The first thing that you have to know about is where do these delicious treats come from? Most of you may already know the answer. Chocolates are made from the beans of cocoa.
From the trees to the chocolate makers, how such processes really evolve? Through time, there have been many developments regarding chocolate making. Technology has benefited a lot of life’s endeavors. This also applies to the process of chocolate making.
But such advancement only applies on the harvesting part. The processing basically remains the same, the old conventional way. As what’s been said, do not fix a thing if it’s not broken. Maybe the same rule is being applied to this venture.
It feels good to eat chocolates. But do you want to know about the different methods that go behind such concept? Here are some.
Roasting
It takes a good amount of roasting as well as cocoa seed fermentation to come up with the quality of chocolate that you are looking for. In the pre-roasting stage, the beans are directed to infrared beaming heaters. This process will take away the nibs of the beans from the shells. The temperature for this part is 100 to 140 degree Celsius. This takes about 20 up to 40 minutes.
Roasting can also be done directly. After the beans are roasted, the shells can be easily removed. This is favored by most chocolate makers because it retains the flavor of the beans. For this part, the temperature is at 150 to 160 degree Celsius.
Fermentation
This is done to decrease the level of sugar, glucose as well as fructose and also amino acids in the beans. This brings in the flavor of the beans that the process of roasting will be able to enhance. But not everybody can do this. It takes a master to hone this craft. Beans can rot if something goes wrong with this process.
Shelling
To be able to remove the shells from the beans, it takes more processes than you could ever imagine. This includes milling, then sifting and lastly, winnowing. Every step is important so as to come up with the grains that have the right size.
Tasting
If you think that this will be an easy task, well, that seems to be not the case. This involves skill and expertise. One must have studied every taste of the different kinds and variations of chocolates to be able to proclaim that they can perform well on this and be a judge as to what varieties should be presented to the market.
These people can be compared to wine experts. Just a bite from a chocolate treat will tell them what processes it went through, what kind of beans was used or where it was actually made.
And there are yet different kinds of chocolates available in the market. Imagine what all those have to go through just to be able to reach your favorite grocery store so that you can purchase them for your own consumption.
You don’t have to be an expert in making chocolate. But you can start following some techniques in the tasting part. If you are treated with a filled chocolate, let it linger on your mouth until it melts and you can taste all its flavors. You can then chew it for about five times, enough for the flavor and the coating to blend in.
Enjoy and savor your chocolate tasting experience.
