Guilty Pleasure

Feeling the gooey goodness of chocolates in your mouth is one of the most underrated pleasures. Usha S makes learning about the making of this addictive confectionery fun and educative.

What makes you close your eyes, tilt your head towards the skies, and make slurping sounds, unmindful of who or what is around you? A chocolate, I bet. Until few decades ago, there were only small toffees wrapped in colour paper, which every child would pester his or her parents to buy. However, over the years, with chocolates appearing in so many sizes, shapes, flavours and varieties, we have been spoilt for choice.

This ‘most wanted’ confectionery has a long history of its own, coming down on a soft sweet road with a colourful boulevard. The word ‘chocolate’ comes from the lingua of Aztecs in Mexico. It is derived from the word Xocolat, which is a combination of the words, Xocolli, meaning bitter and Nauhat, which means watery. This is also associated with Xochiquetzal, the goddess of fertility. Chocolates made out of cocoa solids are available in three common varieties - dark, milk and white ones. .

The source

The cocoa is obtained from the seeds of the tropical plant cacao. It is a natural plant available in low-land tropical areas of South America. This plant has been in existence for millions of years, going right back to 1100 BC. Over this period, it was used to make beverages on special occasions. Cocoa seeds were also used in the barter system, where one turkey was exchanged for 100 cocoa seeds and one fresh avocado would cost three beans. 

Another notable thing about cocoa is that it was unheard of in Europe until the 16th Century. The first chocolate house was opened in England in 1657. The processing of cocoa seeds remained unchanged for many centuries, until the era of Industrial Revolution.

 Cacao trees are small plants, which grow in rich, well-drained soil. It is a natural crop within a radius of 20 degrees on either side of the Equator, where the annual rainfall is around 200 cm and the temperature is 21-32°C. About two-thirds of the world’s production of cocoa comes from Western Africa.

Making it

Harvesting of cacao beans is a delicate process. The pods containing cacao beans are cut from the tree. The beans and surrounding pulp are recovered from the pod and placed in piles or bins for fermentation. This process gives the chocolate the required taste.

 The pods are harvested only when they are fully ripe, or else, they will yield low quality cocoa butter and insufficient cocoa sugar in the white pulp. After fermentation, the beans are dried to prevent the growth of mould. Dried beans are cleaned, roasted and graded. In the next process, shells are removed to extract the nib. Finally, the nibs are ground, which releases and melts the cocoa butter to give the chocolate liquor. Conching is another process involved here, where the refined and blended chocolate is filled in a container with metal beads, which act as grinders. 

The chocolate, which is kept in the liquid state, is heated by friction. When this uneven and gritty texture is removed, it makes cocoa and sugar particles smaller and smoother. This process, which occurs in tanks at around 750°C, needs about 72 hours. Then the final process or tempering is carried out, wherein uniform sheen and crisp bite are achieved. Accuracy and consistency can be measured with a temperature meter. 

Commonly used cocoa comes in three varieties – Criollo, Forastero and Trinitario. The rarest and most expensive among these is Criollo, the share of which is only five per cent of the total global growth. These are of low yield and difficult to grow, as they are vulnerable to environmental threats. Forastero is a commonly-grown variety, which is largely known as Amazon and African variety.

 Trinitario is a natural hybrid of these two varieties.  The presence of cocoa is what gives the chocolate the brown colour. Much of the chocolates that we consume contain cocoa butter with milk powder and sugar, and no cocoa solids, because of which they are not considered pure. 

Healthy and happy

Chocolates contain alkaloids such as theobromine and phenethylamine, which have physiological effects on the human body. Scientists claim that chocolates eaten in moderate quantity can lower blood pressure. Dark chocolates are believed to have immense health benefits as they possess considerable amount of antioxidants, which reduces the formation of free radicals. 

According to a study, melting chocolates in one’s mouth produces increased brain activity and heart rate that is more intent than passionate kissing! Also, the cocoa content in chocolate is a rich source of flavonoids, while epicatechin and gallic acid are understood to contain cardio-protective properties that reduce the chances of heart attack.

India on the map

India’s name in the world market of cocoa was almost unknown until the formation of Central Arcanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Co-operative Limited, popularly known as CAMPCO, in 1973. A joint venture of the Karnataka and Kerala governments to save the dwindling market for cocoa, the organisation has managed to establish a world market for Indian Cocoa. Though our share is only 0.3 percent of the world production, the quality produced here is being compared with some of the best in the world.