Gone Chocco

Well, seeing as this is a new site, we haven’t had any ‘frequently asked’ questions yet and if we did have you’d have a right to be suspicious.  So, here’s one of my own.

How is chocolate made?

The plant:  The cacao tree is a tropical plant that grows only within 20 degrees latitude of the Equator. The main cacao-producing countries are the Ivory Coast and Ghana, although there are numerous smaller markets in South America and Africa. Cocoa trees grow to around 6 metres tall, with a lifespan roughly that of a Hollywood actress: 30-40 years.  They’re covered in leaves all year round, with blossoms, unripe fruit and mature fruit often seen on the same tree at the same time.  There are three types of cacao trees: the Forastero, the most common and robust variety with the least remarkable flavor, the Criollo, the most delicate and rare tree, with a heavily perfumed fruit, and the Trinitario, a hybrid between the Forastero and the Criollo that displays characteristics of both trees, having an average yield of moderately aromatic beans.

When ripe, the fruit is heavy and reminds me of a knobby-skinned pawpaw, measuring 18-25cm long, and can be green, reddish brown or yellow in colour.  Inside is a fluffy white fruit pulp which is discarded for what it is wrapped around, namely 20-40 of magnificent, almond-shaped beans.  (This pulp is sometimes used to make drinks or desserts, as it apparently has pleasant fruity taste with subtle chocolate flavour). 

Cocoa Beans:  The seeds and white fruit pulp are removed from the shell and placed under banana leaves where the sugars in the pulp cause a fermentation to take place. Temperatures reach up to 50°C and the beans are left for 2-6 days until the white pulp has pretty well disappeared.  This process also helps lose the ultra-bitter, inedible tastes and create new substances that are more like the cocoa flavours we’ve grown to love. The beans are still full of moisture so are then laid out in the sun to dry.

When dry, the beans are cleaned and roasted for about 15-20 minutes, which helps further develop their flavour and causes the outer husk to crack and flake, making it easier to remove.  It is at this stage that they’re usually packed into jute sacks and sent to chocolate manufacturers around the world.

In factories, the poor little beans are then subjected to some cracking and crushing under a suction mechanism that removes the husk and leaves behind the little pieces known as cocoa nibs. 

Cocoa nibs from one specific country, region or even grower are sometimes selected, or combined with other varieties depending on the needs, tastes and creativity of chocolatiers.

Liquor aint quicker:  The selected crushed beans are ground using friction from rollers. The heat created by the friction causes the cocoa butter in the beans to melt and a very dense paste is created. This is known as Cocoa liquor (but contains no alcohol whatsoever) and is the real base of chocolate.

The cocoa liquor is now subjected to intense pressure that causes the cocoa butter to separate and be collected, leaving behind cocoa cakes that still contain 10-20% cocoa butter. These cakes are crushed and finely ground which gives us cocoa powder.

Making the chocolate: Heaven forbid, but if the chocolate is for lesser mortals than we Gone Chocco readers, then the pulverized cocoa powder (that good guys reject) is mixed with (shudder) vegetable fats (often palm oil) sugar and flavorings to become the sort of stuff you should cross the street to avoid.

If the chocolate is going to be higher quality, cocoa butter will be re-added to the chocolate liquor, along with other ingredients like sugar, vanilla, and milk.  This much better mixture then travels through a series of rollers to smooth out the texture before heading for anywhere from an eight hour to three day session in the conching machine.

Conching: Invented by Rudolph Lindt at the ripe young age of 24, the conching machine kneads and massages the chocolate mixture to improve the flavour and texture, and thus turn it into the velvety smooth dream food we love and lust after.  Then the chocolate is cooled to precise temperatures in order to produce shiny, smooth bars.   Oooh, bars….. I think I might go and find one……

So, now it’s up to you. What questions do you have for Auntie Kath, Goddess and keeper of  Gone Chocco?  Send your queries to: kath@gonechocco.com.