw chocolate is high in cocoa butter, a fat which is removed during chocolate
refining, then added back in varying proportions during the manufacturing process.
Manufacturers may add other fats, sugars, and milk as well, all of which increase the caloric
content of chocolate.


Chocolate and cocoa contain moderate to high amounts of oxalate,[76][77][78][79][80][81] which
can cause some health concerns particularly for individuals at risk for kidney stones.[82]


Chocolate absorbs lead from the environment during production, and there is a slight
concern of mild lead poisoning for some types of chocolate. In a study from Nigeria, the
average lead concentration of cocoa beans was less than 0.5 ng/g, among the lowest reported
values for a natural food, with lead concentrations ranging from 70–230 ng/g for raw and
processed cocoa.[83] These measurements "are consistent with market-basket surveys that
have repeatedly listed lead concentrations in chocolate products among the highest reported
for all foods. One source of contamination of the finished products is tentatively attributed to
atmospheric emissions of leaded gasoline, which is still being used in Nigeria." [83] The
 figures are still comparatively low when compared to 200,000 ng, which is the WHO
tolerable daily limit for lead consumption.[84]


Research on elderly people showed chocolate might cause osteoporosis.[85]


A few studies have documented allergic reactions with chocolate in children.[75]


There is some evidence that chocolate may be addictive.[86][87]

Labeling

Some manufacturers provide the percentage of chocolate in a finished chocolate confection as a

label quoting percentage of "cocoa" or "cacao". It should be noted that this refers to the
combined percentage of both cocoa solids and cocoa butter in the bar, not just the percentage of
cocoa solids.[88]

Chocolates that are organic[89] or fair trade certified[90] carry labels accordingly.

In the United States, some large chocolate manufacturers lobbied the federal government to
permit confections containing cheaperhydrogenated vegetable oil in place of cocoa butter to be
sold as "chocolate". In June 2007, as a response to consumer concern after the proposed change,
the FDA reiterated "Cacao fat, as one of the signature characteristics of the product, will remain
a principal component of standardized chocolate."[91]

Manufacturers

A Hershey chocolate bar. The Hershey Company is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in
the world.

Main article: List of bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers

Many chocolate manufacturers have created products from chocolate bars to fudge, hoping to
attract more consumers with each creation. Hershey and Mars have become the largest
manufacturers in the world.[citation needed]
Other large manufacturers include Nestlé, Kraft
Foods and Lindt.

The Hershey Company, known for their Hershey bar, Hershey's Kisses and Reese's Peanut Butter
Cups, is the largest chocolate manufacturer in North America. [92] Mars Incorporated, one of the
largest privately owned U.S. corporations, is a worldwide manufacturer of confectionery and
other food products, with US$21 billion in annual sales in 2006. Mars is known for Mars
Bar, Milky Way, M&M's, Twix and Snickers, as well as other confectionery items, such
as Skittles.

Food conglomerates Nestlé SA and Kraft Foods both have chocolate brands. Nestlé
acquired Rowntree's in 1988 and now market chocolates under their own brand,
including Smarties and Kit Kat; Kraft Foods through its 1990 acquisition of Jacobs Suchard, now
ownMilka and Suchard. In February 2010, Kraft also acquired British-based Cadbury plc, the
world's largest confectionery manufacturer.[93]Cadbury is well known for its Dairy
Milk range and Creme Egg; Fry's, Trebor Basset, the fair-trade brand Green & Black's also
belong to the group.

The chocolate industry, a steadily growing, $50 billion-a-year worldwide business centered on
the sale and consumption of chocolate, is prevalent on five out of seven continents. [94] Big
Chocolate, as it is also called, is essentially an oligopoly between major international chocolate
companies in Europe and the U.S. These U.S. companies, such as Mars and Hershey’s alone,
generate $13 billion a year in chocolate sales and account for two-thirds of U.S. manufacturers.
[95]
However, Europe accounts for 45% of the world's chocolate revenue.[96]

In popular culture
A box of assorted chocolates, often given as a gift.

Holidays

Chocolate is one of the most popular holiday gifts. Gifts of chocolate molded into different
shapes have become traditional on certain holidays: chocolate bunnies and eggs are popular on
Easter, chocolate coins on Hanukkah, snowmen and other holiday symbols on Christmas, and
chocolate hearts or chocolate in heart-shaped boxes on Valentine's Day.

On Valentine's Day, a box of chocolates is traditional, usually presented with flowers and
agreeting card. It may be given on other holidays, and birthdays. At Easter, chocolate eggs are
traditional. This is a confection made primarily of chocolate, and can either be solid, hollow, or
filled with other sweets or fondant. Many confectioners make holiday-specific chocolate candies,
usually variants of their standard fare. Hollow chocolate bunnies (Easter) and hollow Santa
Claus figures (Christmas) are two examples. The Hallmark holidayInternational Chocolate Day
is observed on 13 September by the National Confectioners Association to celebrate "the
mysteries and joys of chocolate".[97]

Books and film

Chocolate has been the center of several successful book and film adaptations. In 1964, Roald
Dahl published a children's novel titledCharlie and the Chocolate Factory. The novel centers on
a poor boy named Charlie Bucket who takes a tour through the greatest chocolate factory in the
world, owned by Willy Wonka. Two film adaptations of the novel were produced. The first
was Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, a 1971 film which later became a cult classic, and
spawned the real world Willy Wonka Candy Company, which produces chocolate products to
this day. Thirty-four years later, a second film adaptation was produced, titled Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory. The 2005 film was very well received by critics [98] and was one of the highest
grossing films that year, earning over US$470,000,000 worldwide.[99] Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory was also recognized at the 78th Academy Awards, where it was nominated for Best
Costume Design for Gabriella Pesucci.[100]

Like Water for Chocolate (Como agua para chocolate), a 1989 love story by novelist Laura
Esquivel, was adapted to film in 1992. The plot incorporates magical realism with Mexican
cuisine, and the title is a double entendre in its native language, referring both to a recipe for hot
chocolate and to an idiom that is a metaphor for sexual arousal. The film earned 11 Ariel
Awards from the Academia Mexicana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas, including Best
Picture.

Chocolat, a 1999 novel by Joanne Harris, tells the story of Vianne Rocher, a young mother,
whose confections change the lives of the townspeople. The 2000 film adaptation, Chocolat, also
proved successful, grossing over US$150,000,000 worldwide, [101] and receivingAcademy
Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Original Score.

History of chocolate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Traités nouveaux & curieux du café du thé et du chocolate", by Philippe Sylvestre Dufour,
1685.

The history of chocolate begins in Mesoamerica. Chocolate, the fermented, roasted, and ground
beans of the Theobroma cacao, can be traced to the Mokaya and other pre-Olmec people, with
evidence of chocolate beverages dating back to 1900 BC.[1]The Aztecs believed that cacao seeds
were the gift of Quetzalcoatl, the God of wisdom, and the seeds had so much value they were
used as a form of currency. Originally prepared only as a drink, chocolate was served as a bitter,
frothy liquid, mixed with spices, wine or corn puree. It was believed to have aphrodisiac powers
and to give the drinker strength.

After its arrival in Spain in the sixteenth century, sugar was added to it and it became popular
through Europe, first among the ruling classes and then among the common people. In the 20th
century, chocolate was considered a staple, essential in therations of United States soldiers
at war.[2]

The origins of the word "chocolate" probably comes from the Classical
Nahuatl wordxocolātl (meaning "bitter water"), and entered the English language from Spanish.
[3]
Mesoamerican history

An Aztec woman generates foam by pouring chocolate from one vessel to another in the Codex
Tudela

Cultivation, use, and cultural elaboration of cacao were early and extensive inMesoamerica, to
which the cacao tree is native. [4] When pollinated, the flower of the cacao tree eventually forms a
kind of sheath, or ear, 20" long hanging from the branches. Within the sheath are 30 to 40
brownish-red almond-shaped beans embedded in a sweet viscous pulp. While the beans
themselves are bitter due to thealkaloids within them, the sweet pulp may have been the first
element consumed by humans. Evidence suggests that it may have been fermented and served as
an alcoholic beverage as early as 1400 BC.[5]

While researchers do not agree which Mesoamerican culture first domesticated the cacao tree,
the use of the fermented bean in a drink seems to have arisen in Central America. Scientists have
been able to confirm its presence in vessels around the world by evaluating the "chemical
footprint" detectable in the microsamples of contents that remain. [1] Ceramic vessel with residues
from the preparation of chocolate beverages have been found at archaeological sites dating back
to the Early Formative (1900-900 BC) period. For example, one such vessel found at
an Olmec archaeological site on the Gulf Coast of Veracruz,Mexico dates chocolate's preparation
by pre-Olmec peoples as early as 1750 BC.[6] On the Pacific coast of Chiapas, Mexico,
a Mokaya archaeological site provides evidence of cacao beverages dating even earlier, to 1900
BC.[6]

Earliest evidence of domestication of the cacao plant dates to the Olmec culture from the
Preclassic period.[7] The Olmecs used it for religious rituals or as a medicinal drink, with no
recipes for personal use. However, as the Olmecs did not have a written language, little evidence
remains of how the beverage was processed.

The Mayan people, by contrast, do leave some surviving writings about cacao which confirm the
identification of the drink with the gods. The Dresden Codex specifies that it is the food of the
rain deity Kon, the Madrid Codex that gods shed their blood on the cacao pods as part of its
production.[8] The consumption of the chocolate drink is also depicted on pre-Hispanic vases.
The Mayans seasoned their chocolate by mixing the roasted cacao seed paste into a drink with
water, chile peppers and cornmeal, transferring the mixture repeatedly between pots until the top
was covered with a thick foam.[2]

By 1400, the Aztec empire took over a sizable part of Mesoamerica. They were not able to grow
cacao themselves, but were forced to import it. [2] All of the areas that were conquered by the
Aztecs that grew cacao beans were ordered to pay them as a tax, or as the Aztecs called it, a
"tribute". The cacao bean became a form of currency. The Spanish conquistadors left records of
the value of the cacao bean, noting for instance that 100 beans could purchase a canoe filled with
fresh water or a turkey hen.[5][9] The Aztecs associated cacao with the god Quetzacoatl, whom
they believed had been condemned by the other gods for sharing chocolate with humans.
[2]
Unlike the Maya of Yucatan, the Aztecs drank chocolate cold. It was consumed for a variety of
purposes, as an aphrodisiac or as a treat for men after banquets, and it was also included in the
rations of Aztec soldiers.[10]

Pueblo people, who lived in an area that is now the U.S. Southwest, imported cacao from
Mesoamerican cultures in southern Mexico or Central America between 900 to 1400. They was
used in a common beverage consumed by everyone in their society.[1]
 Contents

[hide]

 1 History in Europe
 2 Modern trade

 3 See also

 4 References

 5 External links

History in Europe[edit]

See also: History of chocolate in Spain

Until the 16th century, no European had ever heard of the popular drink from
the Central and South American peoples.[2]

Christopher Columbus encountered the cacao bean on his fourth mission to the Americas on
August 15, 1502 when he and his crew seized a large native canoe that proved to contain among
other goods for trade cacao beans.[11] His son Ferdinand commented that the natives greatly
valued the beans, which he termed almonds, "for when they were brought on board ship together
with their goods, I observed that when any of these almonds fell, they all stooped to pick it up, as
if an eye had fallen."[11] But while Columbus took cacao beans with him back to Spain,[11] it made
no impact until Spanish friars introduced chocolate to the Spanish court.[2]

Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés may have been the first European to encounter chocolate
when he observed it in the court ofMontezuma in the 16th century.[12]Montezuma's daily intake of
chocolate was described by Antonio de Solís in 1685:

He had Cups of Gold, and Salvers of the same; and sometimes he drank out of Cocoas [i.e.,
coconut shells], and natural Shells, very richly set with Jewels.[...] When he had done eating, he
usually took a Kind of Chocolate, made after the Manner of the Country, that is, the Substance of
the Nut beat up with the Mill till the Cup was filled more with Froth than with Liquor; after
which he used to smoak Tobacco perfum'd with liquid Amber.[13]
Jose de Acosta, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who lived in Peru and then Mexico in the later 16th
century, described its use more generally:

Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant
taste. Yet it is a drink very much esteemed among the Indians, where with they feast noble men
who pass through their country. The Spaniards, both men and women that are accustomed to the
country are very greedy of this Chocolate. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some hot,
some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that "chili"; yea, they make paste
thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh.[14]

After the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, chocolate was imported to Europe. There, it quickly
became a court favorite. It was still served as a beverage, but the Spanish added sugar or honey
to counteract the natural bitterness.[5] Within about a hundred years, chocolate established a
foothold throughout Europe.[2]

Silver chocolate pot with hinged finial to insert a molinet or swizzle stick. London 1714-15
(Victoria and Albert Museum)

How the word "chocolate" came into Spanish is not certain. Perhaps the most cited explanation is
that "chocolate" comes from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, from the word "chocolatl",

which many sources derived from the Nahuatl word "xocolatl" (pronounced [ ʃoˈkolaːtɬ]) made
up from the words "xococ" meaning sour or bitter,[15] and "atl" meaning water or drink.
[3]
However, as William Bright noted[16] the word "chocolatl" doesn't occur in central Mexican
colonial sources making this an unlikely derivation. Santamaria [17] gives a derivation from the
Yucatec Maya word "chokol" meaning hot, and the Nahuatl "atl" meaning water. More recently
Dakin and Wichman derive it from another Nahuatl term, "chicolatl" from Eastern Nahuatl
meaning "beaten drink".[18] They derive this term from the word for the frothing stick, "chicoli".
The word xocoatl means beverage of maize.[19] The words "cacaua atl" mean drink of cacao.
[19]
The word "xocolatl" does not appear in Molina's dictionary.[19]

The new craze for chocolate brought with it a thriving slave market, as between the early 1600s
and late 1800s the laborious and slow processing of the cacao bean was manual. [2] Cacao
plantations spread, as the English, Dutch, and French colonized and planted. With the depletion
of Mesoamerican workers, largely to disease, cacao production was often the work of poor wage
laborers and African slaves. Wind-powered and horse-drawn mills were utilized to speed
production. But chocolate would remain a treat for the elite and the wealthy until the arrival of
the Industrial Revolution brought steam-powered engines to speed the processing of the bean.
[5]
The first steam-driven chocolate mill was created by a French inventor named Debuisson in
the early 1700s.[2]

As the processes for chocolate making sped the process, new techniques and approaches
revolutionized the texture and text. In 1815, Dutch chemist Coenraad Van Houten introduced
alkaline salts to chocolate, which reduced its bitterness. [2] A few years thereafter, in 1828, he
created a press to remove about half the natural fat (cacao butter) from chocolate liquor, which
made chocolate both cheaper to produce and more consistent in quality. This innovation
introduced the modern era of chocolate.[11] Known as "dutch cocoa", this machine-pressed
chocolate was instrumental in the transformation of chocolate to its solid form when in
1847 Joseph Fry learned to make chocolate moldable by adding back melted cacao butter. [5] Milk
had sometimes been used as an addition to chocolate beverages since the mid-17th century, but
in 1875 Daniel Peterinvented milk chocolate by mixing a powdered milk developed by Henri
Nestlé with the liquor.[2][11] In 1879, the texture and taste of chocolate was further improved when
Rudolphe Lindt invented the conching machine.[20]

Besides Nestle, a number of notable chocolate companies had their start in the late 19th and early
20th centuries. Cadbury was manufacturing boxed chocolates in England by 1868.[2] In
1893, Milton S. Hershey purchased chocolate processing equipment at theWorld's Columbian
Exposition in Chicago and soon began the career of Hershey's chocolates with chocolate-coated
caramels.

Modern trade[edit]

Main article: Cocoa production in Côte d'Ivoire

Roughly two-thirds of the world's cocoa is produced in Western Africa, with close to half of the
total sourced from Côte d'Ivoire. Like many food industry producers, individual cocoa farmers
are at the mercy of volatile world markets. The price can vary from between £500 ($945) and
 £3,000 ($5,672) per ton in the space of just a few years.[citation needed] While investors trading in
cocoa can dump shares at will, individual cocoa farmers can not ramp up production and
abandon trees at anywhere near that pace.

Only three to four per cent of "cocoa futures" contracts traded in the cocoa markets ever end up
in the physical delivery of cocoa. Every year seven to nine times more cocoa is bought and sold
on the exchange than exists.

It has been alleged that an estimated 90% of cocoa farms in Côte d'Ivoire have used some form
of slave labor in order to remain viable. [21] When cocoa prices drop, farmers in West Africa
sometimes cut costs by resorting to slave labour.[22]

Chocolate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This page is about the food. For the color, see Chocolate (color).

White, milk, and dark chocolate candies.

Chocolate is a food made from the seeds of a cacao tree. It is used in

many desserts likepudding, cakes, candy, and ice cream. It can be a solid form like a candy bar
or it can be in a liquid form like hot chocolate. The taste of chocolate is often described
as sweet because chocolate makers usually add a lot of sugar and milk for taste. This means that
chocolate can be bad for your health, so it is best to eat it in moderation.

Contents

[hide]

 1 Types of chocolate
 2 Safety

 3 Making chocolate
 4 Ingredients

 5 History of chocolate

 6 References

 7 Other websites

Types of chocolate[change | edit source]

There are three main types of chocolate: white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate.
White chocolate tastes much sweeter than the other two types, because it has more of the
sweeter ingredients in it. White chocolate does not have any cocoa in it. It is mostly made
of cocoa butter. Milk chocolate is sweet, but not as sweet as white chocolate. Milk chocolate has
some cocoa. Dark chocolate is the least sweet and has the strongest chocolate flavor. Dark
chocolate has up to 60-85 percent cocoa (which is really bitter).

Safety[change | edit source]

Chocolate is safe to eat unless it is eaten in large amounts. Some animals, like dogs, become sick
if they eat chocolate. People withdiabetes can also get sick from eating chocolate. Dark chocolate
contains ingredients that lower blood pressure and fight disease. Small amounts of dark
chocolate have been found to lower the risk of heart disease because of polyphenol in chocolate.
It is necessary to eat moderate amount of chocolate.[1]

Making chocolate[change | edit source]

Making chocolate is a process that has many steps. First, the cacao beans are collected and put in
piles or containers to make them ferment. Fermentation makes the sugar in the beans turn into
alcohol. Then the beans are dried and cleaned. Chocolate makers must cook the beans, and then
crush them to make the cocoa butter and the chocolate liquor come out of them. Then the
chocolate maker mixes different ingredients together to make the different kinds of chocolate.
Dark or bittersweet chocolate is made from sugar, cocoa butter, and chocolate liquor. Milk
chocolate uses all of those ingredients plus milk and vanilla. White chocolate does not contain
chocolate liquor, but only cocoa butter, along with sugar, milk and vanilla. After these
ingredients are put together, the chocolate maker is still not finished. One of the last things to be
done is something called conching. Before chocolate is conched, it feels very rough in the mouth,
instead of smooth. Conching means crushing the chocolate very finely and keeping it warm so
that it is liquid. Conching for several hours makes good chocolate. The last step in making
chocolate is called tempering. The chocolate is heated, and then shaken, and then cooled a few
times.

Ingredients[change | edit source]

There are a number of ingredients in chocolate. The most notable of these

are caffeine and theobromine. These two chemicals are closely related and are found in all cocoa
beans. In any bean, the amount of each chemical varies depending on the genetics of the tree and
the stresses placed on the tree during the growing season. It takes 2 hours to make chocolate.

History of chocolate[change | edit source]

The cacao tree was first found to be useful for its seeds about two thousand years ago.
Early Central Americans and Mexicans used the seeds from the cacao tree to make a drink that
tasted bitter, not sweet. Only the important people could drink it. The word for "chocolate" in
almost every language comes from its name in the Nahuatl language of Mexico, chocolatl.

Later on, this drink was made sweeter and made into the treat that is known today as hot
chocolate. It was made popular by Spanishexplorers who brought it from North
America to Spain.[2]. When chocolate was sweetened and made into candy, it became a very
popular treat for many Europeans. At first, only the rich could afford chocolate. Now, many
people enjoy it. Most cocoa today is made inAfrica. Some is made in India.

References[change | edit source]

1. Jump up↑ Sangam, Radhika (6 January 2010). "2010 calendar: A year of healthy
living". India Today (India Today group). Retrieved 2 February 2010. "A study by Dr
Romina di Giuseppe and colleagues from the Catholic University, Italy, reveals that
eating up to 20gm (two small squares) of dark chocolate every three days lowers the risk
of heart disease by one-third in women and one-fourth in men."
2. Jump up↑ "History of Chocolate". ThinkQuest. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
 Chocolate cake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the baked cake. For other uses, see Chocolate cake (disambiguation).

Chocolate cake

Chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting and

chocolate shavings

Main ingredient(s) Chocolate or cocoa powder

Chocolate cake
Chocolate cake
Chocolate cake is a cake flavored with melted chocolate or cocoa powder.

Contents

[hide]

 1 History
 2 Cake types

 3 See also

 4 References
History[edit]

Chocolate cake is made with chocolate; it can be made with other ingredients, as well. These
ingredients include fudge, vanilla creme, and other sweeteners. The history of chocolate cake
goes back to 1764, when Dr. James Baker discovered how to make chocolate by grinding cocoa
beans between two massive circular millstones.[1]

Choco rose cake

In 1828, Conrad Van Houten of the Netherlands developed a mechanical extraction method for
extracting the fat from cacao liquor resulting in cacao butter and the partly defatted cacao, a
compacted mass of solids that could be sold as it was "rock cacao" or ground into powder. [2] The
processes transformed chocolate from an exclusive luxury to an inexpensive daily snack. [2] A
process for making silkier and smoother chocolate calledconching was developed in 1879
by Swiss Rodolphe and made it easier to bake with chocolate as it amalgamates smoothly and
completely with cake batters.[2] Until 1890 to 1900, chocolate recipes were mostly for drinks.[2]

The Duff Company of Pittsburgh, a molasses manufacturer, introduced Devil's food chocolate
cake mixes in the mid-1930s, but introduction was put on hold during World War II. Duncan
Hines introduced a "Three Star Special" (so called because a white, yellow or chocolate cake
could be made from the same mix) was introduced three years after cake mixes from General
Mills and Duncan Hines, and took over 48 percent of the market.[3]
In the U.S., "chocolate decadence" cakes were popular in the 1980s; in the 1990s, single-
serving molten chocolate cakes with liquid chocolate centers and infused chocolates with exotic
flavors such as tea, curry, red pepper, passion fruit, and champagne were popular. Chocolate
lounges and artisinal chocolate makers were popular in the 2000s.[4] Rich, flourless, all-but-
flourless chocolate cakes are "now standard in the modern pâtisserie," according to The New
Taste of Chocolate.[2]

Cake types[edit]

Black Forest cake

Popular variants on chocolate cake include:


"Traditional" Chocolate cake

Chocolate layer cake


Black Forest cake


Chocolate souffle cake[4]


Devil's food cake


Ding Dong


Flourless chocolate cake[4]


Fudge cake

Garash cake


German chocolate cake


Joffre cake


Molten chocolate cake[4]


Red velvet cake

German chocolate cake

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

German chocolate cake

 A German chocolate cake

Alternative German's chocolate cake

name(s)

Place of origin United States

Main Chocolate cake, icing (egg

ingredient(s) yolks,evaporated
milk, coconut andpecan)

German chocolate cake, originally German's chocolate cake, is a layered,chocolate cake from
the United States filled and topped with a coconut-pecan frosting. It owes its name to an
American chocolate maker named Sam German, who developed a formulation of dark baking
chocolate that came to be used in the cake recipe. Sweet baking chocolate is traditionally used
for the chocolate flavor in the actual cake, but few recipes call for it today. The filling and/or
topping is a caramel made with egg yolks andevaporated milk; once the caramel is cooked,
coconut and pecans are stirred in.[1]Occasionally, a chocolate frosting is spread on the sides of the
cake and piped around the circumference of the layers to hold in the filling. Maraschino
cherries are occasionally added as a garnish.

Contents

[hide]

 1 History
 2 See also

 3 References

 4 External links

History[edit]

Contrary to popular belief, German chocolate cake did not originate in Germany. Its roots can be
traced back to 1852 when American Sam German developed a type of dark baking chocolate for
the American Baker's Chocolate Company. The brand name of the product, Baker's German's
Sweet Chocolate, was named in honor of him.

On June 3, 1957, a recipe for "German's Chocolate Cake" appeared as the "Recipe of the Day" in
the Dallas Morning Star.[2] It was created by Mrs. George Clay, a homemaker from 3831
Academy Drive, Dallas, Texas.[2] This recipe used the baking chocolate introduced 105 years
prior and became quite popular. General Foods, which owned the Baker's brand at the time, took
notice and distributed the cake recipe to other newspapers in the country. Sales of Baker's
Chocolate are said to have increased by as much as 73% and the cake would become a national
staple. The possessive form (German's) was dropped in subsequent publications, forming the
"German Chocolate Cake" identity we know today and giving the false impression of a German
origin.[3][4][5]

The recipe still remains popular to this day and has been adopted by baking companies.

June 11 is National German Chocolate Cake Day in America.[6]

Chocolate chip cookie

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chocolate chip cookie

 Chocolate chip cookies

Type Dessert

Place of United States

origin

Region or Whitman, Massachusetts

state

Creator(s) Toll House Inn - multiple versions

Main Flour, sugar, brown

ingredient(s) sugar,butter or shortening, chocolate
chips, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, salt

Variations Multiple

Chocolate chip cookie

Chocolate chip cookie
A chocolate chip cookie is a drop cookie that originated in the United States and
features chocolate chips as its distinguishing ingredient. The traditional recipe combines a dough
composed of butter and both brown and white sugar with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Variations
include recipes with other types of chocolate as well as additional ingredients such
as nuts or oatmeal.

Contents
 [hide]

 1 History
o 1.1 Nestlé marketing

o 1.2 Toll House employees' account

o 1.3 Present day

 2 Composition and variants

o 2.1 Common variants

 3 Popular brands

 4 See also

 5 References

 6 External links

History

The chocolate chip cookie was accidentally developed by Ruth Graves Wakefield in 1930.[1] She
owned the Toll House Inn, in Whitman, Massachusetts, a very popular restaurant that featured
home cooking in the 1930s. Her cookbook, Toll House Tried and True Recipes, was published in
1936 by M. Barrows & Company, New York. It included the recipe "Toll House Chocolate
Crunch Cookie" which rapidly became a favorite cookie in American homes.

Nestlé marketing
Wakefield is said to have been making chocolate cookies and on running out of regular baker's
chocolate, substituted broken pieces ofsemi-sweet chocolate from Nestlé thinking that they
would melt and mix into the batter. [citation needed] They did not and the chocolate chip cookie was
born. Wakefield sold the recipe to Nestlé in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate chips.
[citation needed]
Every bag of Nestlé chocolate chips sold in North America has a variation (butter vs.
margarine is now a stated option) of her original recipe printed on the back.[citation needed]
During WWII, US soldiers from Massachusetts who were stationed overseas shared the cookies
they received in care packages from back home with soldiers from other parts of the US. Soon,
hundreds of soldiers were writing home asking their families to send them some Toll House
cookies, and Wakefield was soon inundated with letters from around the world asking for her
recipe. Thus began the nationwide craze for the chocolate chip cookie.[2][3]

Toll House employees' account

A different history of the cookie derives from George Boucher, who was at one time head chef at
the Toll House Inn, and his daughter, Carol Cavanagh, who also worked there. Contradicting
Nestlé's claim that Wakefield put chunks of chocolate into cookie dough hoping they would melt,
the daughter stated that the owner, already an accomplished chef and author of a cookbook, knew
enough about the properties of chocolate to realize it would not melt and mix into the batter
while baking.

Boucher said that the vibrations from a large Hobart electric mixer dislodged bars of Nestlé's
chocolate stored on the shelf above the mixer which caused the chocolate to fall into the sugar
cookie dough mixing below. He claims to have overcome Wakefield's impulse to discard the
dough as too badly ruined to waste effort baking them, leading to the discovery of the popular
combination.[citation needed]

Present day
Although the Nestlé's Toll House recipe is widely known, every brand of chocolate chips, or
"semi-sweet chocolate morsels" in Nestlé parlance, sold in the U.S. and Canada bears a variant
of the chocolate chip cookie recipe on its packaging. Almost all baking-orientedcookbooks will
contain at least one type of recipe.

Practically all commercial bakeries offer their own version of the cookie in packaged baked or
ready-to-bake forms. There are at least three national (U.S./North America) chains that sell
freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in shopping malls and standalone retail locations. Several
businesses—including Doubletree hotels, Citibank, Aloha, and Midwest Airlines—offer freshly
baked cookies to their patrons to differentiate themselves from their competition.
There is an urban legend about Neiman Marcus' chocolate chip cookie recipe that has gathered a
great deal of popularity over the years.[4]

To honor the cookie's creation in the state, on July 9, 1997, Massachusetts designated the
chocolate chip cookie as the Official State Cookie, after it was proposed by a third-grade class
from Somerset, Massachusetts.

Composition and variants

Standard chocolate chip cookie ingredients

Preparing chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are commonly made with white sugar; brown sugar; flour; a small
portion of salt; eggs; a leavening agent such as baking powder; a fat, typically butter
orshortening; vanilla extract; and semi-sweet chocolate pieces. Some recipes also include milk
or nuts (such as chopped walnuts) in the dough.

Depending on the ratio of ingredients and mixing and cooking times, some recipes are optimized
to produce a softer, chewy style cookie while others will produce a crunchy/crispy style.
[5]
Regardless of ingredients, the procedure for making the cookie is fairly consistent in all
recipes: First, the sugars and fat are creamed, usually with a wooden spoon or electric mixer.
Next, the eggs and vanilla extract are added followed by the flour and leavening agent.
Depending on the additional flavoring, its addition to the mix will be determined by the type
used: peanut butter will be added with the wet ingredients while cocoa powder would be added
with the dry ingredients. The titular ingredient, chocolate chips, as well as nuts are typically
mixed in towards the end of the process to minimize breakage, just before the cookies are
scooped and positioned on a cookie sheet. Most cookie dough is baked, although some eat the
dough as is, or use it as an addition to vanilla ice cream to makechocolate chip cookie dough ice
cream.

Common variants

Chocolate chip bar cookies


The M&M cookie, or party cookie, replaces the chocolate chips with M&M's. This recipe
originally used shortening as the fat, but has been updated to use butter.[6]

The chocolate chocolate chip cookie uses a dough that is chocolate flavored by the
addition of cocoa or melted chocolate.[7] Variations on this cookie include replacing
chocolate chips with white chocolate or peanut butter chips.[8][9]


The macadamia chip cookie has macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips.[10] It is a
signature cookie of Mrs. Fields bakeries.[citation needed]


The chocolate chip peanut butter cookie replaces the vanilla flavored dough with
a peanut butter flavored one.


Chocolate chip cookie dough baked in a baking dish instead of a cookie sheet results in
a chocolate chip bar cookie.


Other variations include different sizes and shapes of chocolate chips, as well as dark or
milk chocolate chips. These changes lead to differences in both flavor and texture.

Types of chocolate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chocolate most commonly comes in dark, milk, and white varieties, with cocoa solids
contributing to the brown coloration.

Chocolate is a range of products derived from cocoa (cacao), mixed with fat (i.e., cocoa butter)
and finely powdered sugar to produce a solid confectionery. There are several types
of chocolate according to the proportion of cocoa used in a particular formulation.

The use of particular name designations is sometimes subject to governmental regulation.

Contents

[hide]

1 Terminology

2 Classification

2.1 United States

2.2 Canada

2.3 European Union

2.4 Japan

3 Definition

4 See also

5 References
Terminology[edit]

The cocoa bean (or other alternative) products from which chocolate is made are known under
different names in different parts of the world. In the American chocolate industry:

chocolate liquor is the ground or melted state of the nib of the cacao bean, containing
roughly equal parts cocoa butter and solids

cocoa butter is only the fatty component of the bean

cocoa solids are the remaining nonfat part of the cacao bean, which is ground into a powder.
[1]

Classification[edit]

Different forms and flavors of chocolate are produced by varying the quantities of the different
ingredients. Other flavors can be obtained by varying the time and temperature when roasting the
beans.
"Unsweetened chocolate", also known as "bitter", "baking chocolate" or "cooking chocolate"
is pure chocolate liquor mixed with some form of fat to produce a solid substance. The pure,
ground, roasted cocoa beans impart a strong, deep chocolate flavor. With the addition of
sugar, however, it is used as the base for cakes, brownies, confections, and cookies.

Swiss dark chocolate

"Dark chocolate", also called "black chocolate", is produced by adding fat and sugar to
cocoa. It is chocolate with no milk or much less than milk chocolate. The U.S. has no official
definition for dark chocolate but European rules specify a minimum of 35% cocoa solids.
[2]
Dark chocolate can be eaten as is, or used in cooking, for which thicker, baking bars,
usually with high cocoa percentages ranging from 70% to 99% are sold. Dark is synonymous
with semisweet, and extra dark with bittersweet, although the ratio of cocoa butter to solids
may vary.


"Semisweet chocolate" is frequently used for cooking purposes. It is a dark
chocolate with (by definition in Swiss usage) half as much sugar as cocoa, beyond which
it is "sweet chocolate."

"Bittersweet chocolate" is chocolate liquor (or unsweetened chocolate) to which
some sugar (less than a third), more cocoa butter, vanilla and sometimes lecithin has
been added. It has less sugar and more liquor than semisweet chocolate, but the two are
interchangeable when baking. Bittersweet and semisweet chocolates are sometimes
referred to as 'couverture'. Many brands now print on the package the percentage of
cocoa in the chocolate (as chocolate liquor and added cocoa butter). The higher the
percentage of cocoa, the less sweet the chocolate is.
 
"Couverture" is a term used for chocolates rich in cocoa butter. Popular brands of
couverture used by professional pastry chefs and often sold in gourmet and specialty
food stores include: Valrhona, Felchlin, Lindt & Sprüngli, Scharffen Berger, Cacao
Barry,Callebaut,Chocodate, Chocofig fuel chocolates and Guittard. These chocolates
contain a high percentage of cocoa.

Swiss milk chocolate

"Milk chocolate" is solid chocolate made with milk in the form of milk powder, liquid milk,
or condensed milk added. In the 1870s, Swiss confectioner Daniel Peter had developed solid
milk chocolate using condensed milk, but German company Jordan &
Timaeus inDresden, Saxony invented milk chocolate already in 1839;[3] hitherto it had only
been available as a drink.[4] The U.S. Government requires a 10% concentration of chocolate
liquor. EU regulations specify a minimum of 25% cocoa solids. However, an agreement was
reached in 2000 that allowed what by exception from these regulations is called "milk
chocolate" in the UK, Ireland, and Malta, containing only 20% cocoa solids, to be traded as
"family milk chocolate" elsewhere in the European Union.[2]


"Hershey process" milk chocolate is popular in North America. It was invented by Milton
S. Hershey, founder of The Hershey Company, and can be produced more cheaply than other
processes since it is less sensitive to the freshness of the milk. The process is a trade secret,
but experts speculate that the milk is partially lipolyzed, producing butyric acid, which
stabilizes the milk from further fermentation. This compound gives the product a particular
sour, "tangy" taste, to which the American public has become accustomed, to the point that
other manufacturers now simply add butyric acid to their milk chocolates.[4]
 

Swiss White chocolate

"White chocolate" is a confection based on sugar, milk, and cocoa butter without the cocoa
solids.


"Cocoa powder" is used for baking, and for drinking with added milk and sugar. There
are two types of unsweetened cocoa powder: natural cocoa (like the sort produced by
theBroma process), and Dutch-process cocoa. Both are made by pulverising partially
defatted chocolate liquor and removing nearly all the cocoa butter; Dutch-process cocoa is
additionally processed with alkali to neutralise its natural acidity. Natural cocoa is light in
colour and somewhat acidic with a strong chocolate flavour. Natural cocoa is commonly
used in recipes that also use baking soda; as baking soda is an alkali, combining it with
natural cocoa creates a leavening action that allows the batter to rise during baking. Dutch
cocoa is slightly milder in taste, with a deeper and warmer colour than natural cocoa. Dutch-
process cocoa is frequently used for chocolate drinks such as hot chocolate due to its ease in
blending with liquids. However, Dutch processing destroys most of the flavonoids present in
cocoa.[5] In 2005 Hershey discontinued their pure Dutch-process European Style cocoa and
replaced it with Special Dark, a blend of natural and Dutch-process cocoa.

"Compound chocolate" is the technical term for a confection combining cocoa
with vegetable fat, usually tropical fats and/orhydrogenated fats, as a replacement for cocoa
butter. It is often used for candy bar coatings. In many countries it may not legally be called
"chocolate".

"Raw chocolate" is chocolate that has not been processed, heated, or mixed with other
ingredients. It is sold in chocolate-growing countries, and to a much lesser extent in other
countries, often promoted as healthy.[6]
Flavors such as mint, vanilla, coffee, orange, or strawberry are sometimes added to chocolate in a
creamy form or in very small pieces. Chocolate bars frequently contain added ingredients such
as peanuts, nuts, fruit, caramel, and crisped rice. Pieces of chocolate, in various flavours, are
sometimes added to cereals and ice cream.

United States[edit]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the naming and ingredients of cocoa
products:[7][8]

Chocolate Milk Cocoa

Product Sugar Milk Fat
Liquor Solids Fat

Milk Chocolate ≥ 10% ≥ 12%

Sweet Chocolate ≥ 15% < 12%

Semisweet or Bittersweet (Dark)

≥ 35% < 12%
Chocolate

White Chocolate ≥ 14% ≤ 55% ≥ 20% ≥ 3.5%

In March 2007, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, whose members

include Hershey's, Nestlé, and Archer Daniels Midland, began lobbying the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to change the legal definition of chocolate to allow the substitution of
"safe and suitable vegetable fats and oils" (including partially hydrogenated vegetable oils) for
cocoa butter in addition to using "any sweetening agent" (including artificial sweeteners) and
milk substitutes.[9] Currently, the FDA does not allow a product to be referred to as "chocolate" if
the product contains any of these ingredients.[10] To work around this restriction, products with
cocoa substitutes are often branded or labeled as "chocolatey" or as in the case of Hershey's Mr.
Goodbar containing vegetable oils, "made with chocolate".

Canada[edit]
The legislation for cocoa and chocolate products in Canada is found in Division 4 of the Food
and Drug Regulations (FDR), under theFood and Drugs Act (FDA). The Canadian Food
Inspection Agency (CFIA) is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the FDR and
FDA (as it relates to food).[11]

Cocoa Milk Milk Fat-Free Cocoa

Product
Butter Solids Fat Cocoa Solids Solids

Milk Chocolate ≥ 15% ≥ 12% ≥ 3.39% ≥ 2.5% ≥ 25%

Sweet Chocolate ≥ 18% < 12% ≥ 12% ≥ 31%

Chocolate, Bittersweet Chocolate, Semi-

≥ 18% < 5% ≥ 14% ≥ 35%
sweet Chocolate or Dark Chocolate

White Chocolate ≥ 20% ≤ 14% ≥ 3.5%

The use of cocoa butter substitutes in Canada is not permitted. Chocolate sold in Canada cannot
contain vegetable fats or oils.[12]

The only sweetening agents permitted in chocolate in Canada are listed in Division 18 of the
Food and Drug Regulations.[13] Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame
potassium, and sugar alcohols (sorbitol, maltitol, etc.) are not permitted.

Products manufactured or imported into Canada that contain non-permitted ingredients

(vegetable fats or oils, artificial sweeteners) cannot legally be called “chocolate” when sold in
Canada. A non-standardized name such as “candy” must be used.[12]

European Union[edit]
Products labelled as "Family Milk Chocolate" elsewhere in the European Union are permitted to
be labelled as simply "Milk Chocolate" in the U.K. and Ireland.[14]

Total Dry Non-Fat

Cocoa Total Milk Milk
Product Cocoa Cocoa Flour/starch
Butter Fat Fat Solids
Solids Solids

Chocolate ≥ 35% ≥ 18% ≥ 14%

Couverture
≥ 35% ≥ 31% ≥ 2.5%
Chocolate

Chocolate
Vermicelli or ≥ 32% ≥ 12% ≥ 14%
Flakes

Milk Chocolate ≥ 25% ≥ 2.5% ≥ 25% ≥ 3.5% ≥ 14%

Couverture Milk
≥ 25% ≥ 2.5% ≥ 31% ≥ 3.5% ≥ 14%
Chocolate

Milk Chocolate
Vermicelli or ≥ 20% ≥ 2.5% ≥ 12% ≥ 3.5% ≥ 12%
Flakes

Family Milk
≥ 20% ≥ 2.5% ≥ 25% ≥ 5% ≥ 20%
Chocolate

Cream Chocolate ≥ 25% ≥ 2.5% ≥ 25% ≥ 5.5% ≥ 14%

Skimmed Milk
≥ 25% ≥ 2.5% ≥ 25% ≤ 1% ≥ 14%
Chocolate

White Chocolate ≥ 20% ≥ 14%

Chocolate a la taza ≥ 35% ≥ 18% ≥ 14% ≤ 8%

Chocolate familiar
≥ 30% ≥ 18% ≥ 12% ≤ 18%
a la taza

Note: "Total Fat" refers to the combined cocoa butter and milk fat content.
Japan[edit]
In Japan, 'chocolate products' are classified on a complex scale (q.v. ja: ).

Chocolate materials (chokorēto kiji?):

Pure chocolate material (jun-chokorēto kiji?)

Cocoa content ≥35%, cocoa butter ≥18%, sucrose ≤55%, lecithin ≤0.5%, no additives
other than lecithin and vanilla flavouring, no fats other than cocoa butter and milk fats,
water ≤3%

Pure milk chocolate material (jun-miruku chokorēto kiji?)

Cocoa content ≥21%, cocoa butter ≥18%, milk solids ≥14%, milk fats ≥3.5%, sucrose
≤55%, lecithin 0.5%, no additives other than lecithin and vanilla flavouring, no fats other
than cocoa butter and milk fats, water 3%

Chocolate material (chokorēto kiji?)

Cocoa content ≥35%, cocoa butter ≥18%, water ≤3%. It is also permitted to substitute
milk solids for cocoa content as follows: cocoa content ≥21%, cocoa butter ≥18%,
combined milk solids & cocoa content ≥35%, milk fats ≥3%, water ≤3%.

Milk chocolate material (miruku chokorēto kiji?)

Cocoa content ≥21%, cocoa butter ≥18%, milk solids ≥14%, milk fats ≥3%, water ≤3%

Quasi chocolate material jun-chokorēto kiji?) a

Cocoa content ≥15%, cocoa butter ≥3%, fats ≥18%, water 3%

Quasi milk chocolate material jun-miruku chokorēto kiji?)

Cocoa content 7%, cocoa butter ≥3%, fats 18%, milk solids 12.5%, milk fats 2%, water
3%
Chocolate products chokorēto seihin?):
Products using milk chocolate or quasi milk chocolate as described above are handled in
the same way as chocolate / quasi chocolate.

Chocolate chokorēto?)
Processed chocolate products made from chocolate material itself or containing at least
60% chocolate material. Processed chocolate products must contain at least 40%
chocolate material by weight. Amongst processed chocolate products, those containing at
 least 10% by weight of cream and no more than 10% of water can be called raw
chocolate nama chokorēto?)

Chocolate sweet chokorēto kashi?)

Processed chocolate products containing less than 60% chocolate material

Quasi chocolate jun-chokorēto?)

The Quasi symbol should officially be circled. Processed quasi chocolate products made
from quasi chocolate material itself or containing at least 60% quasi chocolate material.

Quasi chocolate sweet jun-chokorēto kashi?)

Processed quasi chocolate products containing less than 60% quasi chocolate material
Definition[edit]

Chocolate is a product based on cocoa solid and/or cocoa fat. The amount and types of cocoa
solids and fat that the term implies is a matter of controversy. Manufacturers have an incentive to
use the term for variations that are cheaper to produce, containing less cocoa and cocoa
substitutes, although these variations might not taste as good.

There has been disagreement in the EU about the definition of chocolate; this dispute covers
several ingredients, including the types of fat used, quantity of cocoa, and so on. But, in 1999,
the EU at least resolved the fat issue by allowing up to 5% of chocolate's content to be one of 5
alternatives to cocoa butter: illipe oil, palm oil, sal, shea butter, kokum gurgi, or mango kernel
oil.[15]

A recent workaround by the US confection industry has been to reduce the amount of cocoa
butter in candy bars without using vegetable fats by adding polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR),
which is an artificial castor oil-derived emulsifier that simulates the mouthfeel of fat. Up to 0.3%
PGPR may be added to chocolate for this purpose.[16]

List of Chocolate Brands

Looking for somewhere local that sells a particular brand of chocolate? This page lists all the
chocolate brands and manufacturers, chocolate makers and chocolatiers we know about. Click on
any brand to find out more and see a map of all the locations we know that sell it.
If you have our Chocolate Guide iPhone and Android app, you can also see the closest local
retailers for each of these brands as well!
 40point5
Chocolate brand created by former Cocomaya chocolatier, Jonathan Deddis, sold at his
Thackery Street shop in London.
 Abanico
Abanico Chocolat is a French chocolaterie founded by Victoire Finaz in 2009. Abanico is
known for its beautiful and distinctive fan-shaped packaging. Their fine chocolate and
attention to detail...
 Agapey
 Agostoni
Agostoni is an Italian bean-to-bar chocolate company started in 1946 by the Agostoni family.
The company is now owned by Italian food multinational ICAM.
 Akessons
 Alaska Wild Berry
A small Alaskan chocolate and candy company.
 Amano
Amano Chocolate is a Utah-based bean-to-bar chocolate maker founded by Art Pollard and
Clark Goble. Amano are renowned for using the finest ingredients, travelling the world to
find the best cocoa...
 Amatller
 Amedei
Amedei is a bean-to-bar chocolate maker based in Tuscany, Italy. The company was started
in 1990 by brother and sister Alessio and Cecilia Tessieri after they found the largest luxury
chocolate...
 Amelia Rope
 Amma
 Antoine Amrani
Fresh chocolates made by Antoine Amrani and sold in his Pennsylvania shop.
 Artisan du Chocolat
Founded by Gerard Coleman and Anne Weyns, Artisan du Chocolat is a British chocolate
 maker and retailer. Although not a bean-to-bar chocolat maker, Artisan do make their own
chocolate from liquor...
 Asbach
German distiller and chocolate brand. Asbach chocolates are made under licence by the RC-
Confiserie in Rüdesheim am Rhein, Germany.
 Askinosie
Askinosie is a microbatch bean-to-bar chocolate maker, based in Springfield, Missouri.
Founded in 2005 by Shawn Askinosie, a criminal defence lawyer, the company is ethics-
driven in everything it...
 Auberge du Chocolat
Auberge du Chocolat make a variety of chocolate bars, truffles and special gifts in their
Chesham workshop. Their products are sold in their two shops and through their website.
 Australian Homemade
Australian Homemade or "Australian" is a Dutch chocolate shop franchise with over 50
stores, primarily in The Netherlands where they also sell ice cream and coffee. Although a
Dutch company, many...
 B-art
 Baci
Baci is the most famous brand of Perugina, an Italian chocolate and confectionery company
based in Perugia, Italy. First created in 1922 by Perugina founder Luisa Spagnoli, the product
is made from...
 Barlovento
Barlovento Chocolates is an chocolatier based in Oakland, California. Their truffles,
caramels, bars and other chocolates are made with fresh, local ingredients and Venezuelan
single origin chocolate.
 Baru
Barú is a Belgian chocolate and confectionery company based in Diepenbeek.
 Belcolade
Belcolade is a Belgian chocolate brand owned by Puratos, a multi-national food group
specialising in bakery, chocolate and patisserie. The company was formed in 1988 and mass
produces a wide range...
 Bendicks
British confectioner best known for their after dinner mints.
 Bernachon
Lyon-based chocolatier and chocolate maker that produce their own chocolate from the bean.
 Beschle

List of chocolate bar brands

 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for
completeness. You can help by expanding itwith reliably sourced entries.

 This is a list of chocolate bar brands, in alphabetical order. A chocolate bar is a

confection in bar form comprising some or all of the following components: cocoa
solids, cocoa butter, sugar, milk. The relative presence or absence of these components
form the subclasses of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate. In addition to
these main ingredients, it may contain emulsifierssuch as soy lecithin and flavors such
as vanilla.

 In most of the English-speaking world, chocolate bar also refers to what is typically
called a candy bar in American English. This is a form of confectionery usually packaged
in a bar or log form, often coated with chocolate, and sized as a snack for one person. But
within that term, a wide variety of products exists, ranging from solid chocolate bars to
multiple layerings or mixtures of ingredients such
as nuts, fruit, caramel or fondant containing no chocolate.

French Chocolate History

By Alison J. Stein
French Chocolate History, French Chocolate Today
Ad
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Michel Cluizel Chocolates in Paris

Photo by Alison Stein Wellner

There are many, many wonderful macaron, chocolate and sweet shops in Paris. But
before you go in search of the best sugar fix in town—and you will find world-class,
cutting-edge confections—you should know that unlike most other matters culinary, the
French reputation for confectionery prowess, particularly in regards to chocolate, is a
relatively new development.

The Beginnings of Chocolate: Not French

To quickly race through a few hundred years of history, chocolate is derived from cacao,
which was first discovered by Europeans in Central and South America. Since that was
an area of the "New World" dominated by the Spanish and by Portugal, chocolate entered
Europe through those countries. In France, many of the first documented mentions of
chocolate referred to it as either Spanish or Mexican.
Eventually, France would colonize Martinique and import its cacao, but its quality was
not considered to be as good as the cacao brought in through Spain and Portugal. (And
this sentiment was attributed to none other than Antoine Gallais, of the first chocolate
shop in Paris, Debauve & Gallais.)

Chocolate's Development: Still Not French

Given that it was a costly import, chocolate was a luxury item in France throughout the
17th century—mostly an upper-class beverage, although also sometimes used
medicinally. Chocolate was not quite elevated to the status of food— heading into the
19th century the royal right to sell chocolate was reserved to limonadiers , or coffee
houses, and apothecaries. In fact, Suplice Debauve, the other founder of Debauve &
Gallais, was a pharmacist.

Perhaps this is why most of the important developments in chocolate which led to its
mass-production and consumption occurred outside of France: separation of cocoa bean
from butter was invented by Coenraad Johannes van Houton (Dutch); it was Henri Nestle
(German) who invented powdered milk which led to the development of milk chocolate
by Daniel Peter (Swiss). Rodolphe Lindt, also Swiss, developed chocolate conching,
which led to production offondant in 1879.
Heading into the modern era, while there were many small artisanal French
chocolatiers,Belgian imports started to account for an important part of the French
market. (Belgium's chocolates are thought to be sweeter, richer and larger than French
chocolates.)

Chocolate Today: The French Arrive

In recent times, French chocolatiers have banded together to reclaim chocolate as part of
the French "culinary patrimony". The Académie Française du Chocolat et de la Confiserie
was founded in 1998, for example -- with a similar mission that the Académie
Française has to preserving and protecting the French language.

There are many fine chocolatiers working in France and in Paris today. But still, in terms
of sweets and treats, the French reputation is the longest for pastries—canneles from
Bordeaux, for instance—and for candies made from a sugar or a sugar-nut base, such as
nougat, marron glace, and so on.

But there is one chocolate development that can definitely be put on the French
scoreboard: the delightful combination of pastry and chocolate, in the form of éclairs, of
course, but also in the brilliant idea of eating chocolate for breakfast. From 1715-
1723 Philippe d'Orleans, regent for Louis XV, held court over chocolate at breakfast.
So if you're really after a historic French encounter with chocolate, head to
a boulangerie and have pain au chocolat for breakfast.

Note: In this essay, I've relied on the excellent Chocolate: History, Culture, Heritage, particularly Bertram M.

Gordon's essay "Chocolate in France: Evolution of a Luxury Product", and Crafting the Culture and History of

French Chocolate by Susan J. Terrio.

Chocolate Around the World

 The Best Belgian Chocolate Shops
 Visit a Historic Chocolate City
Chocolate in America
 Beautiful Chocolate in Ski Country
 Chocolate School in Las Vegas
 New Mexico's Chocolate Trail
One-Stop Chocolate Shopping in Paris
  Galeries Lafayette Gourmet
 La Grand Epicerie at Le Bon Marche
 Fauchon
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Crafting the Culture and History of French Chocolate

Crafting The Culture And History Of French Chocolate By Susan J. Terrio University of
Califoria Press, 2000

Susan J. Terrio's Crafting the Culture and History of French Chocolate resorts to using her
subject as a rich (oops!) source of puns only once. "Bittersweet" appears early, in the
acknowledgments, and then Terrio begins to chart a surprisingly fascinating history of one
artisanal practice's uneasy confrontation with both the demands of late capitalism and the weight
of a stubborn past. For good reasons, many cultural histories now announce and justify
themselves by arguing that an unfortunate elision has been made or that something has been
forgotten. Terrio, too, begins somewhat grandiosely, claiming that French chocolatiers are "the
people without a history": chocolate has been consistently left out of narratives of a superior and
celebrated French gastronomy; the history of chocolate's introduction into France from the New
World is itself contested; and, most importantly, Terrio argues that "chocolatiers were a people
without a history because of their ambiguous role in a postwar history whose master narrative
was constructed around the themes of modernization and professionalization"--two phenomena
that are often seen by chocolatiers as anathema to the craft.
It is probably true that this history of chocolate in France has gone untold. Terrio's intervention
into France's memory of itself, and even her use of chocolate making as an emblematic example
of the clash between a local artisanal craft and global capitalism is compelling. More interesting,
however, is her careful anthropological and theoretically sophisticated analysis of the ways that
the craft of chocolate is structured around gender, familial heritage, and a deep investment in
questions of authenticity and national identity. Terrio tracks the often-buried sixteenth-century
influence of Jewish immigrants from Spain and Portugal in the establishment of France's
chocolate tradition. She produces lively and sustained readings of representations of chocolate in
French advertisements and in the storefronts where chocolates are sold. And as a result of
Terrio's intrepid field research in the chocolate-heavy region of southwestern France, the author
is able to map intricate and culturally unspoken negotiations between the women who work in
the chocolate stores (often under the watchful command of proprietary mothers-in-law) and their
craftsmen husbands. Terrio shows how longstanding gender inequality in chocolate's division of
labor spill into questions of motherhood, marriage, and divorce, not to mention family secrets of
infidelity, class differences, prenuptial agreements, and domestic abuse. She also pursues
questions of class and performance that dominate the professional tasks of the working-class
women who sell chocolates to their middle upper-class clientele, demonstrating how the
female chocolatier is everything from the perfect picture of the proper bourgeois housewife
(even though she is hardly ever at home due to the demands of her trade) to a sympathetic ear for
her customers to a mind reader who can skillfully anticipate a demanding customer's every
desire.

While Terrio does not exactly interrogate the categories through which her cultural history is
built, she produces a convincing argument about how the particular history of chocolate in
France is both specific and generally indicative of the challenges of ethnographic research, of the
conflict between artisanal practices and an increasingly consolidated European Community, and
of the lasting effects of the past on contemporary society.

Cecily Marcus
Cecily Marcus is a graduate student in Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society at the
University of Minnesota.

About Us
The Modern store was founded on December 15 th 1951 by Mr Janardhan Rao in Ooty,
Tamilnadu. Modern store sold exclusive food items and condiments and with the help of a few
cooks who worked for the erstwhile British, Mr Janardhan Rao started making and selling
homemade chocolates. Thus Moddys chocolates was firmly established, Family owned and
based in Ooty, Tamilnadu, Moddys chocolates has over 62 years of experience and prides itself
on being one of best Indian company that manufactures homemade chocolates. The most modern
machinery, dedicated employees and the finest ingredients allow Moddys chocolates to
consistently deliver the perfect balance of flavour, texture and colour. From the day he started the
business his only motto was sell quality chocolates to his valuable customers.

Modern Stores is a favourite stop amongst the locals of Ooty, School children and Tourists.
Modern Stores expanded from a small shop on the busy Commercial road to the current super
store on Garden road boasting of more than 5000 square feet which stocks almost everything in
one roof. Moddy's chocolates are not far behind with its spanking production unit and boasting
of more than 100 varieties of chocolates (commonly known as ooty chocolates).

With the dawn of the new millenium modern stores started expanding the Moddy's chocolates
production .Mr Muralidhar Rao the enterprising son of Mr Janardhan Rao came up with
innovative ways for marketing these finely handcrafted chocolates throughout the country. The
main reasons why people all over India and abroad love these chocolates are the quality of the
raw materials used and the freshness of the products. We at Moddy's take at most care to bring
out the best homemade chocolates from ooty.

The vision of Mr Janardhan Rao is that “Moddy’s Chocolates should be Ooty's pride" infact with
the hard work and dedication of Mr Janardhan Rao the store is rated as one of the best in the
country. The mission of Moddy's Chocolates is to use only the finest, highest quality ingredients
and place ooty chocolates on the world map. Moddy's Chocolates goal is to build the Company
into the premier retail chocolate manufacturer in India. Complete redesigning of stores, product
packaging, and use of latest information technology resources will enhance the company’s
profitability as well as market position.

Moddy's chocolates have been a major player in the corporate gifts segments. We supply to
major multi national companies, banks, large retailers, jewellers and conduct regular corporate
events in cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune. Moddy's has been a favorite name
for festival gifting all over India. We at Moddy's specialize in customising chocolates for all
special occasions like Weddings birthdays. We at Moddy's have done special wedding packs for
customers in Sydney and Singapore and shipped the chocolates successfully. Over 62 years of
experience in chocolates has given us lakhs of customers throughout the country and to satisfy
all the customers in the country Moddy's has started opening stores throughout the country by the
way of Own flagship stores called "Moddy's" and also opening Franchisee stores throughout the
country. Now with the online store we are planning to become an household name in the
chocolate market of the country.By the Year 2015 we will be present in all the major cities of the
country.

INDIANCHOCOLATEINDUSTRY

The size of the market for chocolates in India was estimated at

Size of the industry
30,000 tonnes in 2008.
Geographical
Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore
distribution
Cadbury has over 70 %share in this market, and recorded a
Output per annum
turnover of over US$ 37m in 2008.
 The Indian candy market is currently valued at around $664
Market million, with about 70% share ($ 461 million) in sugar
Capitalization confectionery and the remaining 30% ($ 203 million) in chocolate
confectionery.

History

The Indian Chocolate Industry has come a long way since

long years. Ever since 1947 the Cadbury is in India,
Cadbury chocolates have ruled the hearts of Indians with
their fabulous taste. Indian Chocolate Industry?s Cadbury
Company today employs nearly 2000 people across India.
The company is one of the oldest and strongest players in
the Indian confectionary industry with an estimated 68%
value share and 62% volume share of the total chocolate
market. It has exhibited continuously strong revenue
growth of 34% and net profit growth of 24% throughout
the 1990?s. The brand of Cadbury is known for its
exceptional capabilities in product innovation, distribution
and marketing. With brands like Dairy Milk, Gems, 5 Star,
Bournvita, Perk, Celebrations, Bytes, Chocki, Delite and
Temptations, there is a Cadbury offering to suit all
occasions and moods.

Today, the company reaches millions of loyal customers through a distribution network of 5.5
lakhs outlets across the country and this number is increasing everyday. In 1946 the Cadbury?s
manufacturing operations started in Mumbai, which was subsequently transferred to Thane. In
1964, Induri Farm at Talegaon, near Pune was set up with a view to promote modern methods as
well as improve milk yield. In 1981-82, a new chocolate manufacturing unit was set up in the
same location in Talegaon. The company, way back in 1964, pioneered cocoa farming in India to
reduce dependence on imported cocoa beans. The parent company provided cocoa seeds and
clonal materials free of cost for the first 8 years of operations. Cocoa farming is done in
Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In 1977, the company also took steps to promote higher
production of milk by setting up a subsidiary Induri Farms Ltd., near Pune.

In 1989, the company set up a new plant at Malanpur, MP, to derive benefits available to the
backward area. In 1995, Cadbury expanded Malanpur plant in a major way. The Malanpur plant
has modernized facilities for Gems, Eclairs, and Perk etc. Cadbury operates as the third party
operations at Phalton, Warana and Nashik in Maharashtra. These factories churn out close to
8,000 tonnes of chocolate annually.

In response to rising demand in the chocolate industry and reduce dependency on imports, Indian
cocoa producers have planned to increase domestic cocoa production by 60% in the next four
years. The Indian market is thought to be worth some 15bn rupee (?0.25bn) and has been hailed
as offering great potential for Western chocolate manufacturers as the market is still in its early
stages.

Chocolate consumption is gaining popularity in India due to increasing prosperity coupled with a
shift in food habits, pushing up the country's cocoa imports. Firms across the country have
announced plans to step-up domestic production from 10,000 tonnes to 16,000 tonnes, according
to Reuters. To secure good quality raw material in the long term, private players like Cadbury
India are encouraging cocoa cultivation, the news agency said. Cocoa requirement is growing
around 15% annually and will reach about 30,000 tonnes in the next 5 years.

Brief Introduction
 Indian Chocolate Industry as today is dominated by two
companies, both multinationals. The market leader is
Cadbury with a lion's share of 70%. The company's brands
like Five Star, Gems, Eclairs, Perk, Dairy Milk are leaders in
their segments. Untill early 90's, Cadbury had a market share
of over 80 %, but its party was spoiled when Nestle
appeared on the scene. The other one has introduced its
international brands in the country (Kit Kat, Lions), and now
commands approximately 15% market share. The two
companies operating in the segment are Gujarat Co-
operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) and Central
Arecanut and Cocoa Manufactures and Processors Co-
operation (CAMPCO). Competition in the segment will
soonly get keener as overseas chocolate giants Hershey's and
Mars consolidate to grab a bite of the Indian chocolate pie.

The UK based confectionery giant, Cadbury is a dominant player in the Indian chocolate market
and the company expects the energy glucose variant of its popular Perk brand to be singularly
responsible for adding five per cent annually to the size of the company?s market share.

Market capitalization
The Indian candy market is currently valued at around $664 million, with about 70% share ($
461 million) in sugar confectionery and the remaining 30% ($ 203 million) in chocolate
confectionery. Indian Chocolate Industry is estimated at US$ 400 million and growing at 18%
per annum. Cadbury has over 70 % share in this market, and recorded a turnover of over US$
37m in 2008.

Size of the industry

The size of the market for chocolates in India was estimated at 30,000 tonnes in 2008. Bars of
moulded chocolates like amul, milk chocolate, dairy milk, truffle, nestle premium, and nestle
milky bar comprise the largest segment, accounting for 37% of the total market in terms of
volume. The chocolate market in India has a production volume of 30,800 tonnes. The chocolate
segment is characterized by high volumes, huge expenses on advertising, low margins, and price
sensitivity.The count segment is the next biggest segment, accounting for 30% of the total
chocolate market. The count segment has been growing at a faster pace during the last three years
driven by growth in perk and kitkat volumes. Wafer chocolates such as kit kat and perk also
belong to this segment. Panned chocolates accounts for 10% of the total market. The chocolate
market today is primarily dominated by Cadbury and Nestle, together accounting for 90% of the
market.

Major Players

 Cadbury?s India Limited

 Nestle India

 Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation

 Cocoa Manufactures and Processors Co-operative (CAMPCO)

 Bars Count Lines Wafer Panned Premium

 Cadbury?s Dairy Milk & Variants

 5-Star, Milk

 Amul Milk Chocolate

 Treat Perk Gems,

 Tiffins Temptation & Celebrations

 Nestle Milky Bar & Bar One.

Latest developments

 Chocolate-lovers may soon find their chocolate dearer if the problems plaguing the
industry continue. Raw material costs have risen by more than 20 % in the last few years.
Although retail prices have not increased, a rise in input costs will force the manufacturers
to consider a price hike.The Bigger players in the country such as Cadbury, which leads
the Rs 2,500 crore chocolate markets in India with a share of 72%, will find it easier to
absorb the surge in input costs as it has products at various price points in the market, said
industry experts. Cadbury may also opt for a price hike, albeit marginal, if the current
trend continues. Indian Chocolate Industry?s Margin range between 10 and 20%,
depending on the price point at which the product is placed. The input costs in India are
under check owing to the 24% decline in the prices of sugar.
 The World?s Leading manufacturer of high quality cocoa and chocolate products Barry
Callebaut, has announced the opening of its first, state-of the art, Chocolate Academy in
Mumbai, India in July 2007.

 According to the analysis of the international market intelligence provider Euromonitor,

the relatively small Indian chocolate market with volumes of about 55,000 metric tonnes
of chocolate and compound per year is expected to grow on average per year by around
17.8% between 2008 and 2012.

 Ferrero the Italian confectionery giant of $8 billion has planned up for a new production
 facility in Maharashtra with an investment of over $125 million to whip up some of its
popular brands that include Rocher and Kinder.

RECENT PRESS RELEASE

INDIAN CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE IN 2012 - 2013

INDIAN CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE IN 2011 - 2012

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industry, Solar industry

Europeans
When the Spaniards arrived, the Mesoamericans were busily drinking cacao. They were
so besotted by this drink, in fact, that they proudly shared it with company. In 1519, the Aztec
emperor Montezuma served some to his new guest, the conquistador Hernando Cortes. The
Aztecs thought that Cortes was the reincarnation of an exiled god-king. Instead, he had come
calling to find rumored Aztec gold, and within three years he brought down the Aztec empire.

The Spanish

Cortes brought cacao home to Spain in 1529, according to many scholars. He was not the first to
do so. Nearly 30 years prior, Christopher Columbus had presented cacao beans from the
Caribbean to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella as a curiosity, and nobody considered them
further.

Yet Cortes did his homework and sweetened the cacao drink for Spaniards, adding copious
amounts of sugar that was unavailable in Mesoamerica. Before sailing home, he also planted
cacao trees in the Caribbean.

Unlike the Mesoamericans, the Spaniards kept their discovery on the hush. For nearly 100 years,
Spanish aristocrats secretly sipped this new delicacy. They also continued to experiment, adding
cinnamon and vanilla to the sugar and serving it steaming hot. As the drink gained popularity, the
Spanish planted more cacao trees in its colonies in Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Jamaica.

Other Europeans

Soon after the Spanish opened their first cocoa processing plant, in 1580, news of cacao got out.
As with much chocolate history, different theories abound. Some say the monks tasked with
processing the cacao beans broke the silence and whispered to their French counterparts. Some
point to the 1615 marriage between Anne of Austria, daughter of King Philip III of Spain, and
King Louis XIII of France, saying she gave him chocolate as a wedding gift.

Regardless of who spilled the beans, as it were, cacao use spread across Europe—the earliest to
France and Italy. Amsterdam later rose as an important cocoa shipping port. Chocolate found
favor in royal courts and in the Catholic Church, which decided to let people drink chocolate
during fasts. The first English chocolate house, similar to today’s coffee houses, opened in
London in 1657, and chocolate houses in Florence and Venice gained notoriety in the early
1700s.

The Europeans also used cacao for medicinal purposes, to cure stomachaches and other
ailments, as is still done in some cultures today.

As chocolate’s popularity rose, even more clever minds began thinking of ways to use this
mysterious food—a welcome alternative to the coffee and tea people drank every day to avoid
unsafe water. This increased brainpower, coupled with the invention of machinery, quickly
churned out many improvements for chocolate-lovers.

ChocolatefortheMasses

While Europeans had been using wind or horses to power mills to grind cacao, hydraulic and
steam-driven chocolate mills that produced chocolate faster were invented in the early 1700s in
France. Not long after, cocoa prices dropped, and chocolate transitioned to a little luxury nearly
everyonecouldafford.

Another milestone came in 1828 when the cocoa press was invented—and with it, cocoa butter
and cocoa powder. The cocoa press lowered prices further, it made hot chocolate smoother and it
pavedthewayforsolichocolate.
More European Firsts

 Chocolate Bars: An English company, Joseph Fry & Sons, was the first to market a
chocolate bar, in 1847. To do so, these early chocolatiers added to cocoa powder some
melted cocoa butter and sugar—a vast improvement over the coarse-grained chocolate
that had been the norm. In 1879, Rudolph Lindt unveiled his conching machine, curved
like a conch shell, which ground the nibs finely and smoothed chocolate to a greater
degree.

 Milk Chocolate: Switzerland’s Daniel Peter, with help from his neighbor Henri Nestlé,
created the first milk chocolate bar in 1875. But the first person to add milk to the
traditional cacao drink was English physician Sir Hans Sloane, who in the late 1600s
brought cacao back with him from a trip to Jamaica. Apothecaries sold his milky
concoction as a medicine, and in the 19th century the Cadbury brothers used his recipe to
manufacture hot chocolate.

EARLY HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE

 The earliest record of chocolate was over fifteen hundred years ago in the Central
American rain forests, where the tropical mix of high rain fall combined with high year
round temperatures and humidity provide the ideal climate for cultivation of the plant
from which chocolate is derived, the Cacao Tree.
 The Cacao Tree was worshipped by the Mayan civilisation of Central America and
Southern Mexico, who believed it to be of divine origin, Cacao is actually a Mayan word
meaning "God Food" hence the tree's modern generic Latin name 'Theobrama
Cacao' meaning ‘Food of the Gods’. Cacao was corrupted into the more familiar 'Cocoa'
by the early European explorers. The Maya brewed a spicy, bitter sweet drink by roasting
and pounding the seeds of the Cacao tree (cocoa beans) with maize and Capsicum (Chilli)
peppers and letting the mixture ferment. This drink was reserved for use in ceremonies as
well as for drinking by the wealthy and religious elite, they also ate a Cacao porridge.
 The Aztecs of central Mexico also prized the beans, but because the Aztec's lived further
north in more arid regions at higher altitudes, where the climate was not suitable for
cultivation of the tree, they had to acquire the beans through trade and/or the spoils of
war. The Aztecs prized the beans so highly they used them as currency - 100 beans
bought a Turkey or a slave - and tribute or Taxes were paid in cocoa beans to Aztec
emperors. The Aztecs, like the Mayans, also enjoyed Cacao as a beverage fermented from
the raw beans, which again featured prominently in ritual and as a luxury available only
to the very wealthy. The Aztecs called this drink Xocolatl, the Spanish conquistadors
found this almost impossible to pronounce and so corrupted it to the easier 'Chocolat', the
English further changed this to Chocolate.

 The Aztec's regarded chocolate as an aphrodisiac and their Emperor, Montezuma

reputedly drank it fifty times a day from a golden goblet and is quoted as saying
of Xocolatl: "The divine drink, which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of
this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without food"

 In fact, the Aztec's prized Xocolatl well above Gold and Silver so much so, thatwhen
Montezuma was defeated by Cortez in 1519 and the victorious 'conquistadors' searched
his palace for the Aztec treasury expecting to find Gold & Silver, all they found
were huge quantities of cocoa beans. The Aztec Treasury consisted, not of precious
metals, but Cocoa Beans.

 Back to top

CHOCOLATE IN EUROPE
 Xocolatl! or Chocolat or Chocolate as it became known, was brought to Europe by
Cortez, by this time the conquistadors had learned to make the drink more palatable to
European tastes by mixing the ground roasted beans with sugar and vanilla (a practice
still continued today), thus offsetting the spicy bitterness of the brew the Aztec's drank.
 The first chocolate factories opened in Spain, where the dried fermented beans brought
back from the new world by the Spanish treasure fleets were roasted and ground, and by
the early 17th century chocolate powder - from which the European version of the drink
 was made - was being exported to other parts of Europe. The Spanish kept the source of
the drink - the beans - a secret for many years, so successfully in fact, that when English
buccaneers boarded what they thought was a Spanish 'Treasure Galleon' in 1579, only to
find it loaded with what appeared to be 'dried sheep's droppings', they burned the whole
ship in frustration. If only they had known, chocolate was so expensive at that time, that
it was worth it's weight in Silver (if not Gold), Chocolate was Treasure Indeed!

 Within a few years, the Cocoa beverage made from the powder produced in Spain had
become popular throughout Europe, in the Spanish Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany
and - in about 1520 - it arrived in England.

 The first Chocolate House in England opened in London in 1657 followed rapidly by
many others. Like the already well established coffee houses, they were used as clubs
where the wealthy and business community met to smoke a clay pipe of tobacco, conduct
business and socialise over a cup of chocolate.

 BACK TO THE AMERICA'S

 Event's went full circle when English colonists carried chocolate (and coffee) with them
to England's colonies in North America. Destined to become the United States of
America and Canada, they are now the worlds largest consumers - by far - of both
Chocolate and Coffee, consuming over half of the words total production of chocolate
alone.

 Back to top

THE QUAKERS
 The Quakers were, and still are, a pacifist religious sect, an offshoot of the Puritans of
English Civil War and Pilgrim Fathers fame and a history of chocolate would not be
complete without mentioning their part in it. Some of the most famous names in
chocolate were Quakers, who for centuries held a virtual monopoly of chocolate making
in the English speaking world - Fry, Cadbury and Rowntree are probably the best known.
 It's probably before the time of the English civil war between Parliament and King
Charles 1st, that the Quaker's, who evolved from the Puritans, first began their historic
association with Chocolate. Because of their pacifist religion, they were prohibited from
many normal business activities, so as an industrious people with a strong belief in the
work ethic (like the puritans), they involved themselves in food related businesses and
did very well. Baking was a common occupation for them because bread was regarded as
the biblical " Staff Of Life", and Bakers in England were the first to add chocolate to
cakes so it would be a natural progression for them to start making pure chocolate. They
were also heavily involved in breakfast cereals but that's another story.

 What is certain is that the Fry, Rowntree and Cadbury families in England among others,
began chocolate making and in fact Joseph Fry of Fry & Sons (founded 1728 in Bristol,
England) is credited with producing and selling the worlds first chocolate bar. Fry's have
now all but disappeared (taken over by Cadbury) and Rowntree have merged Swiss
company Nestle, to form the largest chocolate manufacturer in the world. Cadbury have
stayed with chocolate production and are now, if not quite the largest, probably one of the
best known Chocolate makers in the world.

 From their earliest beginnings in business the Quakers were noted for their enlightened
treatment of their employees, providing not just employment but everything needed for
workers to better themselves such as good housing etc. In fact, Cadbury built a large town
for their employees around their factory near Birmingham, England. Complete with
libraries, schools, shops and Churches etc, they called it Bourneville. So next time you
see Cadbury's chocolate with the name Bournville on it you will know where it comes
from and what the name relates to.

 Back to top

CHOCOLATE AS WE KNOW IT
 The first mention of chocolate being eaten in solid form is when bakers in England began
adding cocoa powder to cakes in the mid 1600's. Then in 1828 a Dutch chemist, Johannes
Van Houten, invented a method of extracting the bitter tasting fat or "cocoa butter" from
 the roasted ground beans, his aim was to make the drink smoother and more palatable,
however he unknowingly paved the way for solid chocolate as we know it.
 Chocolate as we know it today first appeared in 1847 when Fry & Sons of Bristol,
England - mixed Sugar with Cocoa Powder and Cocoa Butter (made by the Van Houten
process) to produce the first solid chocolate bar then, in 1875 a Swiss manufacturer,
Daniel Peters, found a way to combine (some would say improve, some would say ruin)
cocoa powder and cocoa butter with sugar and dried milk powder to produce the first
milk chocolate.

 and the rest, is history, Chocolate History....

 For more information have a look at:

Discovering Chocolate
The Great Chocolate Discovery


 Don Hernán Cortés


The story of chocolate begins with cocoa trees that grew wild in the tropical rainforests of
the Amazon basin and other areas in Central and South America for thousands of years.
The Maya Indians and the Aztecs recognised the value of cocoa beans - both as an
ingredient for their special 'chocolate' drink and as currency - for hundreds of years
before cocoa was brought to Europe.
 Christopher Columbus is said to have brought the first cocoa beans back to Europe from
his fourth visit to the 'New World' between 1502 and 1504. However far more exciting
treasures on board his galleons meant the humble cocoa beans were ignored.
 It was his fellow explorer, the Spanish Conquistador Don Hernán Cortés, who first
realised their commercial value. He brought cocoa beans back to Spain in 1528 and very
gradually, the custom of drinking the chocolate spread across Europe, reaching England
in the 1650s.
 London Chocolate Houses became fashionable meeting places for the elite of London
society wanting to savour this new luxury beverage.

As the popularity of chocolate grew, so did the number of cocoa growing countries in the
world.
 Cocoa trees need specific climatic conditions to thrive. Cultivation, harvesting and curing
ready for transport to chocolate manufacturing countries is a labour-intensive business, as
mechanisation has still proved impractical. (See What is Chocolate)
 In 1853, heavy import duties that had made chocolate prohibitive were reduced and
chocolate and cocoa became available to the wider population. A number of businesses
began manufacturing cocoa and drinking chocolate, including John Cadbury of
Birmingham. (SeeThe Story of Cadbury)

 Cocoa and the Mayan Civilzation

 It was the Maya Indians, an ancient people whose descendants still live in Central
America, who first discovered the delights of cocoa as long ago as 600 AD.
 The Mayan people lived on the Yucatan Peninsula, a tropical area in what is now
Southern Mexico, where wild cocoa trees grew. They harvested cocoa beans from the rain
forest trees, then cleared areas of lowland forest to grow their own cocoa trees in the first
known cocoa plantations.
 A drink called 'chocolatl' made from roasted cocoa beans, water and a little spice was
their primary use, but cocoa beans were also valued as currency. An early explorer
visiting Central America found that four cocoa beans could buy a pumpkin; 10 could buy
a rabbit.
 Because cocoa beans were valuable, they were given as gifts at ceremonies such as a
child's coming of age and on religious occasions. The Mayans had very many
complicated religious beliefs with many gods. Ek Chuah, the merchant god, was closely
linked with cocoa and cocoa fruits were used at festivals in his honour. Merchants often
traded cocoa beans for other commodities, cloth, jade and ceremonial feathers.
 Mayan farmers transported their cocoa beans to market by canoe or in large baskets
strapped to their backs. Wealthy merchants travelled further, employing porters to carry
their wares as there were no horses, pack animals or wheeled carts in Central America at
that time. Some ventured as far as Mexico, the land of the Aztecs - introducing them to
the much-prized cocoa beans.
 The Aztec Empire and Cocoa
 Aztec Man
 The Aztecs were an ancient nomadic people who founded a great city in the Valley of
Mexico in 1325 - Tenochtitlan. The rich prosperous city and its culture were destroyed by
the Spanish in 1521, and was later rebuilt by the Spanish conquerors and renamed
Mexico City.
 'Chocolatl' was consumed in large quantities by the Aztecs as a luxury drink. The Aztec
version of this much-prized drink was described as "finely ground, soft, foamy, reddish,
bitter with chilli water, aromatic flowers, vanilla and wild bee honey."
 Because of the dry climate, the Aztecs were unable to grow cocoa themselves, so they
obtained supplies of cocoa beans from 'tribute' or trade. 'Tribute' was a form of taxation
paid by provinces conquered by the Aztecs in wars.
 By the time the Spanish invaded Mexico in the 16th century, the Aztecs had created a
powerful empire: their armies were supreme in Mexico. Tributes in the form of food,
cloth and luxury items such as cocoa beans flowed into Tenochtitlan.
 The Aztecs were very superstitious; they had many gods and believed that their world
was constantly threatened by catastrophe. Quetzalcōātl, the creator god and provider of
agriculture, was associated with cocoa beans. According to an old Mexican Indian myth,
Quetzalcōātl was forced to leave the country by a chief god, but he was lovingly
remembered by his devoted worshippers who hoped that he would return. Until that time
they still had his legacy - the cocoa tree.
 When the Spanish conquistador Don Hernán Cortés arrived in 1517 with his fleet of
galleons, the Aztecs thought that he was Quetzalcōātl returning. However they were soon
to realise that he was a cruel conqueror.

 Cocoa Introduced to Spain

 In 1517 Don Cortes set sail from Cuba with 11 ships and 600 men, seeking fame and
fortune in the "New World". Landing on the Mexican coast near Veracruz, he decided to
make his way to Tenochtitlan to see for himself the famed riches of Emperor Montezuma
and the Aztec Empire.
 It was Montezuma who introduced Don Cortes to his favourite drink 'chocolatl,' served in
a golden goblet. Montezuma is said to have consumed several goblets of 'chocolatl'
before entering his harem, leading to the mythical belief that it had aphrodisiac
properties.
 In May 1520, the Spanish attacked a peaceful Aztec festival. Montezuma was killed but
by July the Aztecs had forced the Spanish out of the city of Tenochtitlan. After regaining
their strength, the Spanish and their allies held the city siege for 75 days and, when it fell,
it marked the end of the Aztec civilisation.
 Cortes was made Captain General and Governor of Mexico. When he returned to Spain in
1528, he loaded his galleons with cocoa beans and chocolate drink-making equipment.
 Once Don Cortes had provided the Spanish with a supply of cocoa beans and the
equipment to make the chocolate drink, a Spanish version of the recipe was devised.
 Monks in monasteries known for their pharmaceutical skills were chosen to process the
beans and adjust the drink to Spanish tastes. Cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar were added,
the chilli pepper was omitted and it was discovered that chocolate tasted even better
served hot.
 Soon 'chocolate' became a fashionable drink enjoyed by the rich in Spain. But cocoa
beans were in short supply so the special chocolate drink recipe was a closely-guarded
secret for nearly a century

 Chocolate Spreads Across Europe

 Drinking chocolate
 English and Dutch sailors didn’t recognize the cocoa beans they found on the Spanish
'treasure' ships they captured as the Spanish returned from 'New World'. The precious
beans were thrown overboard by the angry English and Dutch crews, reputed to have
thought the beans were sheep droppings.
 An Italian traveller, Francesco Carletti, was the first to break the Spanish monopoly.
Having visited Central America, he had seen how the Indians prepared the cocoa beans
and made the drink. By 1606 chocolate was well established in Italy.


 The secret of chocolate was taken to France in 1615 when Anne, daughter of Phillip II of
Spain married King Louis XIII of France. The French court adopted this new exotic drink
with great fervour. It was considered to have medicinal benefits as well as being a
nourishing food.
 The supply of cocoa beans to the French market greatly improved after 1684 when
France conquered Cuba and Haiti and set up their own cocoa plantations.
 In the 17th century, the Dutch broke Spain's monopoly of cocoa when they captured
Curacao. They brought cocoa beans from America to Holland, where cocoa was greatly
acclaimed and recommended by doctors as a cure for almost every ailment, and also
enabled the cocoa trade to spread.
 Chocolate reached Germany around 1646, probably brought back by visitors to Italy. The
secret of the aromatic chocolate flavoured drinks finally reached England from France in
the 1650s

 London Chocolate Houses

 18th Century Chocolate House
 When chocolate finally reached England in the 1650s, it was a drink reserved for the
wealthy due to the high import duties on cocoa beans. It became very popular at the court
of King Charles II.
 Gradually it became more freely available. The first London Chocolate House was
opened in 1657 by a Frenchman who produced the first advertisement for the chocolate
drinks to be seen in London:
 "In Bishopgate St, in Queen's Head Alley, at a Frenchman's house, is an excellent West
Indian drink called Chocolate to be sold, where you may have it ready at any time and
also unmade at reasonable rates."
 Fashionable chocolate houses opened where the people could meet their friends to enjoy
various rich chocolate drinks, many of which were rather bitter to taste.
 The most famous was White's Chocolate House in the fashionable St James Street,
opened in 1693 by Italian immigrant Frances White.
 The chocolate drinks would have been made from blocks of solid cocoa, probably
imported from Spain. The chocolate houses also sold a pressed cake from which the drink
could be made at home. Around 1700, the English improved the drink by adding milk.
 By the end of the 18th century, London's chocolate houses began to disappear, many of
the more fashionable ones becoming smart gentlemen's clubs. White's Chocolate House
remains an exclusive gentlemen's club.

 England's First Cocoa Makers

  Birmingham shop
 As the demand for cocoa grew, cocoa plantation were established in the West Indies, Asia
and Africa and the price of cocoa beans gradually began to fall as greater quantities came
onto the market.
 However, it was not until 1853 that significant reductions in import duties were made and
with the Industrial Revolution making transport easier, chocolate became available to a
large percentage of the population.
 As more people could afford to drink chocolate, there was increased interest in its
manufacture. Some of the earliest cocoa makers were apothecaries (early chemists) who
became interested because of cocoa's supposed medicinal properties. They had the
equipment to heat, measure and blend the ingredients as well as the necessary skills.
Apothecaries founded by Fry's of Bristol and Terry's of York, later became two well-
known names in chocolate production.
 Other manufacturers became involved in cocoa making through the grocery trade. John
Cadbury began by dealing in tea and coffee in his Birmingham shop, while Rowntree's of
York was founded by branching out from the family grocery business.

The discovery of Cocoa by the Olmecs

The Olmecs (1500-400 BC) were almost certainly the first humans to consume chocolate,
originally in the form of a drink. They crushed the cocoa beans, mixed them with water and
added spices, chillies and herbs (Coe's Theory). They began cultivating cocoa in equatorial
Mexico. Over time, the Mayans (600 BC) and Aztecs (400 AD) developed successful methods
for cultivating cocoa as well. The cocoa bean was used as a monetary unit and as a measuring
unit, 400 beans equalling a Zontli and 8000 equalling a Xiquipilli. During their wars with the
Aztecs and the Mayans, the Chimimeken people's preferred method of levying taxes in
conquered regions was in the form of cocoa beans.

For these civilizations, cocoa was a symbol of abundance. It was used in religious rituals
dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god responsible for bringing the cocoa tree to man, to Chak
ek Chuah, the Mayan patron saint of cocoa and as an offering at the funerals of noblemen.

Cocoa production advanced as people migrated throughout Meso-America but consumption of

the drink remained a privilege for the upper classes and for soldiers during battle. By this time,
the re-invigorating and fortifying virtues of cocoa were becoming widely recognized and
embraced.

Discovery and Commercialization of Cocoa (16th century)

In 1502, Columbus got his first glimpse of cocoa beans on a native canoe during a stop-over in
Nicaragua, but he did not appreciate its awesome potential value. The true importance of this
“brown gold“ was not recognized until Hernando Cortez drank it with the Aztec emperor
Montezuma, and brought it back to the Spanish court in 1528 along with the equipment
necessary for brewing the drink. Even then, it is unlikely anyone envisaged its ultimate
importance as a world commodity.

Following a victorious war against the native tribes and the downfall of the Aztec civilization,
Cortez intensified cultivation efforts in New Spain, with the intention of developing a lucrative
trade with Europe.

The Spanish court soon fell under the spell of this exotic elixir and adapted it to their taste,
adding cane sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and pepper. Initially Spain reserved cocoa for its exclusive
use, carefully guarding its existence from the rest of the world. They were so successful keeping
cocoa secret that when a group of English pirates captured a Spanish galleon, not recognizing the
value of the weighty cargo of beans, they burned them!

In 1585, the first cargo of cocoa beans arrived on the Iberian Peninsula from New Spain,
launching the trade in cocoa, and resulting in the establishment of the first chocolate shops, thus,
ushering in a new era of rapidly growing demand for this mysterious nectar from the new world.

The expansion of cocoa in Europe (17th – 19th centuries)

During the 17th century, cocoa began arriving in other ports throughout Europe, effortlessly
conquering every region's palate. Chocolate beverages were first embraced by the French court
following the royal marriage of King Louis XIII to the Spanish Princess Anne of Austria in
1615.

In 1650 chocolate beverages first appeared in England coinciding with the arrival of tea from
China and coffee from the Middle East. For many years it remained a treat reserved for the upper
classes. In 1659 the first chocolate-confection maker opened in Paris. In 1720, Italian chocolate-
makers received prizes in recognition of the quality of their products. Finally, in 1765, North
America discovered the virtues of cocoa.

In this way, chocolate developed across Europe and around the world, and slowly the
presentation of chocolate changed. The first chocolate lozenge appeared in England in 1674;
cocoa powder was originally produced by the Dutch in 1828; the chocolate bar originated in
Great Brittan in 1830; and, the Swiss successfully entered the chocolate market with milk
chocolate in 1830, followed shortly thereafter with chocolate imbued with hazelnuts.

Thanks to this extended period of culinary and manufacturing innovation, chocolate consumption
rapidly and continuously expanded. Pharmacological uses for cocoa and cocoa by-products were
also widely explored, not too surprising given the properties its earliest consumers attributed to it
(i.e. strengthening, restorative, aphrodisiac).

Cocoa During the Industrial Era

The industrial era led to fundamental changes for chocolate and cocoa, impacting everyone from
grower to end consumer. Spain, the first exporter of chocolate, opened the first chocolate factory
in 1780 in Barcelona, followed shortly thereafter by Germany and Switzerland in the inexorable,
relentless march towards full industrialization of cocoa.
The origins of cocoa also gradually changed. Europeans began increasingly colonising Africa,
bringing the cocoa tree with them. Cocoa was successfully planted in Sao Tome and Principe and
then migrated as plantations spread throughout the African continent. The industrial epoch led to
the slow decline of production in South America, despite its expansion from its original growing
areas to the Amazon River and saw a new cocoa empire emerge on African soil. Indeed, since the
start of the 20th century, Africa has taken the lead and has become the biggest cocoa producer.

Industrialization has had a marked democratizing effect on chocolate, transforming it from a rare
delicacy reserved for royals, to a widely available and readily affordable treat for the masses. Not
surprisingly, a plethora of new chocolate products began appearing as it became more popular,
including chocolate with dried fruits, with liqueurs, fondu, praliné, stuffed, powdered,
spreadable, frostings, pastes, hard candies, soft drinks and many, many others. Either hand-made
or as a fast food, it is now an established part of the world's vocabulary and diet. Many
improvements have been made since its ancient origins as a drink. Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
poetically summed up our universal love affair with chocolate “What is health? It is chocolate!“

Key Dates
 France, 1776 Doret invents a hydraulic process to grind cocoa beans into a paste,
facilitating the first large-scale production of chocolate.
 Holland, 1828 Chemist Coenraad van Houten invents a process for extracting cocoa
butter, allowing for the extraction of cocoa powder. This makes chocolate more
homogenous and less costly to produce.

 England, 1847 Solid chocolate is offered to the general public for the first time, by the
English company Fry and Sons (prior to this time, solid chocolate was available
exclusively within royal courts).

 Switzerland, 1830-1879 Chocolate flavored with hazelnuts is followed by milk chocolate,

developed by Daniel Peter and Henri Nestlé respectively. During the same period,
Rodolphe Lindt develops the chocolate fondant (fondu).

 United States, 1893 Sweet maker Milton Hershey spots chocolate making equipment at
the Worlds Fair in Chicago and begins production at a factory in Pennsylvania.

Chocolate followed the French and American infantry into the trenches of the First World War,
and effectively all US chocolate production was requisitioned for the military during the Second
World War. In France, chocolate sweets appeared between the wars, and French pralines
(chocolates filled with almond and other nut based fillings) were considered the most fashionable
chocolates of the time. This inspired chocolate producers to experiment with new flavors, such as
almond paste, cherries in aqua vitae, nougat, caramel...

History of Chocolate
 Click on "pause" sign to stop reading the text or to click "play" to read the text

There are only so many kinds of food people treasure. “Craved, savored and given as a symbol
of one's love. Yet, so common it can be purchased for 50 cents. This treasured, as well as
commonplace item is chocolate” (CNN, 1997).

Fig.1 A variety
of cacao seeds.
Please click on the dots above to reach to the year(s) of interest.

Origin

The cacao tree was originated and cultivated in Central and South America. The seeds from these
cacao trees were then used to make a variety of products. Now, cacao trees are “cultivated
around the equator, and can be found in the Caribbean, Africa, South-East Asia, and even in the
South Pacific Islands of Samoa and New Guinea” (Spadaccini, 23rd online edition).

Cacao beans consumption can be traced back to ancient Mayan in 500 A.D. and were later on
developed for more uses (e.g. spicy drink) in the Aztec civilizations in Central and South
America where cacao trees grow abundantly in the forest (Young, 1994).

Fig.2 & 3 Cacao trees habitat and cacao tree.

The spicy drink was a bitter-tasting drink that mixed with some other local ingredients such as
wine, chili pepper, vanilla, pimiento, and so on. These ingredients would be used to add favors to
the drink based on seasons. However, sugar was not part of the ingredients to sweeten the drink
“since sugar was unknown to the Aztecs” (Coe et. el., 1996).

The Aztec emperor, Montezuma, liked the drink so much that he drank fifty goblets of chocolate
per day; and when he was done, he threw the golden goblets away. Only the chocolate was
valuable to him but not the golden goblets (Young, 1994; CNN, 1997).

Fig.4 & 5 Cacao seeds grinder used in Mayan and Spain.

What's in a Name?

‘There is some confusion about the derivation of the word "chocolate." The Merriam
Webster Dictionary, and many other sources, state that it comes from the Aztec, or more
accurately Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs), word chocolatl. Michael Coe, Professor of
Anthropology at Yale, and author of The True History of Chocolate, presents a different view. He
argues that the word chocolatl appears in "no truly early source on the Nahuatl language or on
Aztec culture." He cites the distinguished Mexican philologist Ignacio Davila Garibi who
proposed the idea that the "Spaniards had coined the word by taking the Maya word chocol and
then replacing the Maya term for water, haa, with the Aztec one, atl." One other possibility is
that chocolate is derived from the Maya verb chokola'j, which means, "to drink chocolate
together"’ (Spadaccini, 23rd online edition; Young, 1994; Coe et. el., 1996).
Discovered by Christopher Columbus…

It is believed that Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover the existence
of cacao tree. It is also believed that Columbus seized some cacao plants from the natives to
bring back to Spain. Actually, cacao beans were used as currency for the native South Americans
at that time. However, the Spanish King and his court overlooked the value of cacao trees and
their seeds’ values. Not until twenty years later when Columbus’s fellow explorer, the Spain's
Hernando Cortez, who realized a potential commercial value in the beans when he learnt more
from the colonized countries such as Honduras (Young, 1994; Smith, 2000; Spadaccini, 23rd
online edition).

Fig.6,7 & 8 Some traditional processes of extracting and drying cacao seeds. (Refer
to Production of Chocolate for more detail.)

‘For many Europeans, drinking chocolate (especially before it was sweetened) was an acquired
taste. Spanish missionary Jose de Acosta, who lived in Peru in the late 1500s, described it this
way:

"Loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a scum or froth that is very unpleasant
to taste. Yet it is a drink very much esteemed among the Indians, where with they feast noble
men who pass through their country. The Spaniards, both men and women, that are accustomed
to the country, are very greedy of this Chocolaté. They say they make diverse sorts of it, some
hot, some cold, and some temperate, and put therein much of that 'chili'; yea, they make paste
thereof, the which they say is good for the stomach and against the catarrh."
Soon chocolate would make its way across the Atlantic -- first to Spain, and then to the rest of
Europe. The first official shipment was made in 1585 from Veracruz to Seville’ (Spadaccini, 23rd

online edition).
Fig.9 Step1 - First shipment of cacao seeds to Spain was in 1585; Step2 - Chocolate was
introduced to the rest of Europe by 17th Century; Step3 - Chocolate was introduced all across the
Atlantic; Step 4 - Chocolate was introduced to the rest of the world by 18th Century.

Chocolate Invades Europe

It was still served as a beverage when the Spanish first brought chocolate back to Europe.
However, the chili pepper that made the spicy drink was soon replaced by sugar to make a sweet
beverage. The sweetened chocolate beverage was a luxury that only a few could afford.
However, by the 17th century, the drink became common among European nobility. In London,
chocolate was more widely available, and those who could afford it could enjoy the drink in
coffee and chocolate houses (Simmons, 1976; Brenner, 1999; Young, 1994).

Wondering if you can enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate or other chocolate related products in the
Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada? Check out our section for Local Flavors of
Chocolate. Also, check out our section for Consumption of Chocolate to see which countries
consume the most chocolate in the world.

As the demand for cacao increased, more European countries such as France, United Kingdom
and Holland started cultivating cacao in their colonies in the Caribbean, Ivory Coast of Africa
and a few parts of South East Asia (Simmons, 1976; Baker, 1891). The expansion also meant
slavery and privation and we will discuss more about this in the section of The Dark Side of
Chocolate.
Fig.10 & 11 Some other steps on drying cacao seeds.

From Beverage to Bar

1828 marked the “modern ear” of chocolate making when Dutch chocolate maker Conrad J. van
Houten patented an inexpensive method for pressing the fat from roasted cacao beans along with
other processes to create a fine powder known as “cocoa”. The powder was then treated with
alkaline salt that help the power the mix the water easily. The creation of powdered chocolate
made it easier to mix with water, sugar and a possible combination of other ingredients to make
chocolate a solid form. Many other chocolate makers began to build on Van Houten’s success to
make a variety of chocolate products. (Want to know some recipes of chocolate? Check out our
section for Recipes of Chocolateand for more information about chocolate production, check
out our section for Production of Chocolate.) “In 1894, English chocolate maker Joseph Storrs
Fry produced what was arguably the world's first eating chocolate” (Brenner, 1999; Spadaccini,
23rd online edition).
Fig. 12 & 13 Another way to extract cacao seeds.

'Today, the Swiss are famous for their chocolate, and rightly so. In the late 19th century, they
developed a number of processes that contributed greatly to creating the solid chocolate candy
that we all enjoy today. Two major developments occurred in 1879. First, Daniel Peter, a Swiss
chocolate manufacturer, had the idea of using powdered milk (invented by Swiss Chemist Henri
Nestle in 1867) to make a new kind of chocolate, milk chocolate. Second, Rudolphe Lindt
invented a process called "conching," which greatly improved the quality of chocolate candy by
making it more blendable' (Spadaccini, 23rd online edition).
Fig.14, 15 & 16 Examples of edible chocolate.

The History of Chocolate

AncientCivilizations
The life story of Chocolate starts a little over 3000 years ago. While there are images on Mayan
pottery dating back to 1000BC, most historians believe the cacao tree was first cultivated by the
Olmecs, who lived in Central America, near the equator and the Gulf of Mexico. Research into
their language has revealed the word cacao was used by this Mesoamerican civilization, dispelling
the common misconception that the Mayans were the original founders of chocolate.

By 300 AD the Olmecs had vanished and the Mayan civilization was flourishing in the southern
part of what is now Mexico. With ideal growing conditions in this region, the cacao plant was
able to thrive. The Mayan civilization worshiped the sacred tree, naming it cacahuaquchtl, and
believed the pods were a gift to man from the Gods. Ek-chuah was the patron saint of cocoa and
was revered by all. Writings that survive today describe the cacao as the gods’ food, and many
drawings show cacao pods being used in rituals and ceremonies. These writings also describe
multiple ways of preparing the cocoa resulting in drinks of varying consistencies from a thin
liquid to a thick paste, with different flavorings.

After the demise of the Mayan civilization around 900 AD, the Toltecs occupied the same region;
bordered by the Yucatan peninsula, Chiapas and the west coast of Guatemala. Their king,
Quetzalcoatl, fleeing political unrest, sailed away from his people, vowing to return. Legend held
that he was in fact a god, and that he would return in 1519, as a white faced king, to free his
people. This legend survived through the ages, and became part of the Aztec lore.

Aztecs conquered the Toltecs in 1325. When they discovered the cacao beans that the Toltecs
worshiped and transformed into drink, they named the beans cacahuatl, meaning “sun beans”.
Cacao beans were used primarily as currency and a beverage at this time. The beans were so
valuable, they were the only permitted form of payment of taxes levied by the Aztecs rulers.
Cacao was thought to be both medicinal and an aphrodisiac, and was often given to warriors to
strengthen them for battle.

Both the Aztecs and the Mayans concocted a foamy drink with the cacao, and spiced it with chili,
allspice, honey or vanilla. The beverage was enjoyed mostly by the elite upper class as it was an
expensive luxury. There is evidence of a cacao based drink in Costa Rica and Guanaja during the
same period. It is here in Guanaja, in 1502 that cacao beans were first discovered by a European –
Christopher Columbus. He was offered cacao beans in trade for goods of his own. His confusion
over these “almonds” being used as currency led the chief of Guanja to prepare xocolatl for him,
which he apparently found bitter and distasteful. While he did not initially realize the beans were
edible, he did report that they were being used as a form of currency, and returned to Spain with
some beans. When he presented his find to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, they were not
pleased with the cocoa drink either, and thus Spain did not pursue the import of cacao beans for
several decades.

ChocolateasCurrency600-1500AD
During this period, the dried pods were decorated and used for drinking Xocolatl which at the
time was a primitive combination of cacao beans, ground up using stones, to produce a grainy
paste. In 1517 Hernan Cortes received his first taste of Montezuma’s beloved drink, Xocolatl, as
part of a royal welcome. Montezuma and the Aztec people falsely believed Cortes to be the
reincarnation of Quetzalcoatl, and thus paid him the homage of a god, welcoming him into the
city. Montezuma realized his mistake too late, shortly before being taken prisoner by Cortes. By
1519 Cortes had conquered Montezuma’s entire kingdom and gained possession of an enormous
store of chcahuatl worth a king’s, or in this case an emperor’s, ransom. It is said that Montezuma
drank 50 cups of Xocolatl every day from a golden vessel, often before going to his harem.

JourneytoEurope
In 1528 Cortes returned to Spain, bringing with him beans and necessary equipment to produce
Xoclatl and to make the cocoa beverage for Charles V. Initial reactions to the dark, bitter liquid
were not positive, but with the addition of sugar cane and some spices such as cinnamon or
vanilla, the drink began to gain acceptance with the royals and nobles. Adding to the
development, the Spaniards created a tool called a molinillo which made whipping the chocolate
in to the frothy beverage much easier.

For the next 80 years Spain controlled the import of all cacao beans, and they began to cultivate
them in other areas near the equator such as Trinidad, Haiti, Mexico, Java and the Caribbean.
Because growing and processing beans was very profitable for the Spanish colonists, they were
careful to protect their knowledge of working with cacao. The processing of the beans was
performed by Spanish monks in the colonies until 1580 when the first chocolate processing plant
was set up in Spain

ChocolateBecomesVogueThroughoutEurope
In the early 1600’s, chocolate began spreading across Europe, first to Holland then to Italy,
Germany, Great Britton, France and Switzerland. As a result these empires began cultivating and
producing chocolate in their own colonies including Cameroons, Sri Lanka, West Africa and
Malaysia who to this day remains one of the largest producers of beans.

During this period in history, cocoa was known as a clerical fasting beverage, because
the Catholic Church permitted consumption of cocoa during lent as a nutritional substitute. It
was still believed to have medicinal and restorative properties, as well as to be an aphrodisiac.

Chocolate was popular amongst the ladies and gentlemen of the court in France. In 1659 Louis
XIV granted David Chaillou the first and an exclusive right to sell chocolate in Paris, where he
continued to do so for the next three decades. This shop was the catalyst for high society’s
growing adoration of chocolate, as it became vogue to consume this exotic beverage. In France
enjoyment of chocolate was however, restricted by decree, to the French aristocracy.

First chocolate house in England opened in 1657. Any person able to pay the entrance fee, was
permitted to drink chocolate at these very social establishments.

In Italy, the influential scientist and famous author, Francesco Redi, was Cosimo III de' Medici's
physician. One of his books documented many delicious recipes for drinking chocolate. These
published recipes included beverages perfumed with ambergris and musk, as well as a recipe for
jasmine-scented chocolate.

EvolutionaryChanges
1700s brought the evolution of chocolate processing with the invention of the steam engine, which
made possible the machine grinding of the cocoa beans. This allowed large quantities of beans to
be processed with relatively little labor, causing a decrease in the price. Within 30 years the price
of cocoa dropped so significantly that cocoa was available to nearly everyone.

Nearly 100 years later, the cocoa press was invented by the Dutch chemist Coenraad Van Houten.
The press allowed for even more economical prices on cocoa. It squeezed out cocoa butter,
leaving the cocoa powder, which made cocoa both more consistent and less expensive to produce.

Chocolate was produced in the American colonies as early as 1765, when the first chocolate
factory was built. Dr. James and John Hannon joined together for one of the earliest machine-
based chocolate manufacturing businesses. Using an old grist mill, they ground cacao beans into
chocolate liquor and pressed the paste into cakes to be used for drinking chocolate. Their company
was originally known as Hannon's Best Chocolate. When Hannon was lost at sea during a cacao-
buying voyage to the West Indies, the company was renamed the Baker Company (Baker’s
Chocolate) and remained in the Baker family until it was bought out by General Foods in 1927.

In 1847 the first solid chocolate bar was created. It was made by combining some of the melted
cocoa butter with cocoa powder and sugar, creating a paste that could be pressed into a mold. The
chocolate bar was so popular that people soon began to think of eating chocolate as much as
drinking it.

In 1876, Daniel Peter of Switzerland was attempting to devise a way of adding milk to chocolate,
but couldn’t create a mixture that would combine smoothly. At the same time, Henri Nestlé was
working on a concentrated infant food formula, which required him to find a way to treat milk so
that it would not spoil while in storage. He invented powdered milk, which turned out to be the
perfect milk form for Peter's purposes; the low water content made it possible to mix it with the
chocolate into a bar that did not spoil. By 1879, the two men had joined to form Nestle.

In 1879, Rudolphe Lindt invented a process called "conching," which drastically improved the
texture of chocolate by making it more blendable early in the processing. This machine was made
of a shell-shaped granite bed, and had rollers that moved back and forth grinding the chocolate
liquor, sugar and (if used) milk into a paste that was the smoothest ever created. Soon, conching
was adopted as a standard part of the chocolate-making process. Originally, the friction of the
rollers heated the paste as they ground it, which served as preliminary roasting. Because of the
importance of the roasting process, today’s conching machine rollers are cooled so that the
roasting time can be controlled with precision.

The 1900’s saw the creation of Hershey’s chocolate bars (1893), filled bonbons (1913), Perugina
and Valrhona chocolate companies (1922), Godiva Belgian chocolates (1926), Toll House cookies
(1930) and army “D-Rations” (1941). Chocolate is now eaten by children and adults all over the
world, and comes in many flavors, styles and packages. It continues to evolve with the
proliferation of vintages and “single origin” chocolates at the beginning of this millennium.
 You are a crazy lover who will do anything to taste a nice variety of your darling, chocolate,
right? If yes, then Kodaikanal will serve you with a treat that is surely going to be in your best
experiences ever. Kodaikanal is famous for its homemade chocolates and its wide variety. From
coffee-bean chocolates to fruit syrup filled chocolates, you name it and you get it in Kodaikanal.
Some of the more popular places to have chocolates in Kodaikanal are:

 Pot Luck: Located at the PT Road, right opposite to the Milk Union, this
tiny European style cafe serves you with pastas, sandwiches, Spanish omelets and
waffles/pancakes along with one of the best collection of coffee bean chocolates that marry with
the hot coffee effortlessly to ease your senses. Whatever you spend here, a part of it goes to
providing scholarships for needy children. Come here for treats that start from a mere INR 40.

Cloud Street: Another chocolate driven eating out place is this one located at the PT
Road. Now what they offer for chocolate lovers is the special freshly baked chocolate biscuits.
Along with that, also try the lemon cake which surely does not have chocolate but is equally
yummy.
Now here comes the mother of all. It’s the largest hub of homemade chocolates in Kodaikanal,
it’s the:
 Chocolate factory: Located near the Petrol Station in the center of the town, Chocolate
Factory actually has the largest collection of homemade chocolates ranging from fruit syrup
filled chocolate to the very popular hot chocolate that is available at INR 60 per cup.


So what are you waiting for? Get boozed up on chocolates and explore the princess of hill
stations!!