Chocolate / Choklad / Cioccolato / Suklaa

Chocolate originates from the tropical cacao tree. Chocolate is made from the fermented, roasted, and toasted beans taken from the pod of the tropical cacao tree Theobroma cacao, native to South America but now cultivated throughout the tropics. The beans have an intensely flavored bitter taste. It is one of the most popular foods that stimulate the taste buds and alters the mood. Looking back in history, the first cocoas were made by the Aztecs and the Mayas followed by the Europeans.

The cacao tree is Theobroma cacao, translated as “food of the Gods” in English.

Types of Chocolate

The different types of chocolates can be produced by varying the different ingredients, time and temperature while roasting the beans.

Unsweetened chocolate is a pure chocolate liquor, tastes bitter, also unadulterated chocolate. This imparts a very strong and deep chocolate flavor.

Dark chocolate is chocolate without milk. It is sometimes called "plain chocolate." This is called as "sweet chocolate," in US and requires a 15 percent concentration of chocolate liquor.

Milk chocolate is chocolate with added milk powder or condensed milk. As per the US regulations, this chocolate requires a 10 percent concentration of chocolate liquor.

Semisweet chocolate is dark chocolate with high sugar content and generally used for cooking purpose.

Bittersweet chocolate is chocolate which has more cocoa, less sugar and more liquor than semisweet chocolate. However these can be used interchangeably in baking.

Couverture is chocolate rich in cocoa butter. As a general rule, higher the percentage of cocoa, the less sweet the chocolate will be. The most popular brands of couverture used by professional pastry chefs as well as sold in gourmet include: Valrhona, Felchlin, Lindt & Sprüngli, Scharffen Berger, Cacao Barry, Callebaut, and Guittard.

White chocolate is a mixture of cocoa butter, sugar, and milk, not technically a chocolate.

Cocoa powder is made by pressing chocolate liquor to remove all the cocoa butter. There are two types of unsweetened baking cocoa: natural and Dutch-processed. Natural cocoa is light in color, a bit acidic with a strong chocolate flavor. Dutch cocoa is slightly milder in taste, with a deeper and warmer color than natural cocoa. Dutch-process cocoa is frequently used for chocolate drinks such as hot chocolate due to its ease in blending with liquids. Gianduja chocolateis the European style chocolate made from chocolate and nut paste. The paste can be made either from Hazelnut or almond. Also seen in milk or dark chocolate varieties. Gianduja chocolate can be used as a flavoring or as a substitute for milk or dark chocolate. It’s too soft to be used for moulding but soft enough to be rolled and cut.

"Candy coating" chocolate is also known as “confectionery coating,” “summer coating,” or “compound coating.” This product does not contain high amount of chocolate liquor and do not have strong chocolate flavor. These have exceptional melting and moulding properties and therefore used for candymaking. However, they should never be mixed with real coating as they are not compatible with each other making the product unappealing and discoloured.

However, there are number of different flavours like mint, orange and strawberry that may be added to the chocolate. The most commonly added ingredients added include peanuts nuts, caramel etc.