After Columbus returned triumphantly from America, he presented a batch of rare treasures to the king of Spain. Among these rare treasures are some dark brown cocoa beans shaped like almonds. This is the first time that the courts of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella have seen cocoa beans-raw materials for making chocolate and cocoa powder.
The king and queen never dreamed that cocoa beans were so important, so the business opportunities provided by the New World were left to the great Spanish explorer hernando Cootez.
History of chocolate
Tianshende gourmet
In the process of conquering Mexico, Kutz discovered that the Astek Indians used cocoa beans to make their kingdom's royal drink "Chocolate L", which means hot drink. In 15 19, Emperor Montezuma entertained his Spanish guests with chocolate bottles. These drinks are packed in golden wine glasses, as if they were used to worship God. It is said that the emperor drinks 50 or more chocolates every day. Despite its royal style, chocolate in Montezuma is very bitter, which is not to Spanish taste. In order to make this mixed drink more suitable for Europeans, Kutz and his compatriots came up with the idea of sweetening it with sucrose.
When they brought chocolate back to Spain, the idea of sweetening was affirmed. After adding several newly discovered spices such as cinnamon and vanillin, this beverage has undergone several changes. Finally, some people think that this drink will taste better when heated.
This new drink quickly won praise among Spanish nobles. Spain wisely began to grow cocoa in its overseas colonies, which gave birth to a profitable business. Surprisingly, the Spanish have successfully concealed cocoa technology from other European countries for nearly a hundred years.
Chocolate spread to Europe.
The Spanish monk entrusted with processing cocoa beans finally let the cat out of the bag. Soon, chocolate won applause from all over Europe as a delicious and healthy food. It was once superior to the fashionable French court drink. Chocolate drinks soon spread to Britain through the English Channel. 1657, the first batch of famous English chocolate houses appeared. The method of manual production in small workshops gave way to the mass production of chocolate in time. The improved steam engine accelerated the production reform. This engine has mechanized the cocoa grinding process. By 1730, the price of chocolate had dropped from more than $3 per pound to an affordable price for all. 1828, the invention of the cocoa press further reduced the price of chocolate, and helped to improve the quality of beverages by squeezing out part of cocoa butter (fat naturally formed in cocoa beans). Since then, the chocolate you drink has a smoother viscosity and a pleasant smell today.
/kloc-in the 0/9th century, the history of chocolate had a revolutionary development. 1847, a British company introduced solid "chocolate" by developing soft candy chocolate. This is a kind of velvet-smooth chocolate, which almost completely replaces the coarse chocolate that once dominated the world market.
Chocolate spread to America.
In the United States, chocolate production is developing faster than anywhere else in the world. In New England before the revolution-to be exact, 1765-the first chocolate factory in China was established. Chocolate has also been brought into space as part of the food for American astronauts. (Chocolate Information Center Network)
An anecdote about chocolate
Chocolate: a noble legacy
Before the fruit of cocoa tree was introduced to Europe, Olmec Indians in South and Central America ate it for a long time. The Olmec Indians first used the word "cocoa". Maya Indians further planted cocoa trees in agriculture and produced the first cocoa drink. The Aztecs believed that their Quetzalcoaths gave cocoa beans to humans. The Aztecs believed in cocoa beans, which were used in religious ceremonies and as gifts from gods. But it is an indispensable part of Aztecs' daily life, and it is used as currency. But only nobles and warriors can eat it.
Chocolate eaten for the first time by human beings is a spicy and bitter drink. The ancient Aztecs baked cocoa beans and ground them into powder. After mixing them with water and corn flour, they add pepper and blow it into bubbles. This drink is called "chocolate".
Aztec ruler Montezuma and his North Korean officials drink 50 cans of chocolate every day. This precious drink is called a panacea. It is packed in a golden goblet and thrown into the lake only once.
The first European to discover chocolate is believed to be Christopher Columbus. After he returned from the "New World" in 1502, he introduced chocolate to the court of King Ferdinand. Decades later, Spanish explorer hernando Kutez discovered the cocoa beans of Aztec nobles during his conquest of Mexico.
In the16th century, it was Columbus and Kurtz who expanded the influence of chocolate among Spanish aristocrats, but it was Maria Salsa of spanish princess who set off a chocolate craze in Europe. She presented cocoa beans to Louis XIV as an engagement present.
Chocolate has been a secret food in Spain for nearly a century. This kind of food became popular in Italy after 1606. 1642, chocolate was introduced into France as a medicine and was eaten by Catholics.
This kind of drink is very popular. The first "Chocolate House" was established in 1657, and it became a business specializing in providing hot chocolate and sweet chocolate for the general public.
Chocolate beverage entered the United States in 1765, when the first chocolate factory opened in New England. Even Thomas Jefferson, a recognized gourmet, praised "chocolate has the advantages of health and nutrition".
Chocolate has extensive connections with many other famous historical figures. Because Casanova and Madame Dubali believe that chocolate can add romance, chocolate has been promoted to a new height in Europe. From 65438 to 0657, it became more and more fashionable, and many "chocolate houses" were established in Britain to provide chocolate drinks to the public.
In 1828, Coenraad Van Houten of the Netherlands invented a screw extruder, which can extract cocoa butter from cocoa beans. Van Houten's alkaline processing method (later called "Dutch method") can remove the sour and bitter taste of cocoa and produce softer and sweeter chocolate drinks. Today, cocoa powder processed with alkali is still called Dutch chocolate.
Chocolate has always been regarded as a kind of beverage, and it was not until 1847 that chocolate became a familiar solid form. The inventor successfully produced a chewable chocolate bar by adding cocoa butter to chocolate beverage. Milk chocolate came out in 1876, when daniel peter, a Swiss chocolate manufacturer, discovered that adding milk powder to chocolate could produce softer and lighter chocolate.
Frank and Ethel Maas began to produce chocolate in Washington State in 19 1. It was World War I that really stimulated the development of American chocolate industry. The US Army Quartermaster Corps commissioned many American chocolate manufacturers to produce 20-40 pounds of chocolate bars and transport them to the battlefield base. These chocolate bars were cut into small pieces and distributed to American soldiers fighting in Europe. Finally, the task of packaging chocolate into small pieces fell to the producer.
Planting, picking, harvesting and transportation of cocoa beans
Planting cocoa beans
But this is a product of the cocoa tree. Cocoa tree is a tropical plant, which only grows in hot climate. In this way, its cultivation is limited to the land between 20 latitudes north and south of the equator Assuming that the soil conditions are fertile and carefully cultivated, once it survives, cocoa trees can grow in sufficient sunshine. Cocoa plantations (artificially planted cocoa trees) are usually located in valleys or coastal plains, and there must be evenly distributed rainfall and fertile and well-drained land.
The first fruit
After pruning and careful cultivation, most kinds of cocoa trees will begin to bear fruit in the fifth year. With the best care, some tree species will have a good harvest even in the third and fourth years.
Cocoa trees are evergreen trees. Its huge and smooth leaves are red when they are young and turn green when they mature. When mature, the height of artificially planted cocoa trees is 15 to 25 feet, but the height of wild cocoa trees can reach more than 60 feet. The life expectancy of cocoa trees is still under speculation. It is generally believed that after 25 years, the economic function of a cocoa tree may be regarded as the end, and it is appropriate to replant young cocoa trees to replace it. Cocoa trees bear fruit (or pods) all year round, but the harvest is usually seasonal. Because cocoa trees can cross pollinate freely, cocoa beans can form various species, including Latin American species, exotic species and Trinidad species.
Harvest cocoa beans
Picking ripe cocoa beans is not an easy task. Cocoa trees are fragile and shallow, so workers can't risk climbing up to pick pods from tall branches.
The growers equipped the pickers who went to work in the fields with long-handled hand-shaped steel knives. Steel knives are used to touch and cut off the tallest pods without damaging the soft bark of cocoa trees. The machete you carry with you is used to pick pods that grow on low branches and can be reached.
What to do after picking?
Collectors and pickers together collect the pods into baskets and transport them to the edge of the field. Where the pods are broken. If the method is correct, you can wave a machete once or twice to split the wooden shell of the pod. A well-trained crusher can crush 500 pods per hour.
It takes patience to finish the harvest. Usually, 20 to 50 milky cocoa beans are dug from a standard pod, and then the shell and inner membrane of the pod are discarded. Dry cocoa beans in ordinary pods weigh less than 58 grams. To be exact, it takes 400 cocoa beans to make 1 pound of chocolate.
Cocoa beans are still very different from the end products we are familiar with. Milky cocoa beans will soon turn lavender or purple when exposed to the air. At this time, they don't look like chocolate, nor do they smell as familiar as chocolate.
Shipped crops
Cocoa beans or seeds taken from pods are packed in boxes or piled up for packaging. Wrapped around cocoa beans is a layer of pulp, which begins to heat and ferment. Fermentation lasts for three to nine days, which will remove the bitter taste of cocoa and produce raw materials with chocolate characteristics. Fermentation is a simple process. Sugar in cocoa beans is converted into acids, mainly lactic acid and acetic acid.
During the fermentation process, the temperature of cocoa beans rose to 125 degrees Fahrenheit, which killed bacteria and activated existing enzymes to form a mixture, which produced chocolate flavor when baking cocoa beans. The final result is dark brown completely fermented cocoa beans, which indicates that cocoa beans are now ready to enter the drying process.
Like all fruits rich in water, cocoa beans must be dried to be preserved. In some countries, the drying process is very simple: just spread cocoa beans on a plate or bamboo mat and bake them in the sun. When wet weather interferes with this drying method, manual methods can be used. For example, cocoa beans may be taken indoors and dried under a hot air duct.
If the weather is fine, the drying process usually takes several days. In this gap, farmers often turn cocoa beans. They used this opportunity to select cocoa beans for export and select flat, broken or germinated cocoa beans. During the drying process, cocoa beans will lose almost all water and more than half of their weight.
After the cocoa beans are dried, they are ready to be shipped at the price of 130 to 200 pounds per bag. They are rarely stored in warehouses unless they have to wait for the shipping center inspected by the buyer.