Chocolate: History

Chocolate is referred to the roasted cocoa seeds that have been sweetened and browned. Although this product can be considered food of the gods, it has been used for the past 4000 years as a bitter drink instead of a sweet edible delicacy. According to anthropologists, chocolate was originally made in Mexico in 1900 B.C. by pre-Olmec traditions. Manufacturing (Coe and Coe 37). The Mesoamericans who grew cocoa lived in the rainforests of Central America. Cultures roasted, ground, and fermented cacao seeds into a paste that was then combined with honey, vanilla, chili peppers, water, and various flavorings to create chocolate beverages. The Aztec, Mayan, and Olmec cultures discovered chocolate as a humour enhancer, an invigorating drink and aphrodisiac hence making them believe that it possessed spiritual and mystical qualities. Due to the attributions, the communities in Mesoamerica worshipped the deity of cacao and booked chocolate for priests, nobles, fighters and rules at hallowed celebrations (Baker 123).

By 1500s, the Spanish explorers including Hernan Cortes returned with chocolate from Mexico. Even if the Spanish sweetened chocolate with cinnamon and cane sugar, it was a delectable sign of power, wealth, and luxury. Spain kept chocolate as a secret for almost one century but it was disclosed to France in 1615 when King Philip III daughter married King Louis XIII (Beckett 217). The attractiveness of chocolate spread rapidly to many European courts and other parts of the world during colonization period. The British company known as J.S Fry and Sons in 1847 produced the foremost solid edible bar of chocolate from the cocoa powder, butter, and sugar. Later, Lindt Rodolphe invented the conching machine that produced chocolate that hade superior taste and velvety texture while other advances permitted for mass manufacture of creamy milk and smooth varieties (Baker 164). Currently, there are different chocolate products which are produced by distinct companies.

Production Process

Since the cacao seeds have a bitter taste, they are fermented to produce a flavour. The fermentation is done by heaping up the beans on dark green leaves and then rapped where they stay for five to eight days. When fermentation has taken place, the beans are cleaned, dried and roasted. The roasting takes place between 120 and 1490C after which the colour is developed as well as the chocolate aroma (Beckett 189). When the roasting is done, the beans are crushed to discharge the inner nib from the shells. The nibs are blown via the air tunnel where shell fragments are removed. The nibs are ground to form a thick brown liquid regarded as cocoa mass made of the about 60 percent cocoa butter together with fine particles. Later, the mass is heavily pressed to squeeze the butter out so that to have cocoa fat and powder. The powder is used then used as a chocolate for drinks, pastry, and other purposes.

Use in Pastry Industry

Chocolate is broadly used on pastry for various purposes such as sweetening, flavouring and making cakes. Furthermore, the product is used to coat different bakery products for enrichment, add texture and palatability. One of the famous pastry uses of chocolate is the making of the chocolate cake that can be made with chocolate alone or together with other ingredients such as vanilla crème, fudge, and other sweeteners (Baker 219). The most common cakes made of chocolate include the black forest, sachertorte, Joffre and garish cake.

Work Cited

Baker, Emily. Chocolate: Production, Consumption and Health Benefits. Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 2016.

Beckett, S. T. The Science of Chocolate. Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015. Print.

Coe, Sophie D., and Michael D. Coe. The True History of Chocolate. Thames & Hudson, 2013. Print.