How is chocolate made, so lovingly, by the Master Torrefacteur or baker, who specialises in cocoa? By using only the best cocoa beans from the Criollo cocoa plant, originally grown in Venzuela, Central America and Mexico. Although only about 5% of the world's cocoa cultivation is from this plant, due to its susceptibility to insects & disease, it is reserved for only the very best chocolates and cacaos.
FERMENTATION.
The next stage to the question "How is Chocolate Made" is when the bean is fermented in wooden trays for around 5 days, a process which develops flavour, darkens the cocao beans, and reduces bitterness. The yeasts are naturally occuring in the environment and the bean high suger content is conducive to good fermentation. Cocoa seeds are then dried and shipped to their various destinations for turning into CHOCOLATE!
PROCESSING.
The first task is to inspect the consignment to ensure quality, then to gently wash the cocoa beans prior to being roasted by the Torrefacteur, using his skill to choose optimum temperature & length of roasting to ensure the fullest resulting flavours. Then the beans are ground finer and finer until they become cocoa paste, which will later become either chocolate or cocoa powder.
CONCHING.
This stage of cocoa production is best described as "Black Magic" because it is the stage that determines the final taste & texture of the chocolate in your mouth. Vanilla, sugar and maybe other ingredients, according to taste, are added, the cocoa paste being heated to between 43c & 82c. The temperature must be kept stable throughout this process to maintain quality. When Conching has finished, the mixture is transferred to tanks where it is stirred and cooled to around 45c, ready to be poured into oscilliating moulds to ensure no air bubbles are left in the final product.
COCOA BUTTER.
Cocoa butter posses the unique property of solidifying at room temperature and yet melting at 32c-34c. Zchocolat only use cocoa butter, not vegetable fats, in their chocolate. Cocoa butter is also naturally resistant to rancidity - another plus factor, and therefore an essential indredient in best quality chocolate. What isn't used in chocolate manufactering is sold off to cosmetics houses to produce the finest skin care products available. Cocoa oils are very good in eliminating dandruff naturally.
COCOA POWDER.
If all the cocoa butter is removed from the paste, the result is cocoa powder which is used in making ZChocolat's finest chocolate drinks! So unbelievebly smooth on your palate!
This concludes the process of "How is chocolate made". The cocoa tree "discovered" by Cortez and distributed all round the equitorial regions of the world, has become a $Billion industry aimed at satisfying our cravings for that dark, lustrous, smooth tasting, melt-in-the-mouth sensation known as - CHOCOLATE.
How is chocolate made - It all starts with The Cocoa tree.
Cocoa pods ripening in situ prior to being harvested. The cocoa tree (Theobroma Cacao) meaning "food of the Gods" only grows in humid, tropical regions between 20deg North and South of the Equator, and demands regular & abundant rains and a potassium & nitrogen rich soil, with plenty of trace elements. Young cocoa trees are particularly delicate and vulnerable to direct sunlight and wind, which is why they are invariably planted with host rubber, banana & cotton trees to provide shade.
ABOUT
Handmade Gourmet Chocolates gives you, the customer,
access to high quality, non mass-produced handmade chocolates, plus
related superior products from other reputable merchants. You are the
most important part of the equation; a satisfied customer recommends
others! Thank you for your custom.
Enjoy your gourmet chocolates!
Contact information:-
If you have any comments or suggestions about this site, or products,
please contact me, the owner, as follows:-
Mike Jozefiak
203 Hungate Street
Aylsham
Norfolk
U.K.
