Some of you Pro Chocolate readers have specifically asked about Swiss chocolate. Why is it so good? Well, the answer is cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is the natural fat of the cacao bean.
Now, the cacao bean is the seed found in a cacao pod, the fruit of the cacao tree. Workers cut the pods from the trees, cut the pods open, and scoop out the beans. The beans are allowed to ferment for about a week and are then cleaned, roasted, and hulled. Cacao beans with the shells removed are called nibs. The nibs contain about 54% cocoa butter, and when they are ground, the nibs release the butter. This mixture of finely ground nibs and cocoa butter forms a free-flowing substance known as chocolate liquor. Chocolate liquor is then processed in various ways to produce chocolate in the forms we buy at the grocery store: cocoa powder, and semi-sweet and milk chocolate. Want to know what the chocolate liquor tastes like, though? Just try some baking chocolate -- that's the commercial form of the liquor.
So, what does all of this have to do with cocoa butter and Swiss chocolate? Cocoa butter is very expensive, and to reduce production costs, many chocolate companies substitute vegetable oil for cocoa butter. Why don't manufacturers just use the butter they ground out of the nib, you ask? Besides cutting costs, they can make an extra buck by skimping on the amount of butter and selling it for use in other products like laxative and anaesthetic suppositories, various medical ointments, and cosmetics.
But Swiss chocolatiers -- as well as other purist chocolatiers -- refuse to use vegetable oil in their chocolates. Although European Union chocolate makers are allowed to use up to 5% of vegetable fats in chocolate production, Swiss companies are resisting. They say they have a quality reputation to uphold.
And I think we can all agree that Swiss chocolate IS the best. Although I must say that Hershey makes a pretty good cheap version; the company is my chocolate addiction enabler.
Hmmm, perhaps I should call this blog "Pro Cocoa Butter."
To read more about the plight of the Swiss Chocolatier, click here. For more about chocolate production, check out the following site: "Vernost Kachestvu" Confectionery Ltd.
(Sources: The previous two linked web sites and Applebaum, Rhona S. "Chocolate." The World Book Encyclopedia. 2001.)
8 comments:
According to Genevieve, chocolates with cocoa butter instead of vegetable oil not only taste better, they are much better for you and almost fat free (except for the sugar which turns to fat). I'm sure she'd have more to say about it.
Genevieve says:
"there's a type of chocolate called Chuao that comes
from cocoa beans grown in just one village in
Venezuela that's been voted by the industry as the
best chocolate in the world. We have a temp in our
office who's from Venezuela and she said it's true,
that it's just heavenly."
Where can I get this Venezuelan chocolate? Do I have to go to Venezuela?
That's very interesting stuff.
I used to think Hershey Chocolate was the best until I got introduced to Lindt, never looked back at Hershey.
I've always wanted to know what makes Swiss chocolate different
As a Swiss i find it a little insulting that you assume our Chocolate is the best just because we use different Ingredients.
If it were that easy, every Chocolate Company would do it. Even if it costs more. The Money you could make from it would definetly make it worth it.
Anyway, some advice to Hershey's: More Milk.
Your Chocolate has an aftertaste sinilar to Vomit. I am not kidding.
Mostly we have centuries of Knowledge and Tradition, we know what makes chocolate good and how to make it good.
I was shocked when i went to the states and tried some Chocolate. Even Swiss cooking Chocolate tastes better than Hershey's.
I also think Hershey's relies on Mass Production. Chocolate is not meant to be pooped out by a machine. If you've ever been to a Lindt Factory, and ask some questions, you'll see how much care is put into making arguebly the best chocolate in the world.
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