Outline of chocolate

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chocolate:

What is chocolate?

What type of thing is chocolate?

Chocolate is a type of:

  • Food – substance to provide nutritional support for the body, ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism's cells in an effort to produce energy, maintain life, and/or stimulate growth.
    • Confectionery – the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well.
      • Candy – confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added. Candies come in numerous colors and varieties and have a long history in popular culture.
    • Ingredient – substance that forms part of a mixture (in a general sense). For example, in cooking, recipes specify which ingredients are used to prepare a specific dish. Chocolate is often used as an ingredient in dessert items, such as cakes and cookies.

What is chocolate made of?

Chocolate is created from the cacao bean. A cacao tree with fruit pods in various stages of ripening

Necessary ingredients

  • Cacao bean  Fatty seed of Theobroma cacao which is the basis of chocolate
    • Chocolate liquor, also known as chocolate mass  Pure cocoa mass in solid or semi-solid form
    • Cocoa butter  Pale-yellow, edible fat extracted from the cocoa bean
    • Cocoa solids  A mixture of many substances remaining after cocoa butter is extracted from cacao beans
Substances found in cacao
Source of the cocoa bean

Optional ingredients

  • Lecithin  A generic term for amphiphilic substances of plant and animal origin
  • Vanilla  Spice extracted from orchids of the genus Vanilla
  • Sugar  Generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates
  • Milk  white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals
  • Caramel  Confectionery product made by heating sugars
  • Peanuts  A legume cultivated for its seeds

Ingredients of white chocolate

  • White chocolate  Confection made with cocoa butter that does not contain cocoa solids

Types

Types of chocolate  A range of foods derived from cocoa

  • Unsweetened chocolate – pure chocolate liquor mixed with fat to produce a solid substance; also known as "bitter," "baking chocolate" and "cooking chocolate"[6]
  • Dark chocolate  Chocolate with high cocoa solids content
  • Milk chocolate  Solid chocolate containing added milk
  • Semisweet chocolate  Term for dark chocolate used in the United States to indicate the amount of added sugar
  • Bittersweet chocolate  Term for dark chocolate used in the United States to indicate the amount of added sugar
  • Couverture  High-quality chocolate that contains a higher percentage of cocoa butter than baking or eating chocolate
  • White chocolate  Confection made with cocoa butter that does not contain cocoa solids
  • Cocoa powder
  • Compound chocolate  A product made from a combination of cocoa, vegetable fat and sweeteners
  • Dutch process chocolate  Cocoa that has been treated with an alkalizing agent
  • Scho-Ka-Kola – a chocolate brand containing coffee and cola nut[7]

Production methods

Producers and trade organizations

Brands

Edibles

Drinks

A mug of hot chocolate. Chocolate was first drunk rather than eaten.[6]
  • Cafe mocha  A chocolate-flavored variant of a caffè latte
  • Chocolate milk  Sweetened chocolate-flavored milk
    • Swiss Miss  A name brand for cocoa powder and pudding products
    • Nesquik  brand of products made by Nestlé
    • Banania  A chocolate drink found most widely distributed in France
    • Yoo-hoo  American brand of chocolate beverage
  • Crème de cacao  A sweet liqueur that tastes like chocolate.
  • Hot chocolate  Heated beverage of chocolate in milk or water
  • Mexican hot chocolate
  • List of chocolate beverages  A list of notable beverages flavoured with chocolate

History

Effects on health

Health effects of chocolate  The possible positive and negative effects on health of eating chocolate

  • United States military chocolate
  • Couverture chocolate  High-quality chocolate that contains a higher percentage of cocoa butter than baking or eating chocolate
  • Chocolataire  A type of social gathering in which all food and drink are composed of or contain some form of chocolate
  • Chocolate fountain  A device for serving chocolate fondue
  • Compound chocolate  A product made from a combination of cocoa, vegetable fat and sweeteners
  • Chocolate agar – named for its color, does not contain cocoa
  • Chocolate spread  A sweet chocolate-flavored paste which is eaten mostly spread on breads and similar grain products
  • Modeling chocolate  A chocolate paste used for decoration

References

  1. "Theobroma cacao". Hort.purdue.edu. 1998-01-09. Retrieved April 2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  2. Yang HY, Neff NH (November 1973). "Beta-phenylethylamine: a specific substrate for type B monoamine oxidase of brain". Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 187 (2): 365–71. ISSN 0022-3565. PMID 4748552.
  3. Suzuki O, Katsumata Y, Oya M (March 1981). "Oxidation of beta-phenylethylamine by both types of monoamine oxidase: examination of enzymes in brain and liver mitochondria of eight species". Journal of Neurochemistry. 36 (3): 1298–301. doi:10.1111/j.1471-4159.1981.tb01734.x. ISSN 0022-3042. PMID 7205271.
  4. William Marias Malisoff (1943). Dictionary of Bio-Chemistry and Related Subjects. Philosophical Library. pp. 311, 530, 573. ASIN B0006AQ0NU.
  5. Bennett, Alan Weinberg; Bonnie K. Bealer (2002). The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug. Routledge, New York. ISBN 0-415-92723-4.
  6. Archived March 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Sarotti SCHO-KA-KOLA 100g (High Caffein Dark Chocolate 3.5oz)". Germandeli.com. Retrieved April 2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.