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by: LouiseHill
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Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2008 Time: 1:11 AM
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The most widely and frequently craved food is chocolate. The use of chocolate drinks have been found dating around 1100 BC in remains of vessels from the lower Ulua Valley in northern Honduras. The Aztecs and Maya made a drink known as xocolatl which means "bitter water". The Mayan god of fertility is also associated with Chocolate.

Many nutrients are contained in chocolate including carbohydrates, fats, sugar, proteins, magnesium, and is a rich source of phosphorus. Much like wine and beer, one has to develop an appreciation for the richness of chocolate in order to appreciate the subtleties originating from the fruit or grain it is made from. Chocolate is used to enhance moods and is a symbol of sweetness and innocence. Chocolate is not an aphrodisiac, however it contains phenylethylamine (PEA), a natural substance that supposedly stimulates the same reaction in the body as falling in love. Chocolate is supposed to be heart healthy.even though it contains a lot of fat. It is a mild stimulant to humans because it contains theobromine.

A long, complicated refining process is required to make Chocolate. The process starts with the bitter cream-colored seeds that grow in pods of the tree Theobroma cacao. The seeds contain a family of compounds known as methylxanthines. The seeds come from the Cacao pod that grows year round on trees from South and Central America. Each pod holds 30 to 40 Cacao seeds and it takes 20 to 25 pods to get 2 pounds of cocoa. Average adult trees produce 300 to 1,000 pounds per year per acre of cocoa for about 50 years. Fats such as cocoa butter (natural vegetable fat from the cacao bean) and some sugar are combined with cocoa (which results from roasting and grinding the product) to get chocolate.

Chocolate is very sensitive to temperature and humidity and so it is best kept at around 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit, the normal temperature of a pantry or dark cabinet. The natural taste of the Cacao seed is bitter and must be fermented to develop the flavor. Chocolate is a special mixture of the cocoa solid with the cocoa butter at a specific temperature, and cooled down in a special way. Chocolate is tempered when its temperature is between 84deg F and 88deg F (29 deg and 31deg C). Making good chocolate is about forming the most of the type V crystals. Generally, the chocolate is first heated to 45 C (113 F) to melt all six forms of crystals. Then the chocolate is cooled to about 27 C (80 F), which will allow crystal types IV and V to form (VI takes too long to form).

When at this temperature, the chocolate is agitated which creates many small crystal "seeds" that will serve as nuclei to create crystals in the chocolate. Higher quality chocolate is conched for about 72 hours, whereas lesser grades only about four to six hours. A conche is an agitator that distributes evenly cocoa butter within the chocolate, and acts as a 'polisher' of the particles. In the process it promotes flavor development through frictional heat which releases volatiles.

After agitation the chocolate is heated to about 88 F (31 C) which eliminates any type IV crystals, and leaving just the type V crystals. Manually tempering chocolate is accomplished in the classic way by working the molten chocolate on a heat-absorbing surface, usually a stone slab, until the thickening implies the presence of sufficient crystal "seeds". The chocolate is then gently warmed to working temperature.

Fancy chocolate candies have been the inspiration of artists that make wonderful yummy looking creative chocolate candies that are not for eating since they are made of either polymer clay, glass or textile mixed media.

Click here and scroll down to see the non-edible yet beautiful Chocolate; To see my personal work mostly with beads click Beads