The Fascinating World of Chocolate: History, Types, and Uses
Chocolate definitely doesn't solve problems, but neither does an apple, right?! While people in Great Britain today celebrate "Truth Day" or rather "Tell the Truth" day, the USA has already understood that some truths are not heard at all or only with a piece of chocolate in your hand.
Bitter, whole milk or white?!
One loves her, the other hates her. One swears that this helps them lose weight, the other lets them melt in warm milk and refines them with a cap of sweet cream. Chocolate. But what varieties of this sweet titbit known as "luxury food" are there?
Chocolate is distinguished according to its composition. The proportion of sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass and especially the proportion of milk powder is considered.
- Dark chocolate
If the total cocoa mass is at least 50 % to 60 %, this is called dark chocolate. Here the proportion of cocoa mass is significantly higher than the proportion of cocoa butter. Due to the lack of milk and the sometimes significantly reduced proportion of sugar compared to milk chocolate, dark chocolate does not taste quite as sweet as milk chocolate.
- (Full) milk chocolate
Milk chocolate is mostly kept at 18% cocoa butter and 12% cocoa mass. Usually more sugar and especially milk powder is added to the mixture. Both provide the sweeter and more tenderly melting taste on the tongue.
- White chocolate
The white chocolate does completely without the addition of cocoa mass and thus the typical chocolate brown color. White chocolate only insists on cocoa butter, sugar and lactose, so that the adjective "sweet" can also be assigned to it.
Just everywhere...
Whether as a confectionery or a praline. Whether as an appetizer for coffee. Whether to drink. Whether with food. Whether as a chocolate pudding. Whether for snacking. Whether for dipping. Actually, you can always have chocolate. Whether for heartache or as an aphrodisiac. or a pep talk or a reward. You can find it in almost any form and with almost any content.
Chocolate bars in any shape, color, with any filling. Whether Toblerone, children's bars, Country, Duplo, as a praline or as a bar. With strawberry cream, milk, biscuits and milk cream. Whether as a chocolate drop with peanut, biscuit or simply chocolate. I think if I now list all the varieties, colors, shapes and tastes here, then writing and also reading the article takes far too long. But I would like to emphasize two things that you can also enjoy wonderfully together away from home:
- Chocolate fondue / chocolate fountain
Usually, fondue is eaten at Christmas or New Year's Eve. Basically, the principle is the same. You replace the stock with melted chocolate and the meat with fruit. A bit like at the fair with all the stands and the chocolate fruits, only even: BETTER. Because I don't have to eat only strawberries, grapes, bananas or ready-made mixtures here anymore, but I can simply dip into what smiles at me the most.
- Drinking chocolate / hot chocolate / ice chocolate
Sitting in the café sipping a hot chocolate with a fine cream topping is a nice activity in winter. You can see the cream slowly melt into the chocolate and sweeten it a little more - it almost makes your mouth water.
In summer, the equivalent of this: ice chocolate. Cool, melt-in-the-mouth vanilla or chocolate ice cream with a nice warm cocoa that keeps cooling off. Served with cream and especially with the frozen chocolate sauce on top of the cream.
But enough about food...
Did you know?
With the Mayans, cocoa beans were a currency. They paid with chocolate, so to speak.