Don’t Loose your Temper, It’s Chocolate Baby!

If you are a certified Choco-vore, then there is not a more tempting, more alluring, more versatile, more capricious foodstuff than Chocolate. I sure don’t know one. Nothing else in my arsenal of ingredients can come close to it’s emotional effects.

I work in a Chocolate Factory at a well known International Flight Hub. As visitors cross the threshold into our shop, they slow down. First they sniff the air, some like cute little bunnies… others taking great lung buckets full. Often, their eyes glaze over. It is then that I know they’ve left the maddening hustle behind, and have found themselves wandering in their own private Wonka-World.

But how much do you REALLY know about Chocolate… comes from the South right? Full of antioxidants if you eat the dark stuff? Linked to love? Hmmmm? Has some kind of chemical that releases endorphins (“feel good” chemicals) in your Brain?

Pretty good so far. Mostly true… but what kind of BakerMan would I be if I didn’t help you clarify… and thereby appreciate more deeply the many truths behind Chocolate?

For The Chocoholics among us, this may serve as an enjoyable review (depending on your level of choco-holism) For the rest of you, grab a handful of chocolate chips and lets get started… cause this is a journey.

A History Lesson:

In order to understand why Chocolate stands out above all the others (caramels, toffees, jujubees, etc.), It is helpful to have a brief understanding of it’s Origins.

First up… The Mayans! These Meso-American cuties were building crazy pyramids and planning the Age of Aquarius, WAY back in the day. KaKaw <Myan> was a tree that they used to make a bitter spicy drink that they believed to be sent by their god, Quetzalcoatl (who, according to Mayan Entertainment Weekly, was due for a much prophesied return). When Cortez (our villain) arrived on a sunny beach, The Mayans could swear he was Quetzalcoatl in the Flesh! They welcomed him and revered him as their god. Cortez dug the popular vote, and pillaged the joint bringing about the demise of the Ancient Mayan Culture. (of course, this is all myth… or is it?)

Years and Years pass… and we come upon another ancient civilization, the Aztecs. These guys were Hot! Sophisticated. They lived not too far north from where the new Cortez Resort and Spa had been built… in what later became Mexico. They had also derived a drink and called it “Xocolatl”. But these cats had things to buy! The huge Capital city of Tenochtitlan awaited, with it’s malls and Brazilian Steak Houses. The cacao (say kah-COW) beans were not only the most awesome sought after spicy foamy cocktail, they were currency! When Columbus got there, they used their “money” in trade… and old Chris helped further Chocolate’s global dominance. (or Did He?)

It only grows around the equator, but these days appears on several continents. Today we call the plant Theobroma Cacao, which translates from ancient Greek as “food of the gods”. Needs lots of rain and plenty of shade. Florida is too far north, I already asked.

The fruit of the Cacao tree is an ovoid pod containing a pithy pith, and the cacao beans. The pods are broken open and the beans and pith are fermented for 5-7 days, then spread over drying mats and left in the sun.

The pith and beans are separated, and the beans are sent to the umpteen zillion processing plants around the world. Some of the raw Cacao beans are crushed to form “nibs”. These are then sent to companies for the million and 1 uses that you see today.

It is notable that there are 3 kinds or types of Cacao: Forastero is the most common, accounting for nearly 90% of the market. Criollo is the most rare, and sought by the worlds most reknowned Chocolate Houses. The last, Trinitario is a combination of the other 2. This is partly why you have such differing price points (among other things) from the local candy store to the Fanciest “Shop”.

The Nutrition Part:

Raw Cacao is on the list of Top 10 Superfoods. Along with such others as Spirolina, Spinach, and Soy it ranks as one of the most nutrient dense foods that you can consume. (I get mine at whole foods)

The Raw Cacao scores a whopping 95,000 on the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity). By comparison, Blueberries get 2,400. That’s a LOT of antioxidant power.

Cacao nibs contain many times the RDA of essential trace elements like: magnesium, sulphur, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium, and manganese as well as several of the B Vitamins. (BTW: “essential” signifies that not only are these elements necessary for the most basic life functions, the body alone can not produce them. They MUST be replenished DAILY from sources outside the body <food> for complete nutrition and full chemical and electrical activity to occur. Just sayin’)

The Bioflavanoids in Cacao reduce inflamation. They maintain blood pressure. They prevent fat from oxidizing and clogging arteries, and make platelets less likely to clump there by reducing the cause of blood clotting, heart attack or stroke!

But wait! Remember how we said it was associated with love?! Hang on… there is TOTALLY more:

Cacao has a good dose of Tryptophan. An amino acid that produces seratonin. Google me this: Cashews vs. Prozac… Seratonin makes us feel good, and combats feelings of depression. Cacao is loaded.

Cacao contains the neurotransmitters dopamine, and phenylethylamine (PEA), and contains anandamide and MAO Inhibitors – which make it good for the heart and Great for the Brain!

phenylethylamine (PEA) promotes mental alertness… and in some cases can prevent the onset of dementia!

And finally, Theobromine. Theobromine is a cousin of caffeine. It’s a vaso-dialator… so it opens your veins and keeps the blood moving, but is much less of a neuro-stimulant than it’s java relation.

If you don’t believe me, check this easy-to-read-for-the-non-scientist article. They did Real Research!

Oh yeah, and dogs are Deathly Allergic to Theobromine. Don’t give your dog too much… but probably enough to build up a tolerance. (no seriously… chocolate can make your dog sick as hell… even die.)

You should know that many of the aforementioned benefits and phytochemicals are destroyed and rendered useless by the processes applied to the Cacao to make it into Chocolate. Happily some compounds do survive… but I wouldn’t call a crunch bar healthy.

What’s it taste like? Tastes a little bit like Real Mocha… if Mocha were a real life nut. Crunchy. A little bitter. Nutty. Coffee Bean-ish with a faint, faint flavor of dark chocolate.

Sheesh! You need a break yet? I do! Let us reload our Chips… and then we’ll press on…

The Process Part:

The nibs and select beans are often mixed together from differing regions. The Chocolate Houses blend these beans and nibs to each their own “secret recipe”. Then they Roast ‘em. Giant tumblers are used to bring out the deep flavors of the cacao. At this point we change the name and call it Cocoa.

After Roasting, Great presses squeeze the bejesus out of the cocoa. This separates the Cocoa Butter and the Chocolate Liquor.

CLARIFICATION ALERT

COCOA BUTTER:

We are all vaguely familiar with Cocoa Butter. It is in all manner of sunscreen, make up, moisturizers and food stuffs. It is Pure Fat… but not nasty french fry fat. This is Mono-Unsaturated. It is hard (or what we in the kitchen refer to as “plastic”) at room temperature. It’s melting point is, ironically 98.6°F <accounting for that ridiculously thick melty mouth feel> Cocoa Butter is quite literally the best moisturizer you can find. It is also QUITE edible and has a very light flavor of Chocolate.

Case History: I went to school in Scottsdale Arizona. Within 3 days of arriving, my skin was so dry (having nearly sprouted gills in the humidity of Florida), that my knuckles and elbows cracked open and blood was spilled. Several interweb searches sent me to the health food store for pure 100% Cocoa Butter. By the 2^nd day, my skin had returned to that of a new born babe. No Lie. Cocoa Butter is amazing stuff (and practically grease-less)

CHOCOLATE LIQUOR:

Not at ALL what it sounds like. This consists of all the solids that are not cocoa butter. It is pressed into dry cakes for shipment, storage, and usage. It has a room temperature shelf life of over 10 (ten) years. You will be hard pressed to find a piece of Chocolate that has “gone bad”. <see the bit about milk and white chocolate. They go bad, eventually> Chocolate Liquor is ground and sometimes treated with an Alkali to appear on the shelf as Cocoa Powder (sometimes Dutch Processed). This is what they refer to when they talk about the dark chocolate’s percentage…. 53%… 64%…. 72% (really super dark!). This is the amount of Chocolate Liquor present in any type of chocolate. And for the organic compounds that have survived <mostly mind control substances>, this is where they’ll be. Chocolate Liquor is Fat Free.

From here the chocolate liquor is sent to a Chonching Facility. Immense rollers press and press on the chocolate liquor until it is smmmmooooooooth. SO smooth.

And then,  the chocolate liquor and the cocoa butter come together again. More Science, Flavor Profiles, and Mouth Feel are applied for the perfect bar.

For Milk Chocolate, Dairy products and sugar are added. Mmmmmm… Creamy. The presence of dairy reduces the shelf life of Milk Chocolate. But only considerably… thank Henri. Henri Nestle partnered with Daniel Peter, a Swiss candle maker who had been experimenting with a new product; Milk Chocolate. Together they discovered how to remove the moisture from the milk creating the first solid bar in history in the 1800′s.

For White Chocolate, No chocolate liquor is used. Instead, dairy and sugar with other flavors and emulsifiers are mixed with at least 20% Cocoa Butter by weight. Since the FDA use the butter and the liquor to make the decision of whether a product can be labeled “Chocolate”, White is In!

There are many classifications of chocolate product. The regulations differ in every country. Read all about semi-sweet, bitter-sweet and ever so much more over yonder on wiki wiki wooooo.

The Tempering Part:

Chocolate, with all it’s creamy goodness is still a crystalline molecular structure. The 2 types of crystals are labeled A and B, and they melt at different temperatures… but not very far apart at all.

The term “Tempering” or “Tempered Chocolate” refers to the heating and cooling of the chocolate to precise temperatures. This allows all of the crystals to melt and then re-align in a network for the final product. By achieving a proper temper, the chocolate will be shiny, will set in minutes without refrigeration, and will have that iconic “snap” when broken. When you bust open your favorite bar and it snaps at your bite, That’s Tempered Chocolate.

Conversely, you may have gotten a bar… or a bag of chips that looks dusty, or old. <remember the 10 yr shelf life>. What you see is the cocoa butter which has floated to the surface. When chocolate gets too warm, it “looses temper”, the crystals that melt at the lower temp have done so and released the butter from the network. The chocolate is said to have “bloomed”.

Chocolate Bloom has NO affect on quality or taste of the product. Go back and read that again please.

However, un-tempered chocolate will not act the same way as tempered. Ever melted some chips and dipped a berry? Had to finally put it in the refrigerator right? Remember that cocoa butter is “plastic” at room temperature. So the fridge works. BUT- the berries melted quickly at your touch… and maybe even became messy. Tempered Chocolate is far more shelf stable. You needn’t ask a chocolatier this question: “excuse me, is this tempered?” you will sound like a bone head. It is.

Tempering Chocolate in the home is possible, but a little precise. Which is why people rely on ready made choco-flavored melt and dip … uh…. crap. Again, tempering is not difficult but it does take practice.

And I mentioned Capricious. Oy. Chocolate is like a Diva on opening night, on steroids. The temperature has to be JUST RIGHT, and there better not be the slightest moisture near her. At All. One single drop of water from a finger tip can render 5 #’s of chocolate (or more) completely useless. Remember, water and oil don’t mix. <chocolate in other uses, when blended with other ingredients can never temper. Proceed with your recipe or formula as printed when using chocolate>

And now, with tempered chocolate… you can enjoy some of the most astounding confections the World has ever known. Cacao sent by gods, manipulated by the scientific hand of man creates what may be the most requested flavor in the pastry kitchen.

Eat the Dark stuff, they say it’s better for ya