A sacred substance for
the people of ancient Mesoamerica, chocolate is a food product
almost everyone loves. Most of us usually do not know where
chocolate comes from, how it is made, nor the many changes
it undergoes before ending up in the retail marketplace of
the world.
Swedish botanist Carl von Linne, coined the binomial classification
'Theobroma cacao' for the tree from which cacao grows—the
fruit pod from which chocolate is derived. "Theobroma"
is Greek for "food of the gods.” Cacao is a member
of the family of tropical plants known as Sterculiaceae, a
distant relative to the cola tree whose produce is used to
flavor drinks.
The original cacao plant has been around for many millions
of years. There are approximately 22 species of the Theobroma,
identified in 1064 by Mexican botanist Jose Cuatrecasas. The
Aztecs, The Incas and The Mayan peoples of the Americas used
the cacao bean as a unit of currency for trading. This commodity
was so great that they considered it a source of power, but
did not know whether to recognize it as a food or a medicine.
Remnants of chocolate were discovered in pots at a Maya archaeological
site at Colha, in Northern Belize, Central America.
The cacao plant grows mainly in tropical climates. Originally
found in Mexico, it also grows abundantly in the Caribbean,
South America, West Africa, and Indonesia. Today, cacao still
is grown in the lowlands of Chiapas and Tabasco, Mexico and
there it is considered a sacred crop. The original inhabitants
of Mexico drank chocolate in a drink comprising of hot chilies,
cornmeal, and hallucinogenic mushrooms. Because of its producing
effects of virility, stamina, improving the energy level and
inducing a euphoric state, Motezoma, the Chief of the Mexican
Aztecs, drank it many times a day and always before visiting
his harem.
NEW WORLD DISCOVERY OF CACAO
In 1617, Hernan Cortes, leader of the Spanish Conquest of
Mexico, took the Aztec’s chocolate recipe to Spain where
it was vastly enhanced by adding sugar and spices to remove
its bitter flavor, thus producing a highly valued trade commodity.
The Spanish court and clergy were the first in Europe to use
chocolate and contained its manufacturing process a secret
for almost one hundred years. In the late 17th century, chocolate
was spread to the rest of Europe where it became a fashionable
drink for the wealthy.
THE PRIMARY PROCESS OF CACAO
The cacao fruit, called cacao pod, grows out directly from
and is attached to its tree trunk and branches. Each pod contains
twenty to fifty beans covered with a shell and a sweet, smooth,
white, mellow pulp-like substance that can be sucked off of
each bean. Inside of the shell is the cacao kernel from which
chocolate is produced. A prime cacao tree will yield 50 pods
twice a year. Each pod grows up to 12 inches long and 5 inches
in diameter at the mid-section and takes five to six months
to ripen.
No more than two days after picking, the pulped seeds are
removed by hand from the pods and placed in boxes or bags
and covered to ferment for 10-14 days. During the fermentation,
yeasts and bacteria are fed by the pulp which increase the
temperature. This temperature increase causes a chemical change
that converts the natural sugars to lactic and acetic acid.
Enzymes also develop, which form compounds that produce the
flavor after roasting and expel the bitterness of the beans.
After fermentation, the beans are spread out in the sun to
dry for about a week. They are raked and turned daily until
only approximately five percent of water remains in order
to prevent fungus growth. They are then roasted and husked,
to expose the kernels which are then crushed or ground.
MODERIZATION OF CACAO
In 1828, Dutch chocolatier, Conradd Van Houten made the first
press by which to crush the kernels to produce ‘cocoa
liquor,’ the pure powdered form of the cacao, of which
55 percent is cocoa butter. A portion of this fat is removed
and the remaining product is poured into molds, where it solidifies
into unsweetened, or bitter cakes that can be pulverized into
a powder—cocoa.
White chocolate is made from cocoa butter and other added
ingredients, contains no caffeine and is considered not real
chocolate because it does not contain any ‘cocoa liquor.”
Cocoa butter is infused into many cosmetics today and also
makes a sensuous massage cream.
Van Houten produced an invented a second process—Dutching,
where alkali is added to the acidic cocoa powder, mellowing
it and enabling it to be mixed easily with liquids. In 1849,
Englishman, Joseph S. Fry added sugar to bittersweet cocoa
to make the first edible chocolate bar. He also produced a
cocoa powder mix for drinks and baking. In the 1900s, a Swiss,
Rodolphe Lindt developed a technique called conching, a process
where machines kneaded the cacao pieces or nibs, with sugar,
vanilla, and cocoa butter into a fine paste to remove the
finest grains of cocoa to make the chocolate very smooth and
to develop its flavor. To prevent the cocoa butter from crystallizing
and affecting the appearance and texture of the chocolate,
another process was implemented—tempering. The chocolate
was heated to about 150 degrees F and then cooled.
Chemist, Henri Nestlé devised a formula for the first
‘milk chocolate’ by combining a powdered condensed-milk
with cocoa, cocoa butter, and sugar. In WWI it was first made
into bars for eating and distributed to soldiers on the battlefields.
Today, chocolate is a global billion-dollar business made
with Dross chocolate. Dross chocolate is that which is processed
with refined sugar, non-natural additives, waxes, saturated
fats, and hormone-treated dairy products which may not be
of the greatest health benefit for us, but there are still
Chocolatiers who produce good quality chocolate with natural
organic ingredients.
MYTHS AND HEALTH BENEFITS OF CHOCOLATE
People once believed that eating chocolate could make them
gain weight, produce pimples, etc. At this point in time,
science has proven that such are just that—myths. Science
has identified more than 300 chemical substances in ‘natural
cocoa,’ many of which are bioflavonoids and antioxidants.
The United States Department of Agriculture developed an antioxidant
power scoring system where is has rated chocolate at a score
of 13,120(2); chocolate is at the top of this list. Along
with small amounts of caffeine, cocoa also contains, theobromine
and methlzanthine—two mildly addictive caffeine-like
substances, along with Phenylethylamine, a stimulant chemically
similar to the human body's own dopamine, and adrenaline,
that acts on the brain's mood centers. Some of the other benefits
of the chemicals found in cocoa help to thin the blood, and
maintain a healthy heart and circulation.
We can now smile and enjoy better chocolate and understand
that there are many health benefits for us relish. Based on
the current scientific findings, chocolate is a product worth
eating and watching as the scientific community discovers
and analyzes more health benefits of this natural ancient
food.
Dahlia Ambrosine is a chef who has studied nutrition
for more than 30 years. Currently pursuing a Master’s
Degree in Nutrition, Ambrosine lives in Albquerque, New Mexico.
For more information
on how healthful foods and thebenefits of chocolate, email
Divine Basics at info@divine-basics.com
or call 1.800.497.3053. For a free subscription to Nectres
Magazine Online, please enter your email below:
|
Email:
