A Guide to Great Chocolate

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More from Miscellaneous

From the cacao tree to the candy bar, everything you need to know about this delicious dessert

Sam Gugino
Posted: November 12, 2002



	Wine and Chocolate Main

	Growing and Making Chocolate

	Types of Chocolate and How They Differ

	Judging Chocolate Quality

	Buying Chocolate

	Chocolate Sources

Death by Chocolate. Chocolate Decadence. Better-Than-Sex Chocolate Cake. Even the names of chocolate desserts reflect the power this complex food has over our taste buds and our imaginations.

Chocolatiers and confectioners such as Jacques Torres, Larry Burdick and Michael Recchiuti -- those who make chocolate candy from chocolate, flavorings, nuts and fruits -- are achieving a level of recognition previously reserved for superstar chefs.

Makers of chocolate for cooking and baking have upgraded and expanded their offerings. Standard-bearers -- Valrhona from France and Callebaut from Belgium are two of the most reowned -- are being challenged by newcomers such as the relatively young Scharffen Berger (made by former California winemaker John Scharffenberger), Venezuelan-based Chocolates El Rey and Michel Cluizel from France.

The quality of the chocolate and the chocolate confections available in the United States is at an all-time high. As a result, we're eating more chocolate. Sales in the United States have been strong over the past few years, increasing 3.6 percent in 2001, according to the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, an industry trade group. (However, our yearly per capita consumption of 11.6 pounds puts us in 11th place among chocolate-loving countries, well behind Switzerland, the world leader at 22.4 pounds per year.)

As with wine and coffee, connoisseurship is becoming part of the enjoyment. The more you know about this complex, fascinating food, the more pleasure you'll find.

Growing and making chocolate

Chocolate starts with the cacao tree, which is native to South and Central America. The fruit of the tree is contained in bright yellow, orange and red pods that look like elongated melons or squashes. The pods contain beans, which are actually the seeds, similar in shape to almonds.

The three varieties of beans most important for chocolate are criollo, forastero and trinitario. The criollo is the most sought- after, valued for its fruity flavor and fine acidity. Yields for the criollo are low, however, and it is more susceptible to disease than is the forastero bean. The forastero, which is the source of about 90 percent of the chocolate in the world, produces higher yields but has a less-refined flavor. The trinitario bean is a hybrid of the forastero and the criollo.

The harvested pods, with the beans attached, are allowed to ferment, developing flavor, aroma and color. The now light-brown cocoa beans (called green beans) are dried, sorted and shipped to chocolate factories, mostly in the United States and Europe.

The cocoa beans are then roasted in large rotary cylinders, very much like coffee beans are, to bring out maximum chocolate flavor. This is a crucial step. Overroasting can turn good beans bitter. Conversely, the flavor of inferior beans might be masked by a heavier roast, as with coffee. The actual temperature and length of roasting time will vary depending on the manufacturer's specifications and the quality of the beans.

Roasting cracks the shell and reveals the nib, which is the meat of the cocoa bean. The nibs are ground by a series of large stones or heavy steel disks. The heat of the grinding causes the nibs to liquefy into cocoa mass, or chocolate liquor. Chocolate liquor is composed of a liquid component, cocoa butter, and a solid component, cocoa powder.

The chocolate is further refined by being put through huge rollers that reduce the size of the particles. Then the chocolate is conched. In conching, so named for the shell-like shape of the containers originally used, large blades whip through the heated chocolate liquor for anywhere from 12 hours to several days (the longer the conching, the better the chocolate). This kneadinglike process not only smoothes the texture of the chocolate but allows volatile acids and moisture to evaporate. It is during this process that more cocoa butter may be added, as well as emulsifiers, such as lecithin, which further smooth texture.

Types of chocolate and how they differ

Chocolate is sold in several categories, depending on the amount of chocolate liquor, sugar and milk solids it contains.

Unsweetened, bitter or baking chocolate

The essence of chocolate, just the chocolate liquor with no sugar added, though it may contain some vanilla. Not sweet enough for eating, it is usually used for cooking.

Bittersweet and semisweet chocolate

This is the most important category for the serious chocolate consumer. Despite the difference in the two names, bittersweet and semisweet chocolate by definition do not have a differentiating standard; whether called bittersweet or semisweet, the chocolate must be made up of at least 35 percent chocolate liquor. This category comprises the darkest of the eating chocolates, and thus has the richest chocolate flavor. Bittersweet and semisweet chocolate do dual duty in this country -- they are eaten out of hand as well as utilized in desserts and confections.

That said, chocolate labeled bittersweet generally will have a more pronounced chocolate flavor than will chocolate labeled semisweet, because of bittersweet's usually higher concentration of chocolate liquor and lower sugar content. John Scharffenberger, co-owner of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker in Berkeley, Calif., and a former California bubbly maker, says bittersweet chocolate is like brut Champagne, with its pleasant astringency and slight bitterness on the finish, while semisweet chocolate is more like extra-dry Cham-pagne, with its more pronounced sweetness. Also, with quality bittersweet chocolate you can taste the fruitiness more because there is less sugar to mask it. (The fruit flavor in chocolate is most often berries, especially raspberries, which is why chocolate desserts are often matched with them.)

Milk chocolate

This is the kind of chocolate we see in candy bars and other chocolate candies. It has at least 12 percent milk solids and 10 percent chocolate liquor. The chocolate flavor is mellow and somewhat caramelized, tempered by the dairy products. Though eating more bittersweet and semisweet chocolate than ever, Americans still prefer milk chocolate over these two types by a ratio of two to one.

White chocolate

The Food and Drug Administration does not consider this category 'chocolate' because it has no chocolate solids in it other than cocoa butter, the fat in chocolate liquor. Hence, its color. In the United States, this product is called confectionery coating, though Europeans prefer the term white chocolate. In addition to cocoa butter, it contains sugar, butterfat, milk solids, lecithin and flavorings.

Quality white chocolate should have an ivory color, which indicates a high percentage of cocoa butter. When the cocoa butter is replaced by cheaper fats (vegetable fats, for example), the color becomes progressively whiter and the quality of the flavor is reduced.