Cocoa Story
The Bean and The Tree
Cocoa products are made from cocoa beans, the kernels of the cocoa fruit. These fruits sprout directly from the trunk and the thicker branches of the cocoa tree. In the wild these trees can grow to a height of 15 metres. In cultivated forms they are kept shorter, up to 4 or 5 metres, in order to facilitate harvesting. Cocoa beans grow throughout the year, with thousands of small flowers.
Only between twenty and forty of these flowers develop into fruits, approximately 20 cm long and 10 cm wide.
Cocoa products are made from cocoa beans, the kernels of the cocoa fruit. These fruits sprout directly from the trunk and the thicker branches of the cocoa tree. In the wild these trees can grow to a height of 15 metres. In cultivated forms they are kept shorter, up to 4 or 5 metres, in order to facilitate harvesting. Cocoa beans grow throughout the year, with thousands of small flowers. Only between twenty and forty of these flowers develop into fruits, approximately 20 cm long and 10 cm wide.
The Unique Taste and Colour
The taste of cocoa is unique. It possesses a delicious aroma, used in many food products for extra flavour and colour. The best-known, but certainly not the only, cocoa product is of course chocolate, which is made from cocoa mass (or “cocoa liquor”), cocoa butter and a sweetening agent, usually sugar. In reality the type of bean and the drying process are not the only determinants of the final colour and taste. The manufacturing process also has a strong influence on the ultimate product. The colour of cocoa powder, for example, may vary from light orange-yellow to dark reddish brown.
The Inventor
The beginning of the 19th century saw a revolution in the cocoa industry. Coenraad Johannes van Houten, of Amsterdam, came up with two important inventions. In 1828 he patented a method of pressing most of the fat out of the cocoa mass, which eventually yields cocoa powder and cocoa butter. He also thought of a method to enhance the taste and colour during the production process through alkalization.
These two inventions prepared the way for the Englishman John Fry, who invented (pure) chocolate in 1847. Chocolate is a product that remains solid at room temperature but has a melting point below body temperature. It also has a richer taste and is milder than drinkable cocoa made from cocoa cakes. In a short time, chocolate conquered the world and made cocoa important as a raw material. In 1875 the Swiss chemist Henri Nestlé invented milk chocolate. The wrapped chocolate bar was again a Dutch invention.
Only If it Carries The Name Chocolate
Apart from cocoa, chocolate also contains a sweetening agent, usually sugar. For this reason chocolate bars are often used as compact sources of energy. Chocolate is popular as an appetite depressant and a standard part of survival rations. In many European countries (including the Netherlands) chocolate can only be called chocolate if it contains a certain minimum percentage of cocoa ingredients. In addition, no fats other than cocoa butter are allowed in the processing of chocolate. If the end product does contain such fats the result must be called ‘cocoa fantasy’ or ‘cocoa substitute’. White chocolate does not contain cocoa mass, but only cocoa butter, sugar, milk and vanilla.
There is No Accounting For Taste, or Quantity
The taste of chocolate varies from country to country. The British mainly like creamy milk chocolate, whereas the French prefer the taste of pure chocolate, and the Americans are bulk consumers of candy bars. The Dutch have no clear preference, although older people more often prefer pure chocolate and the young like milk chocolate. The top consumers of cocoa in the world are the Belgians (5.89kg per ca-pita per year), the Swiss (5.67kg) and the Germans (4.22kg).