Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa
beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a
flavoring in other foods. The cacao tree has been used as a source of food
for at least 5,300 years, starting with the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what
is present-day Ecuador. Later, Mesoamerican civilizations consumed cacao
beverages, of which one, chocolate, was introduced to Europe in the 16th
century. The seeds of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) have an
intense bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavor. After
fermentation, the seeds are dried, cleaned, and roasted. The shell is
removed to produce nibs, which are then ground to cocoa mass,
unadulterated chocolate in rough form. Once the cocoa mass is liquefied by
heating, it is called chocolate liquor. The liquor may also be cooled and
processed into its two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter.
Baking chocolate, also called bitter chocolate, contains cocoa
solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions without any added sugar.
Powdered baking cocoa, which contains more fiber than cocoa
butter, can be processed with alkali to produce Dutch cocoa. Much
of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, a
combination of cocoa solids, cocoa butter, and added vegetable oils and
sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally
contains milk powder.
