tteemmppttiinngg.....!!!

Ahhhh....poor girl...standing helplessly on the stage and looking at her friends eat the chocolate while they eat in the most tempting way.......!!!

And my condition being as good as hers is the most unfortunate thing.......

me and my chocolate

          
           
             I don't actually believe in spending hours together in the preparation of different varieties of chocolates for i cannot resist for such a long time sitting tied up on a chair waiting for it to get ready. So, if you are looking for some chocolate recipes you have landed in a wrong place .The only thing i can tell you is how to eat a ready to eat chocolate in the best possible way so that you get a complete idea of what the enjoyment of chocolate really means.


So , HOW TO EAT A CHOCOLATE...


Here are the things to ''look for'' when you're conducting a dark chocolate tasting:


SOUND - Does the chocolate snap when you break it? Or is the chocolate soft and mushy? Usually, dark chocolate is drier than milk chocolate, which makes dark chocolate snappier.


SCENT - Most of what we think of as taste is scent. So before biting into your chocolate, take a whiff. What do you smell other than simply chocolate? Any fruits or spices? May be a dirty smell or even a bad smell?


TASTE - When you take your first bite, pinch your noise. This way you'll be certain that what you're tasting you're actually tasting and not smelling. Remember, by itself the tongue can only detect five flavours: salt, sweet, sour, bitter and umami (savouriness)


TEXTURE - Finally, release your nose and let the chocolate melt across your tongue. What does it feel like? It should be smooth but not waxy. Hard but not grainy.
                    As the chocolate melts, different flavours are released. What does it taste like at first? What tastes linger afterwards?  Where do you taste the chocolate on your tongue?


Slowly......


........




.......are you done with it.....???






aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh........... !!!! Finally i have taught you how to eat a chocolate and am done with my work and now it is your job to understand your responsibility. Got my point...???  




What's wrong are you not satisfied...???
Well, are you still in search of a chocolate recipe...???
uuuhhhh....ooohhhhh....!!!
Fine then ....here's a recipe for you.....




A CHOCOLATE RECIPE....


All you need is.............* 1 bar of chocolate ( preferably dark )
                                       * 1 hand ( preferably 2 )
                                       * 1 mouth ( wish we had two )


All you need to do........Grasp bar in hand. Stick in mouth. Oh wait - REMOVE WRAPPER. Then     
                                      stick in mouth. Now eat. Repeat.


NOTE - SPEED IS OF THE ESSENCE IN  THE RECIPE. OTHERWISE, SOMEBODY MAY SEE YOU AND YOU MAY BE FORCED TO SHARE.

KUCH MEETHA HO JAAYE....

Many a times i had heard that when kept a piece of dairy milk silk in the mouth it would melt.....tempted by this statement i once bought it ....Very eager to eat, i tore the wrapper and dropped a piece of it inside my mouth...

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...

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...............................................

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yuuuuummmmmm.....!!!

lllooovvveelllyy.........!!!!

aaaahhhhh.....!!!!!!!!!!

were not what i felt......

......................it is not that i was speechless....

it is that i was disappointed for i had had an extravagant choice...

the chocolate was not worth it....!!!

so,from then on i stopped eating it until somebody gifted me one.....

but yesterday..that is the day i created this blog........

......

..............................

i couldn't say or do anything much more than creating this blog.................

a blog very much dedicated to chocolates...!!!

and yes...this time i was definitely speechless...!!!   






 HAVE YOU FELT SILK LATELY...!!!

THE PREPARATION OF CHOCOLATE

Production


-Roughly two-thirds of the entire world's cocoa is produced in West Africa, with 43% sourced fromCôte d'Ivoire,where child labor is a common practice to obtain the product. According to the World Cocoa Foundation, some 50 million people around the world depend on cocoa as a source of livelihood.^] In the UK, most chocolatiers purchase their chocolate from them, to melt, mold and package to their own design. Despite some disagreement in the EU about the definition, chocolate is any product made primarily of cocoa solids and cocoa butter.

Production costs can be decreased by reducing cocoa solid content or by substituting cocoa butter with another fat. Cocoa growers object to allowing the resulting food to be called "chocolate", due to the risk of lower demand for their crops.The sequencing in 2010 of genome of the cacao tree may allow yields to be improved.

There are two main jobs associated with creating chocolate candy, chocolate makers and chocolatiers. Chocolate makers use harvested cacao beans and other ingredients to producecouverture chocolate (covering). Chocolatiers use the finished couverture to make chocolate candies (bars, truffles, etc.).

Cacao varieties

Toasted cacao beans at a chocolate workshop at the La Chonita Hacienda inTabasco, Mexico.

Chocolate is made from cocoa beans, the dried and partially fermented seeds of the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), a small (4–8 m (or 15–26 ft) tall) evergreen tree native to the deep tropical region of the Americas. Recent genetic studies suggest that the most common genotype of the plant originated in the Amazon basin and was gradually transported by humans throughout South and Central America. Early forms of another genotype have also been found in what is now Venezuela. The scientific name,Theobroma, means "food of the gods". The fruit, called a cacao pod, is ovoid, 15–30 cm (or 6–12 in) long and 8–10 cm (3–4 in) wide, ripening yellow to orange, and weighs about 500 g (1 lb) when ripe.

Cacao trees are small, understory trees that need rich, well-drained soils. They naturally grow within 20 degrees of either side of the equator because they need about 2000 millimeters of rainfall a year, and temperatures in the range of 21 to 32 °C. Cacao trees cannot tolerate a temperature lower than 15 °C (59 °F).

The three main varieties of cacao beans used in chocolate are criollo, forastero, and trinitario.

Representing only five percent of all cocoa beans grown,^] criollo is the rarest and most expensive cocoa on the market, and is native to Central America, the Caribbean islands and the northern tier of South American states. There is some dispute about the genetic purity of cocoas sold today as criollo, as most populations have been exposed to the genetic influence of other varieties. Criollos are particularly difficult to grow, as they are vulnerable to a variety of environmental threats and produce low yields of cocoa per tree. The flavor of criollo is described as delicate yet complex, low in classic chocolate flavor, but rich in "secondary" notes of long duration.

The most commonly grown bean is forastero, a large group of wild and cultivated cacaos, most likely native to the Amazon basin. The African cocoa crop is entirely of the forastero variety. They are significantly hardier and of higher yield than criollo. The source of most chocolate marketed,forastero cocoas are typically strong in classic "chocolate" flavor, but have a short duration and are unsupported by secondary flavors, producing "quite bland" chocolate.

Trinitario is a natural hybrid of criollo and forastero. Trinitario originated in Trinidad after an introduction of forastero to the local criollo crop. Nearly all cacao produced over the past five decades is of the forastero or lower-grade trinitario varieties.

Processing

Video of cacao beans being ground and mixed with other ingredients to make chocolate at a Mayordomo store in Oaxaca, Mexico

Cacao pods are harvested by cutting the pods from the tree using a machete, or by knocking them off the tree using a stick. The beans with their surrounding pulp are removed from the pods and placed in piles or bins, allowing access to microorganisms so that fermentation of the pectin-containing material can begin. Yeast produce ethanol, lactic acid bacteria producelactic acid and acetic acid bacteria produce acetic acid. The fermentation process, which takes up to seven days, also produces several flavor precursors, eventually resulting in the familiar chocolate taste.

It is important to harvest the pods when they are fully ripe because if the pod is unripe, the beans will have a low cocoa butter content, or there will be insufficient sugars in the white pulp for fermentation, resulting in a weak flavor. After fermentation, the beans must be quickly dried to prevent mold growth. Climate and weather permitting, this is done by spreading the beans out in the sun from five to seven days.

The dried beans are then transported to a chocolate manufacturing facility. The beans are cleaned (removing twigs, stones, and other debris), roasted, and graded. Next, the shell of each bean is removed to extract the nib. Finally, the nibs are ground and liquefied, resulting in pure chocolate in fluid form: chocolate liquor. The liquor can be further processed into two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter.

Blending

Main article: Types of chocolate

Chocolate liquor is blended with the cocoa butter in varying quantities to make different types of chocolate or couvertures. The basic blends of ingredients for the various types of chocolate (in order of highest quantity of cocoa liquor first), are as follows:

Fountain chocolate is made with high levels of cocoa butter, allowing it to flow gently over achocolate fountain to serve asdessert fondue.

• Dark chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, and (sometimes) vanilla
• Milk chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, milk or milk powder, and vanilla
• White chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, milk or milk powder, and vanilla

Usually, an emulsifying agent, such as soy lecithin, is added, though a few manufacturers prefer to exclude this ingredient for purity reasons and to remain GMO-free, sometimes at the cost of a perfectly smooth texture. Some manufacturers are now using PGPR, an artificial emulsifier derived from castor oil that allows them to reduce the amount of cocoa butter while maintaining the samemouthfeel.

The texture is also heavily influenced by processing, specifically conching (see below). The more expensive chocolate tends to be processed longer and thus have a smoother texture and mouthfeel, regardless of whether emulsifying agents are added.

Different manufacturers develop their own "signature" blends based on the above formulas, but varying proportions of the different constituents are used. The finest, plain dark chocolate couvertures contain at least 70% cocoa (both solids and butter), whereas milk chocolate usually contains up to 50%. High-quality white chocolate couvertures contain only about 35% cocoa.

Producers of high quality, small batch chocolate argue that mass production produces bad quality chocolate. Some mass-produced chocolate contains much less cocoa (as low as 7% in many cases), and fats other than cocoa butter. Vegetable oils and artificial vanilla flavor are often used in cheaper chocolate to mask poorly fermented and/or roasted beans.

In 2007, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association in the United States, whose members include Hershey, Nestlé, and Archer Daniels Midland, lobbied the Food and Drug Administration to change the legal definition of chocolate to let them substitute partially hydrogenated vegetable oils for cocoa butter, in addition to using artificial sweeteners and milk substitutes.Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not allow a product to be referred to as "chocolate" if the product contains any of these ingredients.

Conching

Main article: Conching

Chocolate melanger mixing raw ingredients

The penultimate process is called conching. A conche is a container filled with metal beads, which act as grinders. The refined and blended chocolate mass is kept in a liquid state by frictional heat. Chocolate prior to conching has an uneven and gritty texture. The conching process produces cocoa and sugar particles smaller than the tongue can detect, hence the smooth feel in the mouth. The length of the conching process determines the final smoothness and quality of the chocolate. High-quality chocolate is conched for about 72 hours, lesser grades about four to six hours. After the process is complete, the chocolate mass is stored in tanks heated to approximately 45–50 °C (113–122 °F) until final processing.

Tempering

The final process is called tempering. Uncontrolled crystallization of cocoa butter typically results in crystals of varying size, some or all large enough to be clearly seen with the naked eye. This causes the surface of the chocolate to appear mottled and matte, and causes the chocolate to crumble rather than snap when broken.The uniform sheen and crisp bite of properly processed chocolate are the result of consistently small cocoa butter crystals produced by the tempering process.

The fats in cocoa butter can crystallize in six different forms (polymorphous crystallization).The primary purpose of tempering is to assure that only the best form is present. The six different crystal forms have different properties.

Crystal	Melting temp.	Notes
I	17 °C (63 °F)	Soft, crumbly, melts too easily
II	21 °C (70 °F)	Soft, crumbly, melts too easily
III	26 °C (79 °F)	Firm, poor snap, melts too easily
IV	28 °C (82 °F)	Firm, good snap, melts too easily
V	34 °C (93 °F)	Glossy, firm, best snap, melts near body temperature (37 °C)
VI	36 °C (97 °F)	Hard, takes weeks to form

Molten chocolate and a piece of a chocolate bar

Making chocolate considered "good" is about forming as many type V crystals as possible. This provides the best appearance and texture and creates the most stable crystals, so the texture and appearance will not degrade over time. To accomplish this, the temperature is carefully manipulated during the crystallization.

Generally, the chocolate is first heated to 45 °C (113 °F) to melt all six forms of crystals. Next, the chocolate is cooled to about 27 °C (81 °F), which will allow crystal types IV and V to form. At this temperature, the chocolate is agitated to create many small crystal "seeds" which will serve as nuclei to create small crystals in the chocolate. The chocolate is then heated to about 31 °C (88 °F) to eliminate any type IV crystals, leaving just type V. After this point, any excessive heating of the chocolate will destroy the temper and this process will have to be repeated. However, there are other methods of chocolate tempering used. The most common variant is introducing already tempered, solid "seed" chocolate. The temper of chocolate can be measured with a chocolate temper meter to ensure accuracy and consistency. A sample cup is filled with the chocolate and placed in the unit which then displays or prints the results.

Two classic ways of manually tempering chocolate are:

• Working the molten chocolate on a heat-absorbing surface, such as a stone slab, until thickening indicates the presence of sufficient crystal "seeds"; the chocolate is then gently warmed to working temperature.
• Stirring solid chocolate into molten chocolate to "inoculate" the liquid chocolate with crystals (this method uses the already formed crystals of the solid chocolate to "seed" the molten chocolate).

Chocolate tempering machines (or temperers) with computer controls can be used for producing consistently tempered chocolate, particularly for large volume applications.

Storage

Chocolate is very sensitive to temperature and humidity. Ideal storage temperatures are between 15 and 17 °C (59 and 63 °F), with a relative humidity of less than 50%. Various types of "blooming" effects can occur if chocolate is stored or served improperly. Fat bloom is caused by storage temperature fluctuating or exceeding 24 C while sugar bloom is caused by temperature below 15 C or excess humidity. To distinguish between different types of bloom, one can rub the surface of the chocolate lightly, and if the bloom disappears, it is fat bloom. One can get rid of bloom by re-tempering the chocolate or using it for anything that requires melting the chocolate.

Chocolate is generally stored away from other foods, as it can absorb different aromas. Ideally, chocolates are packed or wrapped, and placed in proper storage with the correct humidity and temperature. Additionally, chocolate is frequently stored in a dark place or protected from light by wrapping paper.

If refrigerated or frozen without containment, chocolate can absorb enough moisture to cause a whitish discoloration, the result of fat or sugar crystals rising to the surface. Moving chocolate from one temperature extreme to another, such as from a refrigerator on a hot day, can result in an oily texture. Although visually unappealing, chocolate suffering from bloom is perfectly safe for consumption.