The evolution of a royal drink into a staple of life
By Suzanne Biro
Chocolate is the embodiment of romance. Casanova, the famous lover of the 1700s, proclaimed that chocolate was a seductive tool akin to champagne. With Valentine’s Day coming up, chocolate is a sure bet for brownie points (no pun intended).
I am a self admitted chocoholic – I’m not talking a Mars-bar-a-day addiction but the good quality chocolates like Lindt, Valrhona or Callebeaut must be within arms reach so that I can break off a square or two every day. It is easy to justify a daily intake as chocolate contains vitamin D, iron, potassium and magnesium. The melt-in-your-mouth chocolate that we take for granted today is a centuries-old experiment that, even today, continues to be perfected. The alchemy that is the art of chocolate making can be likened to making a great wine and it is a true testimony of human perseverance and ingenuity.
The Central American Mayans and the Mexican Aztecs were the first to discover and use cocoa beans. They roasted the beans and pounded them in a mortar, mixing the resulting paste with chillis, annatto for colour, vanilla and sometimes flowers and honey to be served as a spicy beverage called xocoatl. This concoction would have been very bitter, fatty and quite grainy and thick in texture. Nevertheless, it was a highly prized beverage reserved for rulers and soldiers as it was believed to confer strength, vigor and wisdom. It was also considered a powerful aphrodisiac.
The Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, introduced cocoa beans to the Spanish court in 1528 when he returned from his conquest of Central America. Charles V, then King of Spain, was taken by the drink and suggested the addition of sugar to make it more palatable. It instantly became a drink revered by the nobles of the Spanish court, the only people who could afford such an expensive drink; the cocoa beans as well as the sugar were commodities harvested in far off lands. Cortes established a cocoa plantation in Mexico and he took beans with him to plant when he sailed to West Africa, Trinidad and Haiti.
The Spanish kept the chocolate beverage a secret until the early 1600s. A marriage between Spanish Anne of Austria to Lois XIII of France introduced chocolate to the courts of France and later, in 1660, the French established cocoa plantations in the West Indies and Brazil. During the latter part of the 17th century, chocolate houses, rivalling coffee houses, began popping up in London and other European cities. In addition to being extremely expensive, the beverage was also very rich and difficult to digest as the beans maintained 55 per cent of the cocoa butter after grinding.
The search for a lighter chocolate beverage revolutionized the chocolate industry. In 1828, a Dutch chemist, Coenraad van Houten, invented a press which eliminated all but one third of the cocoa butter, leaving a chocolate powder – what we now know today as cocoa. Unwittingly, van Houten had also discovered a method for isolating cocoa butter from the paste ground from cocoa beans (called liquor).
The English firm, Fry & Sons, were the first to introduce "eating chocolate" by adding controlled amounts of cocoa butter and sugar to chocolate liquor. However, it was the Swiss who refined "eating chocolate" from a grainy harshly flavoured product to the creamy smooth chocolate that we eat today. In 1875, French Swiss Henri Nestle and Daniel Peter invented milk chocolate by adding milk solids to the mixture. Further Swiss inventions, Lindt’s "fondant" chocolate and Suchard’s filled chocolates, began to pave the way for an insatiable appetite for the sweet. The world’s production of cocoa beans needed to increase to fulfil the increasing demand.
The botanical name of the tree that produces cacao pods is Theobroma Cacao, which translates from ancient Greek as "food of the gods." Cacao is used to refer to the tree and its pods while cocoa refers to the powder produced from the beans. Three quarters of the world’s cultivation of cacao lies within eight degrees of either side of the equator The trees thrive in a hot and humid environment so most of the cacao beans grown today come from West Africa, Indonesia, Brazil and Malaysia, with smaller amounts coming from Caribbean and South American countries. Like wine, each region produces different flavour profiles and characteristics.
There are three types of cacao beans that are cultivated, 90 per cent of which are Forastero beans, a good, basic type of bean. Criollo beans are the original "wild" variety of bean. They are native to Venezuela and produce the most complex, flavourful and delicate chocolates. These trees are not very robust and are difficult to harvest. Trinitario trees are hybrids of the previous two, less fragile but approaching the same flavour complexities of the Criollo. Each chocolate producer selects a combination of different types of beans.
Surprisingly, raw cacao beans have no chocolate flavour. The most critical step in chocolate production is fermentation. After the cacao pods are cut down, they are split to reveal the pulp and cacao seeds. The pods are arranged in boxes or on trays to cure or ferment for about a week in the hot sun. This process gets rid of a lot of the astringent properties within the bean and enzymatic action occurs which form flavour precursors. If this stage is not performed properly no amount of refinement can make the beans palatable.
The beans are then roasted to fully develop flavour. Roasting times vary between chocolate manufacturers, bean type and for different types of chocolate. The roasted beans are then shelled (winnowed) and ground in a heavy press. The frictional heat from grinding separates the cocoa butter from the chocolate liquor. The paste or chocolate liquor contains the flavour and aroma of chocolate. Varying amounts of cocoa butter, sugar and flavours are then added to the paste and processed until a fluid, smooth and creamy distribution of particles results. Entire books have been devoted to these processes; this is a very simplified version of the process.
Flavour variations within chocolates differ between chocolate manufacturers and are closely guarded secrets. The art of flavouring is as complex as perfume development and includes ingredients such as vanilla, cinnamon, aniseed, essential oils of almond, lemon, orange, bay leaves, caraway, coriander and celery seed, as well as varieties of balsams and resins. Flavouring milk chocolate has a lot to do with the degree to which the milk solids, derived from full cream, are caramelized before being added to the liquor. White chocolate has no chocolate liquor in it so the flavour comes from the cocoa butter.
Cocoa butter is a highly prized and expensive commodity on the market today, especially for use in the cosmetics industry. As a result, many chocolate manufacturers will add other fats to cocoa butter so they can save a percentage of their costs. Usually soya lecithin is used as an emulsifier. Manufacturers are legally allowed to add up to 5 per cent of "other fats" and still market their product as chocolate. Anything labeled "chocolate flavoured" or "chocolaty coating" for example will exceed the allowable amount and is therefore an inferior product.
Given all the variables in chocolate production and the array of flavours that make up different brands of chocolate, it becomes a matter of personal taste for individual preferences. As with many good things, quality comes with a higher price.
The following recipe is fantastic and showcases good chocolate wonderfully. It is also simple but you do need an 8-inch spring form pan and an electric beater. It comes from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible. This would impress any valentine as a gift truly from the heart – and in the grand scheme of things, far cheaper than a dozen roses and a dinner out on the town – it only contains three ingredients.
Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte (let come to room temperature before eating)
1 pound/ 454 grams bittersweet chocolate (Lindt or Ghirardelli are available in Whistler, Callebaut or Scharffen Berger can be bought in specialty stores in Vancouver; Baker’s will not be as good)
1 cup unsalted butter
6 large eggs
Butter and line with buttered waxed paper an 8 by 2 and 1/2 inch spring form pan. Wrap the outside of the pan with a double layer of aluminum foil. Preheat the oven to 425F.
In a large metal bowl set over a pan of hot, not simmering, water combine the chocolate and butter and let stand, stirring occasionally, until smooth and melted. (The mixture can be melted in the microwave on high power, stirring every 15 seconds. Remove when there are still a few lumps of chocolate and stir until fully melted.)
In a large bowl set over a pan of simmering water heat the eggs, stirring constantly to prevent curdling, until just warm to the touch. Remove from the heat and beat, using the whisk beater, until triple in volume and soft peaks form when the beater is raised, about 5 minutes. (To insure maximum volume if using a hand mixer, beat the eggs over simmering water until they are hot to the touch, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat until cool.)
Using a large metal whisk or spatula, fold half the eggs into the chocolate mixture until almost incorporated. Fold in the remaining eggs until just blended and no streaks remain. Scrape into the prepared pan and smooth with the spatula. Set the pan in a larger pan and surround it with 1 inch of very hot water. Bake 5 minutes. Cover loosely with a piece of buttered foil and bake 10 minutes. (The cake will look soft but this is as it should be.)
Let the cake cool on a rack for 45 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very firm, about three hours.
To un-mold, have a serving plate ready and a flat plate covered with plastic wrap. Wipe the sides of the pan with a hot, damp cloth. Run a thin metal knife or spatula around the sides of the cake and release the sides of the spring form. Place the plastic lined plate on top and invert. Use a hot, damp towel to wipe the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan bottom. Re-invert onto the serving plate. Serve with whipped cream and raspberry, mango or other fruit sauce. It will keep 2 weeks refrigerated.
