Trees and seeds
It all starts with a tree, trees that are more demanding than normal and very particular because they must grow only near the equator, since that is where the necessary rainfall and temperatures occur for them to survive.
Even when conditions are perfect, not all cacao trees are the same! There are three main varieties used to make chocolate.
Creole
Native to the Americas, difficult to cultivate and producing a small 5% of all harvested beans, the Criollo is regarded as the finest of the cacao trees and the beans produce a chocolate that has a long finish on the palate
Stranger
The most common tree, more resilient than its delicate Criollo cousin, this variety is responsible for all the cocoa grown in Africa—more than 70% of global production. Favored for its rich, chocolatey flavor, it’s likely to be found in any mass-produced product at your supermarket.
Trinitarian
A cross between the strong Forastero and the subtle Criollo, originally from Trinidad (hence the name), this variety is seen as a lower grade than its parent plants.
Once you have your trees and a harvest has been produced, you still have a long way to go before you start wrapping the chocolate in foil.
From cocoa to cocoa
There are different stages of maturation:
The beans come in pods that are harvested by hand, usually with a machete. The contents of these pods are cacao beans surrounded by pulp. They are then stacked and left to ferment.
Fermentation
Despite being a very scientific process that involves the use of words like peptides, amino acids, polyphenols, theobromine, caffeine, and the most impressive-sounding N-phenylpropenoyl-L-amino acids, all you need to know is where the flavor begins.
From the seven days he spent as a slave to the results of science in flavors that define the final chocolate, from tobacco to leather and from vanilla to floral flavors, they all begin in the fermentation process.
Drying
The beans are then dried, either in the sun or by machine, to reduce their water content. Next, they are sorted and bagged. At this point, they can be called cocoa beans and are marketed as a valuable commodity, sold to chocolate producers to be transformed into the finest chocolate on the market.
Toasted
Just like coffee beans, roasting is a difficult process; too little and the beans will be too acidic and lack cocoa flavor, too much roasting and they will be bitter and burnt.
Conchado
A man-made process behind Lindt chocolate, which also introduced the concept of adding milk to chocolate! It involves crushing and blending the insides of roasted chocolate beans, known as tips, under pressure and heat for up to 72 hours. This amazing process, which you might think would ruin anything, actually has the opposite effect; it drives out unwanted flavor compounds and makes the final product smoother and easier to melt.
The complexity of chocolate’s flavors stems from countless factors: the location of the trees, the cacao variety, the fermentation process, the roasting of the beans, and the final conching process. All these elements combine to produce chocolate that can have notes of nut, tobacco, fruit, molasses, herbs, bitterness, floral aromas, or spice—all from just a few beans.
How to buy and eat chocolate
The best way to find your favorite chocolate is to eat a lot! Ignore the big brands and try those that state where they come from and how much cocoa solids they contain. (Cocoa solids refers to the amount of the bar made from the liquid that comes out of the conching machine. Simply put, cocoa mass and cocoa butter.)
Chocolate is very delicate and needs to be stored between 15°C and 24°C, with less than 50% humidity. Do not store it in the refrigerator. If the temperature is too high to keep it fresh, you’ll have to eat it now!
Take note of what you like and try to differentiate between manufacturers from the same region or the variety of cocoa.
Like all good things, the pleasure of chocolate comes to those who wait – don’t chew it.
Chocolate is one of the few things that melts at body temperature, so biting into a small piece and letting it dissolve on your tongue will be a real pleasure; it’s also where all those complex flavors will come to light.
