Quick Facts
- Earliest recorded use of cocoa in around 1100 BC
- Theobromine makes it toxic to dogs and cats
- Linked to serotonin levels in the brain
- If taken moderately it reduces blood pressure
- Chocolate bunnies and eggs popular on Easter
Expert summary
Chocolate is a general term referring to several raw and processed foods produced from the seed of the tropical cocoa tree. The tree is common in South America and Africa. Evidences show that cocoa has been cultivated in South America for at least 3000 years. Chocolate beverages were known to Maya and Aztec civilizations. The cocoa seeds are fermented first to remove their bitter taste. Then they are dried, cleaned, roasted, and the nibs are ground and liquefied to get chocolate liquor. Then it is combined with sugar and milk. Cocoa butter, sugar and milk will give white chocolate. Chocolate is now one of the most favorite flavors in the world. A gift of chocolate is very fashionable.Recommended content
Websites (11)
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Official Chocolatier site
Published 4 times a year, Chocolatier celebrates the sweet life with wonderful recipes, cookbook reviews, and exciting news on the latest products on the chocolate and dessert scene. Each issue features these great departments :
Videos (13)
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NewNuma.com Chocolate Speed Painting with spoon
My entry into the NewNuma Contest. Vote for your favorite entry in the NewNuma contest starting March 24th. http://www.youtube.com/contest/45k Painting with chocolate syrup because I needed to learn how. -
Photos (13)
Books (9)
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Choclates and Confections
ncredible comprehensive book. Greweling takes a scientific approch to chocolate making, so you get all the science behind the everything. In that way, it is similar to a textbook -
Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for baking and cooking with fine chocolate
The Essence of Chocolate' by Scharffen Berger Chocolate founders, John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg is a `culinary memoir duet' where the principal authors take the roles more of `Executive Producer' than true writer or even editor. Most of the recipe writing chores are assumed by a fairly large stable of well-known chocolatier practitioners such as Alice Medrich and David Lebovitz plus a number of other culinary luminaries such as Rose Levy Beranbaum, Michael Chiraello, Michael Richard, Jacques Pepin, Thomas Keller, and Rick Bayless. Most of the yeoman's work on the book appears to have been done by Suzie Heller (a collaborator with Jacques Pepin and Thomas Keller), the recipe tester and (I suspect) editor, Ann Krueger Spivack (a collaborator with Cat Cora and Michael Chiarello), and `Bouchon' photographer, Deborah Jones. -
The True History of Chocolate, 2nd edition
The bulk of the research, and most of the first three chapters of this academic book, were written by Sophie Coe before her sudden death from cancer in 1993. Her husband, Michael, undertook to complete the book as a sort of monument to his wife. It is a shame that Sophie Coe didn't write the whole book.
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