Premium Chocolate – A Brief History
Chocolate is incredibly popular; known the world over as a delicious, often sweet candy. However, this was not always the case. It took a lengthy process and large chain of events, to develop the premium chocolate we know today. Today's premium chocolate actually started as a food produced from the seed of the Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for centuries, in South and Central America, as well as in Mexico. Archeologists have recently discovered the oldest known cultivation of cacao, at Puerto Escondido, Honduras, which dates from around 1100 to 1400 BC. The evidence found alludes to the original use of cacao, as not a candy, but as a beverage.The white pulp around the cacao beans, was possibly used, as a fermentable sugar, for an early alcoholic drink. Today, chocolate flavorings are not uncommon in a number of alcoholic beverages.
The Mayans grew cacao trees in their backyard and used the seeds it produced to make a pungent, bubbly mixture. Ancient Mayan texts state that this early premium chocolate drink was not only used for ceremony, but was consumed in everyday life as well. Later the Aztecs would drink chocolate in the form of a spiced drink called xocoatl (where it is believed the name chocolate came from). This drink was believed to help relieve fatigue, and was usually flavored with chili pepper and vanilla. It is commonly known that quality, premium chocolate boosts your energy, with the benefits of consuming chocolate, increasingly promoted.
It was not until the 16th century and the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, that chocolate began to find its way to Europe. It quickly won over the Spanish court and in less than a century was sought after all over Europe. Due to the distance and the high cost of the importing, only the very wealthy could afford it. It would remain this way for many years, until the Industrial Revolution, when many changes would bring it closer to the premium chocolate available in modern day. Chocolate was indeed a delicacy, that today, the average individual can truly luxuriate in.
At present, the world's best premium chocolate is produced in many different countries; you decide which will best suit your palate.
Types Of Premium Chocolate
(Percentage of cocoa also effects the following varieties of chocolate.)
Dark Chocolate – This type of chocolate is produced by adding sugar and fat to cocoa. The chocolate usually contains no milk, or has significantly less milk than milk chocolate.
Bittersweet Chocolate – This type of dark chocolate (chocolate liquor) to which vanilla, sugar (about a third of the amount found in regular dark chocolate) and lecithin is sometimes added.
Semisweet Chocolate – This type of dark chocolate usually used for cooking, it usually has half the sugar content of regular dark chocolate.
Milk Chocolate – This type of chocolate is made with milk in the form of milk powder, liquid milk, or condensed milk.
White Chocolate – This type of chocolate is a mixture of sugar, milk and fat (either cocoa butter or vegetable oils) without the cocoa solids.
