1 post tagged “halloween”

According to my calendar it is now November 1, 2007 C.E. and in a way that is good, it shows that time has not stopped, and the world continues to rotate at break neck speed around a giant ball of burning plasma... it also means that Halloween is over. Our sacks are full of plastic wrapped sugary goodness. So how's about learning how those chocolate bars are made!!!  First of all chocolate is made from the seeds of the cacao tree the seeds come in large fruit or pods (not like ipods) the size of small footballs they range from yellow to dark red in there colorings. The fruit pods hold about sixty seeds called cacao beans and they're a yellowish purple color. The Cacao tree is native to central and southern America and is now growing in central Africa, India, and Indonesia and south East Asia now too. Chocolate its self dates back to about 500 c.e. And it was created by the Mayans (aren't they smart) they made a bitter frothy Drink called xocatl (choco-lotle (short o, silent e)) it was used in special religious ceremonies like marriage berths and funerals. Well most of you don't want to hear about some great dead civilization that was whipped out by Francisco Pitzaro using his famous weapon Guns, Germs and steel, so! First after the beans have been harvested they must first be fermented for a week then they are dried in the sun for a week too. During fermentation yeast breaks down the beans complex sugars giving them that chocolaty taste. (Yum) After drying the beans are roasted to make that flavor we humans have come to love so much come to life even more. After roasting the beans are winnowed to remove their shells. After they are winnowed then they are mashed into a sort of liquid called chocolate liquor. At this point it may be ready to eat but don't start getting the molds! This stuff taste very bitter it still needs its sugar and flavorings. Right now if you where to pore this stuff into a mold and let it set than you would have backer's chocolate. If you where also to solidify some more than you could pres it and you would get cocoa solids and cocoa butter (cocoa butter means White chocolate! and white cocoa late is my favorite!  Cocoa butter is also used in some hair and skin products.) Some people say that White chocolate is not even a chocolate at all because it has no cocoa solids in it but I say hey its made from a cacao tree aint it! So what's the big deal! Oh well back to the story of out "real" chocolate. Well cocoa solids can be ground it to cocoa power (wow these names are so creative cocoa this cocoa that.) and that is used for thins like hot cocoa (see what I mean?). Now here come the hard part... making the actual chocolate we love to eat! Chocolate making is an art form you must become one with the spoon. Now! To make chocolate most people start off with that good old bakers chocolate we herd about. They usually start off with it because it still has all that cocoa butter (mmmmm). Some recopies call for even more of the butter to be added! Sugar and flavorings like vanilla are also added in to make chocolate even more bettererrr!! For milk chocolate guess what there actually no milk!! Just kidding although some recopies use soymilk to make it vegan (what kind souls!). Well after measuring out all those things the mixture is now mixed in a process called conching. GIANT spinners are spun around breaking up crumbs and making everything nice and smooth. After that the chocolate is heated and cooled in a special way called tempering. Tempering makes the chocolate crystals form in an orderly way so it looks nice and shiny and brittle. And there you go from the crude bean to the artificial colored candy coated sweeties we have come to now and eat. I hope that you will have a great Halloween munch out of your favorite sugar and cacao byproducts enjoy!

  Gopes, Bypes, and many Morps!
 

   Dreagon Scribe