Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America, with its earliest documented use around 1100 BC. The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor.Chocolates are made by harvesting Cacao pods.
Cacao pods are harvested by cutting the pods from the tree using a machete, or by knocking them off the tree using a stick. The beans with their surrounding pulp are removed from the pods and placed in piles or bins to ferment. The fermentation process is what gives the beans their familiar chocolate taste. It is important to harvest the pods when they are fully ripe because if the pod is unripe, the beans will have a low cocoa butter content, or there will be insufficient sugars in the white pulp for fermentation, resulting in a weak flavor. After fermentation, the beans must be quickly dried to prevent mold growth. Climate and weather permitting, this is done by spreading the beans out in the sun from 5 to 7 days.It is quite a long process to produce chocolates. Variations are made based on the quantity of chocolate liquor and chocolate butter. We know that the most common ones are Dark Chocolates, Milk Chocolates and White Chocolates. I am more of a Dark Chocoholic but I'm okay with Milk or White. What about you?
Source: Wikipedia
I go for milk chocolate :) looking forward to your future posts. I'm sure your blog is going to feature a lot of yummy topics :)
ReplyDeletedefinitely. I'm actually planning to make chocolates today... I'll post some pictures then. thanks for dropping by :)
ReplyDeleteOh sis, by the way, there are chocolate buffets in Peninsula hotel. I'm not sure if they hold it during Christmas season lang. I've never been there but we receive brochures by mail and the pics looks so yummy. You might want to try it.
ReplyDeletethanks... I'll check that out :)
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