CHOCOLATE
Fine chocolate can actually help lower your
cholesterol.
Real vanilla is only used in fine chocolate.
Most household brands, 'family chocolate',
contain vanillin, an artificial vanilla which is
easily smelt and produces a nasty aftertaste.
At certain times of a woman's monthly cycle
her body craves magnesium - fine chocolate
has a high magnesium count.
Cocoa contains over 500 distinct flavour
compounds resulting in an extremely complex
blend of flavour and aromas.
Chocolate melts at 34°C, just below body
temperature, it therefore melts immediately
when it is placed in the mouth.
In the 17th Century hot chocolate was made
with a selection of spices and peppers to
flavour the cocoa – Try it, experiment, it's good.
The best cocoa comes from Criollo beans.
These used to be the main source of cocoa but they now only represent 4% of world production. The Chocolate Society sells a bar made from pure Criollo beans.
Chocolate contains phenylethylamine, an amino acid which has aphrodisiac properties and is also good for helping to ease a hangover.
In 1900 Queen Victoria sent special made chocolate bars to soldiers fighting in the Boer War as a New Year's greeting.
Ever Wonder How Chocolate is made?
It all begins on a plantation within 2 degrees of the equator. 1 cacao tree, planted in the shade of a larger tree, will produce 5 pounds of chocolate per year (each seedling takes 5-8 years to mature, so starting a plantation can take a while).
At harvest time, plantation works gather, split and dry the cacao beans until they have reached a moisture content of only 7%. The average harvest requires 400 fermenting trays, 50 long-handled pod whoppers, 25 machetes, and a lot of burlap.
The dried pulp and other debris is removed from the beans. The beans are then sorted, selected and roasted. The outer shell is removed and the nibs are left to be crushed by a mill. The heat generated liquefies the pulp, resulting in what is referred to as “chocolate mass”. This mass is then sweetened and cooled into bricks to be used by chocolatiers like Stephany's Chocolates.
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