Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Chocolate

By: Lee Dobbins
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:17:40
Print this article | Tell a friend | For publisher | Social Bookmarking
Rating:
 

Chocolate, or the cocoa bean to be more exact was used by the Aztecs as early as the year 400 but it was Columbus who first introduced it to the new world when he brought it back to Spain. Chocolate as a drink was quite popular in Europe in the mid 1600's, but chocolate as a solid wasn't introduced until 1847. Thirty years later, milk was added to create milk chocolate and candy bars have been enjoyed world wide ever since!

Making Chocolate

It is actually quite simple to make chocolate, but each maker has his own secret recipes. First off, the cocoa beans are roasted and ground up. Next you add sugar and the other ingredients (milk if you are making milk chocolate). Each maker will have a different list of ingredients. The ingredients are blended together through a method called conching which uses a special machine. Finally, the chocolate is tempered -heated up and then cooled again for the final result.

Chocolate Nutrition

Good quality chocolate is actually rather nutritious! It contains vitamins and minerals including calcium and magnesium. It also contains anti-oxidants that help to prevent cancer and heart disease. These benefits are found mostly in dark chocolate and only in high quality chocolates that use 60% or more cocoa solids. Cheap chocolate is mostly fat and sugar and has little nutritional value.

Storing Chocolate

You should store chocolate in a cool, dry place. It does absorb flavors so make sure you wrap it tight. You can freeze it for up to 6 months. Chocolate stays good for up to a year. Health Benefits Of Chocolate

Good high quality chocolates contain vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that can help your health. Now I’m not talking about the cheap candy bar stuff – but high quality gourmet chocolate with 60% or more cocoa solids. This chocolate contains contains calcium, iron, potassium and the vitamins A, B1, C, D and E.

Along with vitamins, high quality chocolate contains the highest amounts of magnesium among natural foods. Magnesium deficiency has been linked to diabetes, joint problems, hypertension and PMS.

One of the additional health benefits of chocolate is that it has been found to contain catechins - some of the same antioxidants found in green tea. The catechins attack free radicals which damage cells and are thought to lead to cancer and heart disease. So eating chocolate, may help to prevent heart disease and cancer!

Chocolate Trivia

- Chocolate is made from beans, the Nib is the heart of the bean or what remains after they are roasted and shelled. Ground nibs are called liquor they are unsweetened and liquid when warm but solid when cooled. The fat of the bean is Cocoa butter and when pressed out, the powdery stuff left is cocoa powder.

- That white stuff you see sometimes on milk chocolate is called fat bloom, it doesn't affect the taste and you can still eat chocolate that has it!

- Chocolate was considered an aphrodisiac by the Aztecs

- White chocolate isn't really chocolate at all since it contains no chocolate liquor! It still tastes pretty good, though doesn't it?

Lee Dobbins is a writer for Online Gourmet Foods where you can find out more about gourmet foods and chocolate.

Article source: Expert Articles

Most Recent Articles in Chocolate category

  • Gourmet Chocolates... Everybody's Weakness - By: Crizza Reyes
    Chocolate is the voice of passion and love, whether it is the love of chocolate itself or as an expression of love for another human being. The way its texture feels in your mouth as it melts is very satisfying and its richness takes this pleasure to a whole new level.
  • Indulge in Gourmet Chocolates - By: Crizza Reyes
    Chocolate is the voice of passion and love, whether it is the love of chocolate itself or as an expression of love for another human being. The way its texture feels in your mouth as it melts is very satisfying and its richness takes this pleasure to a whole new level.
  • Cocoa Beans and the Fierce Competition in the Chocolate Industry - By: Cristian Stan
    Chocolates are always referred to as feel-good foods. They are the simple luxuries of life. However, making chocolates is never simple - especially not with the fierce competition perceived in the chocolate industry these days.
  • Celebrate with custom chocolate coins - By: Ajay Shringi
    Chocolate - ah, the rich, seductive swirl of thick, creamy chocolate melting at the tip of your tongue sends all your senses into a tizzy of pleasure. Every time you bite into a piece of chocolate, whether it is white, brown or even bitter chocolate, you cannot help but heave a sigh of pure, undiluted pleasure. This is the reason why more and more people are celebrating with chocolate favors.
  • Custom chocolate cigars make the perfect gift - By: Ajay Shringi
    This year, why not floor your competition with a gift that they will never forget? Delicious, personalized chocolate cigars carrying a heartfelt personal message will leave an impression that won't go away in a hurry.
  • Cocoa Commodity Prices are affected by the US Economy - By: Cristian Stan
    With the recent slump in the U.S. economy, cocoa manufacturers have experienced a downfall in their commodity pricing. The U.S. is one of the biggest consumers of cocoa, as it is the main ingredient of chocolate and chocolate drinks. The slowdown in the U.S. economy had triggered a not-so good effect in the cocoa industry all over the world.
  • Cocoa Beans are the Super Food of the Future - By: Cristian Stan
    Super foods are defined as food items that can ward off diseases like cancer, heart ailments, cholesterol, and a whole list of others. These foods have high phytonutrient content that can only be good for your health. Any food containing significant amounts of vitamins, antioxidants, dietary fibers, minerals, and enzymes can be regarded as a super food.
  • Services provided with chocolate fountain - By: Awais Ashraf
    Since previous twenty years one of the most remarkable unmatched and fun inclusions to weddings, birthday parties and other occasions is chocolate fountain. A chocolate fountain has turned into one of the most preferable and ideal appendage for parties having a factor of joy and amazement for the crowd.
  • Hand Made Chocolates and Flowers - By: Timothy Spencer
    A bouquet of flowers always comes best with a box of chocolates. However, there are no more special than hand-made Belgian chocolates with that bunch of fresh flowers. This article explains how a box of Belgian hand-made chocolates is the best from other kinds of chocolates you can find from the nearest supermarket.
  • Sweeten Your Wedding Day - By: Promila Saini
    Traditionally, wedding days are filled with flowers and laces, yes, that could still work but where's the uniqueness and "one of a kind" concept that you are looking for? Instead of settling to the use of flowers and laces, why not try chocolates and sweets?