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Wine has long been paired with fruit, meat and other fine foods. But pairing with chocolate has a relatively recent, and controversial, history. There are those who insist that the twain should never meet. Nevertheless, there are wines and chocolates that make perfect partners.
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It seems everything these days is a matter for controversy, even a subject as unlikely as chocolate. To some 'white chocolate' is a contradiction in terms. Fair enough, the name might be a little misleading. So-called white chocolate actually contains none of the dark powder that gives its cousins the distinctive chocolate look. Since it doesn't have cocoa powder or chocolate liquor, one might well ask why it deserves the name.
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Chocolate is the result of blending cocoa butter and a liquid called chocolate liquor, both derived from the cacao bean. But from those twin ingredients, many different kinds of chocolate can arise. One of the finest is milk chocolate.
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As with everything else in nutrition and diet, the health benefits or risks of eating chocolate is a controversial topic. Every new study that comes along seems to throw doubt on the one before. Nowhere is this more true than in discussions of the health risks and possible benefits of eating chocolate. The answer, like much else in nutrition, may lie in considering the amount consumed.
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Chocolate mousse is a favorite dessert at many fine dining party. It's similar to pudding but has a richer, more chocolate-drenched flavor.
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How to Make Chocolate Ice Cream
There are many fine chocolate ice creams available at specialty stores and elsewhere today. But nothing compares to the thrill and great taste of making your own. Here are a couple of ways to do just that.
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The word 'chocolate' is a combination of terms from the Aztecs meaning 'bitter water'. That's an odd thing, considering we typically associate chocolate with something sweet. But that sweetness is the result of modern processing techniques, not something inherent in chocolate. In the form the Aztecs and Mayans knew it, the hot liquid made from brewing the crushed bean of the cacao plant has plenty of alkaloids, making it bitter.
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All true chocolate is made from a mixture of cocoa butter and something called chocolate liquor, both derived from the cacao bean. But from that simple list, many different possibilities bloom. One of the finest is dark chocolate. This is the purest, richest form of chocolate with all the full flavor of one of the most widely appreciated taste sensations in the world.
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The proper ingredients and techniques for cooking with chocolate depend, of course, on your recipe. For most cooking chores, unsweetened chocolate is best. As the name suggests, this is 'pure' chocolate with no sugar added. Other recipes will require using semi-sweetened chocolate, which is about 40% sugar. In some cases, dark chocolate with the highest cocoa and sugar content (55% or more) is called for. Milk chocolate rarely makes the list of ingredients.
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Chocolate and Raw or Organic Foods
Since the 1970s interest in health and diet have grown exponentially to their current high plateau. Every type of food is scrutinized and evaluated for its potential nutritional impact. One of the offshoots of that movement is an advocacy of something called, appropriately enough, raw food. This is simply food not cooked above a certain temperature. Generally the upper limit is around 115F/46C.
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Chocolate - Cacao Production and Processing
All true chocolate is made from processing a bean from the Theobroma cacao tree. Processed for consumption at least since the time of the Aztecs, its popularity spread after discovery by the Spanish in the early 16th century.