Tema: chocolate
Good morning teacher, next my team and I are going to talk
to you about chocolate,
Members:
SANTIAGO GRACIA YAEL
CRUZ HERNANDEZ JOSE ALEJANDRO
SEVERIANO ENRIQUEZ ALEXIS
JIMENEZ PANTALEON NIDIA NAYELI
FELIX EDAHI FABIÁN SANTIAGO
What is chocolate?
Chocolate is a food produced by mixing sugar and cocoa
fruit (specifically, cocoa mass and butter), as well as other
ingredients such as milk, nuts, among others. It is a very
popular food in the world, used in different gastronomic
recipes, especially in baking and the preparation of drinks
and sweets.
origin of chocolate
The first records of chocolate making date back to the
Mesoamerican cultures of the year 3,000 BC. C., specifically
to the Olmecs, who consumed it in liquid form, after
roasting, fermenting and grinding the cocoa beans. Many
times, this drink was mixed with chilies and other foods, or
consumed after foaming, pouring it from one container to
another. Liquid chocolate was so popular in the region that
cocoa beans were used as currency among the Mayans and,
later, the Aztecs.
Western culture learned about chocolate after the conquest of
America in the 16th century and soon fell in love with its
flavor and properties. They continued to consume it as a
drink, similar to tea and coffee, until the hydraulic press was
invented in the mid-19th century and the exploitation of
cocoa butter was possible, usable for endless culinary
preparations. This is how solid chocolate emerged, ideal for
transporting to more distant destinations, such as China on
the Silk Road, or Asian markets through the Philippines.
The commercial value of chocolate was such over the
centuries that soon American production could not cope and
the cocoa tree was taken to geographies other than the
tropical belt of Africa and Asia, specifically to Martinique,
Guadeloupe, Ghana, Nigeria, Costa of Ivory, New Guinea,
Samoa, Java and Sumatra. However, the modernization of
chocolate manufacturing, that is, its manufacture as it is
understood today, had its origin in Europe in the 19th
century, thanks to the studies of the Dutchman Coenrad
Johannes van Houten (1801-1887), among others. European
chocolatiers.
The science of chocolate began in 1841, thanks to modern
chemical knowledge that allowed us to better understand its
composition and properties. Throughout the 20th century,
chocolate became a common and highly demanded
ingredient in industrial baking, especially when in 1966 the
Procter & Gamble company discovered the crystalline
phases of cocoa butter. This also allowed us to know the
different degrees of adulteration to which cocoa was
subjected, especially when combining it with other food
ingredients (such as milk), which reduced the percentage of
cocoa and minimized its original properties.
types of chocolate
There are different types of chocolate, depending on several
factors. There are, for example, two types of cocoa beans
(strong and soft, depending on the bitterness of the bean),
which produce chocolates with a more intense or milder
flavor. However, the usual classification of chocolate
depends on the percentage of cocoa that each preparation
contains, as well as the other ingredients with which it is
combined.
dark or black chocolate
It is the variant that has the highest percentage of cocoa,
since it is made from the fruit paste and a low addition of
sugars and other ingredients. This type of chocolate is
classified, in turn, into two:
Bitter dark chocolate
With an intense and bitter flavor, it has minimal (or no)
sugar content, and a high cocoa content (60 to 80%).
Semi-bitter dark chocolate.
This is a toned down and sweetened version of bitter dark
chocolate, which still has a high unmixed cocoa content (40
to 55%).
White chocolate
It is a food with little cocoa content, made from powdered
milk, sugar and cocoa butter (20%), so it is not technically a
chocolate. Because of this, the natural bitterness of cocoa is
practically non-existent.
Milk Chocolate
Consists of a mixture of cocoa paste (whose purity ranges
between 25 and 40%), sweetened with sugars and diluted
with milk, whether powdered or condensed. There are,
however, gourmet variants with much higher cocoa content.
Pink or ruby chocolate
This is a very recent type of chocolate (2017), made from
ruby variant cocoa beans (cultivated in Ecuador, Brazil and
the Ivory Coast), through a little-known mechanism.
According to its producers, this variant retains its original
properties and its characteristic flavor and color.
how to make chocolate
in general terms, the production of chocolate involves three
fundamental ingredients:
Cocoa paste, solid, usually pulverized.
Cocoa butter, composed of fatty acids.
Sugars, commonly sucrose, fructose and glucose.
Many others can be added to these ingredients, such as milk,
nuts, cookies, liqueurs, among others. However, to obtain the
three essential ingredients, cocoa treatment is required,
which consists of the following phases:
Harvesting and fermentation.
The cocoa fruit is collected directly from the plants and
fermented in open-air boxes or mountains covered with
banana leaves, since the flavor and properties of chocolate
arise from this process. The grains destined to obtain butter,
on the other hand, are separated at this stage and later
pressed.
Drying.
Once fermented, the cocoa is dried to prevent the appearance
of molds and other fungal organisms. For this, the grains are
housed in covered spaces and are periodically removed with
shovels. Typically, a moisture percentage of about 6% is
allowed in each grain.
Roasted and shelled.
The cocoa is subsequently classified by size and transported
to the factories, where it is placed in ovens at temperatures
ranging between 110 and 140 °C, for periods of between 45
minutes and one hour. This roasting prevents contamination
with microorganisms and attenuates the bitterness of the
cocoa. Then the cotyledon of the fruit (where the grains are)
and the shell that contains them is separated.
Pressing.
Once the cocoa is ground, the resulting liquor is pressed to
obtain and separate the butter. The mixture is subjected to
about 40 to 50 MPa of pressure to extract the cocoa fats. The
resulting mass (technically chocolate) is usually reduced to
20% of its original weight after the butter has been removed.
Ground.
After extracting the butter, the chocolate is ground again,
along with the ingredients that you want to add to the
mixture: such as sugars or milk. This second grinding
process reduces the mixture to even smaller particles, which
allow the chocolate to obtain its typical smooth texture.
Later, the cocoa butter is added to the mixture.
Conched.
The final process of obtaining chocolate involves a method
invented by the Swiss chocolatier Rudolf Lindt (1855-1909)
in 1879: conching, that is, the mechanical stirring of the
mixture so that the butter is distributed homogeneously and a
product is obtained. smooth, uniform. Thus, the chocolate is
ready to be packaged and sold in its different presentations.
Benefits of consuming chocolate
On the other hand, frequent but moderate intake (since it is a
high-calorie food) of the purest variants of dark chocolate
have shown benefits in the human body, such as:
It has an antioxidant effect, due to its high polyphenol
content.
Reduces blood pressure and facilitates vasodilation.
Therefore, it decreases the risk of heart attack.
Stimulates the central nervous system, due to its caffeine
content.
Reduces cough, especially persistent or chronic cough.
It has antidiarrheal effects.
It is thought that it could be an aphrodisiac.
