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Chocolate is made from the beans of the cacao tree. Its Latin name, Theobrama Cacao, literally means 'food of the gods'.

Cocoa beans are removed from their pod, fermented, dried, roasted and then ground to make cocoa liquor (a dark brown paste).

This is then pressed to make cocoa butter (a bitter tasting fat), and cocoa cake which is then ground up into cocoa powder.

A British manufacturer called Fry & Sons of Bristol made the first solid chocolate bar in 1847.

It took another 28 years for a Swiss manufacturer, Daniel Peters, to invent milk chocolate by combining chocolate and sweetener with powdered milk.

Types of chocolate

Plain or dark chocolate is made from cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, sugar and flavourings.

Milk chocolate is made from the same ingredients as dark chocolate but milk is also added.

White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, sugar, milk, lecithin and vanilla. It isn't really chocolate.

Although white chocolate contains cocoa butter, it doesn't contain the cocoa liquor made by processing cocoa beans.

Chocolate is mainly made of carbohydrate and fat, with a small amount of protein. The fat in cocoa butter consists mainly of two different types of fat: stearic acid and oleic acid.

Unlike most saturated fats, stearic acid hasn't been found  to raise blood cholesterol levels. Oleic acid is a mono-unsaturated fatty acid, this also doesn't raise cholesterol and some scientific studies have shown that this fat may even reduce it.

Chocolate contains a number of vitamins and minerals, such as calcium and iron. Milk and white chocolate contains more calcium than the dark version, while dark and milk chocolate contains more iron than white.

Calcium is needed to make strong and dense bones while iron is needed to make healthy blood.

Chocolate is rich in compounds called flavonoids, these are found in a variety of foods such as tea, red wine and different kinds of fruits and vegetables. Laboratory studies have shown that flavonoids may protect against heart disease.

While chocolate may have many potential health advantages, these need to be weighed against it's nutritional downsides: chocolate and chocolate products contain caffeine and are usually calorie dense and contain higher amounts of fat and sugar and so should be eaten in moderation.

Carob: an alternative to chocolate

Carob isn't chocolate, but some people use carob as a 'healthier' alternative to chocolate.

It  is made from fruit pods of carob trees which are grown in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries, such as Jerusalem or Greece.

Beware though carob is not always more healthy than chocolate: a carob bar contains comparable calories to a similar sized chocolate bar. It is also an expensive alternative to chocolate.

Carob however is naturally sweeter than chocolate (or less bitter at least), so when you're baking,  you'll only need half as much sugar.

Quiz

1. Chocolate has a naturally bitter taste, which ingredient is responsible for this?

a. cocoa cake

b. cocoa liquor

c. cocoa butter

2. What nationality was the  manufacturer who first invented  milk chocolate?

a. British

b. Dutch

c. Swiss

3. White chocolate doesn't contain which of the following ingredients?

a. cocoa liquor

b. cocoa butter

c. lecithin

4. Chocolate contains both saturated and unsaturated fats, these have been shown to raise blood cholesterol levels.

a. True

b. False

5. Carob trees are grown in which of the following country?

a. Australia

b. Greece

c. United Kingdom

Answers:

Page 8: 1. c; 2. c; 3. a; 4. b; 5. b



Chocolate - food of the gods