Chocolaty

By Luise Hakasi

Information, tips and lots of recipes around the delicious topic chocolate: Where does chocolate come from? How it is produced - from the cocoa bean to the finished chocolate-panel? Why is it healthy?

Have a feast, from van Houten, Nestle, Toblerone, Ferrero, Hershey and Ghirardelli Chocolate over Soufflé, pave and Petit gateau to chocolate bombs, cookies, carrot cake with chocolate coating and many other chocolaty ideas. A sweet temptation! Must read!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Jan 16, 2017
• ISBN: 9783739653006

Book preview

Introduction

Information, tips and lots of recipes around the delicious topic chocolate: Where does chocolate come from? How it is produced - from the cocoa bean to the finished chocolate-panel? Why is it healthy?

Have a feast, from van Houten, Nestle, Toblerone, Ferrero, Hershey and Ghirardelli Chocolate over Soufflé, pave and Petit gateau to chocolate bombs, cookies, carrot cake with chocolate coating and many other chocolaty ideas. A sweet temptation! Must read!

Cocoa Power

Cacao, Brazil's number one: Brazilian cocoa unbeaten in recognition, with respect to its outstanding quality and also in terms of export quantity. As well Venezuela, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Togo, Ghana, Peru, Mexico and Uganda are among the top 20 producers of fine flavored cocoa beans worldwide.

Cacao (lat. Theobroma cacao) is especially rich in precious oils and has an incomparably gentle, pleasant, tropical-chocolaty scent. Cocoa seeds are used throughout the world to produce scented cosmetics, juice, exclusive cocoa butter, sweets and of course, primarily coveted chocolate. Even German, Swiss, Belgian and American chocolate manufacturers rely on the proven quality of the Brazilian cocoa beans. Let's look at this wonderful tropical fruit Cacao a little more closely:

Cacao (or also: cocoa) belongs to the family of Serculiaceae, but may simply be called chocolate. Not only the seeds which contain the actual cocoa beans, are used, but also the pulp (polpa), which surrounds the seeds, the leaves and the bark of the tree. Special properties were listed in long research series: Cacao is antiseptic, diuretic, anti-parasite, brain tonic, and has wound-healing effect. Ascorbic acid, arginine, lysine, carotene, cellulose, linoleic acid, pectin, tannins, pantothenic acid, and many, many other valuable active ingredients are in this precious tropical fruit. Emphasis on polyphenols and flavonoids, which, inter alia, lower blood pressure, prevent clumping of platelets and proven (MRI) even increase the blood circulation in the brain.

Cocoa trees are grown, above all in South America, Africa and the West Indies. The shapely, evergreen tree growing to 25 feet tall (average height of 12 to 15 meters) and is particularly richly branched at the top. Those who want to keep a cocoa tree in the winter garden, can curb the growth by cutting off the tip. Cocoa wood is white or light surrounded by a thin, smooth bark. The brownish pods containing numerous red-brown seeds of about three centimeters in length, which are surrounded by whitish, buttery, sweet pulp.

Long before the discovery of South America cocoa beans were as a precious cash in this continent. Nowadays different varieties of cocoa are grown, including Maracaibo, Surinam, Bahia and Cauca. Several thousand years ago Mayas and Aztecs already mixed cocoa with water and spices to produce the bitter strengthening drink xocolatl for their warriors as well as their celebrations. For the commercial trade, the cocoa