Stuff like this is so good for my soul. I love learning about all that goes into the various foods we love, that bring us together, and make occasions special. So thanks to Lester for the gifts, and our friends and families for the babysitting-you guys are the real MVPs!
The classes were all totally fascinating and delicious! That said, I wanted to share some of the fun facts we learned through out these classes. Before this class, I had no idea that the amount of work, time and care that went into the process of chocolate making. Its given me a greater appreciation for chocolate-and that is something everyone in the world should have! That said, there was so so much information that I am going to share some highlights and interesting information, and if your more of an eater then a learner, feel free to skip through this post!
-The true origins of chocolate are still being explored-for example, we know trees that grow cocao pods date back tens of thousands of years-pre dating any recorded human residence, so its hard to say when that happened. However, our first documented tracing of chocolate was with the Olmec people, as far back as 1500 BC. We know this because when scientists tested Olmec pottery, they found traces of thebromine, a chemical found in in cacao.
-From the Olmecs, the Mayan and eventually the Aztec people began to incorporate chocolate. Chocolate was known to have many effects. It was used for medicinal purposes, in court proceedings, and even had religious value at the time, to the point that there are traces of it being buried with some people.
-Because of this value, cacao was often used as currency. The wealthier one was, the more cacao one had. It could go any where from 1 cacao bean=1 tomato, all the way to 100 cacao beans=1 slave.
-Their were positions that centered entirely around chocolate. A ripe cocao pod [pictured below] had beans covered in a fruit, with a gummy like texture. This was eventually eaten or washed away, and then the chocolate was dried and ground between to stones, and turned into cocao mass. This became what they would use to make their first 'hot chocolate' of sorts.
-Women often worked with a form of 'hot chocolate' [which tastes nothing like what we consider hot chocolate today]-they would pour it from great heights, back and forth from one basin to the other, and the more they did this, the frothier it would become. The more froth that build up, the better, and the first cup was always served to royalty as it was the frothiest. If a slave wanted to increase their value, mastering this art helped with that.
-One of the earliest recorded words for chocolate is 'xocolatl', which was called bitter water.
-From here, we start seeing the beginnings of chocolate outside of this area of the world, in places like Europe-one speculated source for this is Christopher Colombus, who allegedly came across a boat full of goods and stole them from a native population. [Again, of this, it is is not 100% verified as the accounts happened several years after the actual incident was said to have happened-but still interesting and suggestive!]
-Skipping ahead several years, Spain is one of the first countries to have ever added sweetener to chocolate, such as with honey or vanilla.
-Chocolate houses eventually start popping up across the world, in places like Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and eventually England [in 1657].
-These houses were of ill reputation, and rumored to be morally questionable. At this time, chocolate is considered a stimulant, and an 'inflammor of passions' and often one could find prostitutes in these establishments.
-Although still expensive, other countries began to eventually establish their own chocolate plantations.
-France even has its own 'royal chocolate maker' and is responsible for the first ever recorded pastry, namely almond pastilles.
-Eventually, the industrial revolution begins to speed up the process of grinding down chocolate.
-George Washington was known to have loved chocolate, even to the point that we have records of his ordering 20lbs worth of it.
-After the Boston Tea Party, chocolate [and coffee] increased in popularity in the U.S.
-The Baker's chocolate that we know today was part of the original first ever chocolate factory. It was co owned by a man named Jon Hanon [who made the chocolate itself] and James Baker. However, on a chocolate sourcing expedition, Hanon disappeared, and was never seen again. Baker then bought out the other shares and became the sole owner of the company in Massachusetts. Today, it is owned by Kraft.
-The first chocolate bar was made in 1847. From here, many followed suit. Cadbury was one of the company's that did this, but they are credited with really marketing it, with things like the chocolate heart.
-In 1866 cocoa powder was originally marketed as 'cocoa essence' and was made by pressing out the fat [or cocoa butter] to create a more intense chocolate flavor.
-This eventually led to the first milk chocolate bar in Switzerland in 1866 by Henri Nestle. It was made in an effort to impress his girlfriends father [Daniel Peters]. They eventually did get married which I thought was cute!
-Up till this point, chocolate bars were still fairly chalky as they hadn't learned the art of tempering. However, after a happy accident, Rodolph Lindt left the machines on too long, and it made the chocolate smooth and much more palatable.
-From here sadly, colonization and slavery begin to play a role in chocolate history more. As the demand for chocolate becomes higher, Africa was eventually used to create more of these plantations. To this day, Africa provides more then 70% of the worlds cocoa beans, and it is extremely difficult to make sure that slavery is not used in the process. For this reason, fair trade is an essential stamp used to make sure that the working conditions are fair and good.
-Back in America, during the Gold Rush, a man named Ghiradelli opened up a general store. Among his products, he begins to see chocolate being steadily bought. Seeing a market for this, he eventually makes his way to only selling and making chocolate exclusively in 1852. A man named Guittard also began his chocolate business around then, in 1868. Both are still in business today!
-In 1895, Hershey comes up with its own first version of milk chocolate. He made a conscious effort to make chocolate accessible to every one, making their bars smaller and cheaper for the average consumer to buy, and even marketable to children. From here, it became a hot stock market commodity.
-World War 2 hits, and because of sugar rations, chocolate in the US changes. A 'ration D' bar is made and given to the soldiers, in an effort to provide calories for the soldiers when they are not getting much. The recipe was said to have 'enough sugar to make it palatable'. We tried it-it barely was haha. But they also provided some regular chocolate for the troops as a special treat occasionally.
-Mars and Murrie, known as M&Ms, begin and also put their product in the soldiers rations. To this day, M&M compete with Hershey's for government contracts for soldiers rations!
-From here, many of these companies become 'big chocolate' companies, industrializing the chocolate in huge factories to make each bar taste consistent.
-Companies like Valrohna chocolate and Schaffen Berger begin to bring back the concept of 'craft chocolate' which is where we are today, with places like Dandelion Chocolate, where w took our class!
Chocolate Today
The second class we did helped us to understand and see the process of making chocolate now, all the way from the bean to the bar. This was my favorite one! It was very visual and hands on-we got taste a lot of chocolate and differences, and watch each and every step that goes into the chocolate.
-Dandelion [and other single origin, small batch chocolate factories] work with cocao farmers in various regions to source their beans. The farmers pick the fruit when ripe [which can be different from pod to pod, even on the same tree] remove the fruit and then gather the beans.
-From here, they beans are fermented in large wooden boxes to intensify the flavor.
-After this, they are spread out on various drying patios in order to dry, stopping the fermenting process. From here, they are sent to their desination [SF in this case!]
[pictured are some unripe cocao pods.]
-Once they arrive, the beans are individually sorted, to remove any things that dont belong [rocks, twigs etc] and to select good beans.
- Places like Dandelion only use two ingredients-the cocao beans and sugar. For this reason, any taste differences between bars come down to the bean itself! I was amazed how different each one tasted-some had fruit notes in the chocolate, while others took on caramel notes-all this truly comes from just the bean itself. [My favorite this batch is Ecuador 70%].
-The beans are then roasted over a period of time, low and slow, to retain as much flavor as possible,
-After this, the beans are 'winnowed' in order to remove and discard the husks of the beans, leaving only the nibs.
-After this, the chocolate is put into bricks and solidified until it is time for tempering. Tempering is what makes the chocolate smooth and not chalky, and is done over a series of intense temperature changes. If tempered properly, the chocolate will snap and be beautifully glossy, vs crumbling and matted-this is because the crystals in the chocolate are being aligned.
-Once tempered, the chocolate is put into molds which they then shake vigorously [theirs is done in a machine] to remove any air bubbles imperfections. Once this is done, the bars are cooled, and then finally wrapped and sold for our consumption and enjoyment!
