Some people would walk over hot coals for chocolate, some would always have a stash in the house. It has been around since ~1400 BC, that's 3,500 years ago kiddies. Although it would not have tasted anything like what we have today, it would have been the unprocessed cocoa beans.
The principal ingredient of chocolate is the cocoa bean, but how does it get from bean to chocolate bar? A little bit of research found this very handy diagram, which I had no idea of.
- Harvest cocoa pods, open, ferment seed
- Roast seeds, crack open, separate the shells from the nibs
- Grind nibs to make Chocolate Liquor (I think this is the "100% Cacao" that you can buy, correct me if I am wrong)
- Press Liquor to separate Cocoa Butter from Cocoa
- And some of the Cocoa Butter to the Chocolate Liquor
How did anyone come up with this process? Nutter.
For interests sake, I checked out the ingredients on my favourite chocolate drink, Milo:
Here is the audio from the show:
For interests sake, I checked out the ingredients on my favourite chocolate drink, Milo:
Extract of malted barley, milk solid, sugar, cocoa vegetable oil [containing one or more of the following: palm oil, palm olein, coconut oil, palm kernel oil, whey, corn oil, soya oil] whey ACTIGEN-E [dicalcium phosphate, magnesium carbonate ascorbic acid, vitamin pp, ferric pyrophosphate, calcium-d-pantothenate, vitamin B6, vitamin B2, vitamin B1, D-biotin, vitamin B12, disodium phosphate, vanillin, maltodextrin.
and have just realised how evil it is, with very minimal actual cacao. I would like to know what cocoa vegetable oil actually is.
The reason for this was to find out more about chocolate, and in particular tempering chocolate, and so I went straight to the source and interviewed Gillian from Cygneture Chocolates.
Unfortunately the recording at the Salamanca Markets is little ify, but we did have a delightful chat about how she started out, and how chocolate is tempered. Fascinating. And she also has shared a recipe with us:
Chocolate & Beetroot Brownies
by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
(& adapted by Gillian from Cygneture Choc)
250g unsalted butter, cut in
cubes (I use Ashgrove or Elgaar)
250g dark chocolates (between 50
& 70% cocoa, depending on how sweet/ bitter you want it)
3 medium eggs (use free-range,
they taste better 'cause they're from happier chooks!)
250g caster sugar (I personally
use less)
150g self-raising flour (either
white or wholemeal, if using Callington Mill, just add 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
& pinch of salt)
250g fresh beetroot, boil
until tender, cool peel & grate.
1. Grease a shallow baking
tin & line with baking paper
2. Put butter & chocolate in
heatproof bowl. Set oven to 180 degrees centigrade/ gas mark 4. place bowl in
oven until chocolate & butter start to melt, stir & return to oven to
melt thoroughly.
3. Whisk eggs & sugar
together in large bowl to combine, add chocolate mixture & beat until
smooth.
4. Sift dry ingredients into
chocolate mixture and fold gently with large metal spoon.
5. Fold in grated beetroot, be
careful not to over-mix or it will make the brownies tough.
6. Pour mixture into tin and bake
for 20-25 minutes. Test by inserting a knife or skewer into the centre of the
brownie, it should come out with a few moist crumbs on it. DO NOT OVER COOK or
you'll end up with rubbery door stops!!!!
7. Remove from tin & allow to
cool on wire rack before cutting into squares.
8. Eat to your heart's content.
As a coincidence, I was at a friends place for dinner and the post-dessert dish was a selection of chocolates, including the entire range of Willies from England.
It was amazing to try so many different dark chocolates, all ranging from 68-80% cacao. The single origin chocolates from Willie (he is that mad Brit on TV, trying to make the worlds best chocolate bar) was really fascinating as there was a real difference in flavour, due only to where the cacao had grown. I was privileged to have been shown this. We also tried to wrap our tongues around this bad boy:
100% Pure Cacao. Careful, it will take your head off.
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