Physical Description
It has a reddish-brown color, mild flavor, and is easy to dissolve in liquids.Its delicate flavor makes it ideal in baked goods like European cakes and pastries where its subtle flavor complements other ingredients.
Colors: reddish-brown
Tasting Notes
Flavors: very bitter, deep chocolate flavor
Mouthfeel: Chalky, Bitter
Food complements: Milk, Sugar, Butter, Coffee
Wine complements: American fortified, Port, American sparkling
Beverage complements: Coffee, Milk
Substitutes: Unsweetened chocolate, Semisweet chocolate, Carob power
Selecting and Buying
Choosing: Wrapped tightly and protected from humidity and temperature variations, chocolate will keep for several months.
Buying: Chocolate is available nearly everywhere. Most grocery stores sell chocolate and cocoa powder products
Procuring: A cocoa fruit has a hard shell that is split open with a machete, revealing compartments packed with sacs. In each sac is a single seed, or bean, surrounded by red, pink or white pulp. Once the beans have been harvested, fermented and dried, they are classified according to size, brokered and sold to chocolate manufacturers
Preparation and Use
Chocolate makers use harvested cacao beans and other ingredients to produce couverture chocolate. Chocolatiers use the finished couverture to make chocolate candies (bars, truffles, etc.)Cocoa and chocolate are used primarily in desserts (cakes, cookies, puddings, ice cream, mousses, tarts) and candies. However, in Spanish and Mexican cuisine, chocolate is used to flavor sauces for seafood and poultry.
Conserving and Storing
If refrigerated or frozen without containment, chocolate can absorb enough moisture to cause a whitish discoloration, the result of fat or sugar crystals rising to the surface. Moving chocolate from one temperature extreme to another, such as from a refrigerator on a hot day, can result in an oily texture.
Social/Political
History: Until the 16th century, no European had ever heard of the popular drink from the Central and South American peoples.[16] It was not until the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs that chocolate could be imported to Europe.
