Chocolate University Online Blog
Chocolate, a native to Mexico, has been a staple there for centuries already. Initially, they enjoyed chocolate as a drink. They made variations og chocolate by incorporating different flavors and ingredients such as honey, spices, and nuts, among many others. The chocolate beverages they made did not have a sweet taste to them. Nevertheless, it was well-loved by the Aztec and Mayan royalty.
The Aztecs were whipping up and enjoying their hot chocolate drinks when the Spaniards arrived. They took the cacao beans along with them as they headed home, and started enhancing the flavors by adding milk and sugar. You can trace the roots of the hot chocolate drink recipe back to that. Shortly thereafter, chocolate became all the rage in European royal places. Special china pots and cups were produced, intended only for drinking hot chocolate. Nowadays, such kitchenware are considered as collectors’ items and can sell for a fortune if they come in a complete set.
  Hot chocolate drinks are still enjoyed by the people of Mexico today, and the rest of the world, for that matter. They prepare it with cinnamon and authentic Mexican chocolate. And if you have access to a disk of Mexican chocolate in local Latino markets, then your chocolate drink gets all the more authentic. Otherwise, just opt for unsweetened chocolate.
And among the things that make a real Mexican hot chocolate such a winner is the frothiness. In contemporary times, mixers or immersion blenders are utilized to create froth, but the authentic way to do so is by means of using a whisk called molinillo.
A molinillo is a wooden tool which was invented by the Spaniards in the 17th century in Mexico. The molinillo is held between the palms and rotated by rubbing the palms together. By doing so, you create froth in the drink. Molinillo’s are actually still available even in this day and age. You can look them up and buy them online.
But before anybody was able to come up with the idea of creating the molinillo, they used to create froth by pouring hot chocolate back and forth using two cups. This certain frothing process tends to make hot chocolate cool down, and you wouldn’t want your hot chocolate cold, do you?
Today, frothy chocolate is made using machines. But if authentic Mexican hot chocolate is your thing, a molinillo can always come in handy! 
Categories: fun chocolate facts
Tags: aztecs, chocolate drinks, chocolate facts, chocolate history, hot chocolate, mayans
Chocolate never fails to give an enjoyable experience, especially if you are enjoying quality chocolate. It provides rich and intricate flavors that vary from one chocolate to another.
Truth be told, the flavor components found in chocolate are more than those of red wine. You get the full experience in eating chocolate if you savor it by eating slowly. Every type of chocolate offers a different set of flavor profiles.
We know all too well that chocolate is derived from cacao beans, like wine comes from grapes. The flavors of the cacao beans are hugely affected by certain factors, namely geographical location, climate, conditions of the soil they’re planted into, the processes they undergo after being harvested, and their unique genotypes. And since there are a lot of factors that influence the flavor of a single chocolate bar, it’s crucial to taste meticulously to get the fullest flavor it can give.
And just like the unique characteristics of coffee and wine, chocolate is bursting in different complex and unique notes. The differences can bring about subtle distinctiveness in a particular chocolate. For example, cacao beans cultivated in the mountains yield a nutty flavor, while coastal Venezuelan beans give a dairy flavor. A lot of European or English milk chocolates give out a caramel flavor which is actually caused by the milk being caramelized.
Advances in chocolate-making today have reached the point of coming up with out of the ordinary flavors. You can even taste chilli in some chocolates. Other exotic notes include coconut, pineapple, cinnamon, and orchid, among many others.
When you do chocolate tasting, you also get to notice varying textures such as being buttery, sugary, and the like. The most common flavors you are likely to taste are nuts, herbals, and floral. These are specific to cacao beans, but some flavors are added by chocolate makers to somehow balance the mixture of chocolates, especially those of sweeter types like milk chocolate.
You may even read on the label that vanilla, or vanallin, is added into certain bars of chocolate. Vanilla is known to balance certain blends and by some means intensify or deepen the flavors present in chocolate. Some chocolate makers even drop in a teeny weeny bit of salt, especially to milk chocolate.
If ever chocolate tasting tweaks your fancy, you’re always free to come up with your own descriptions of chocolate. Eat your heart out as you scrutinize the distinct flavors of chocolate!
And review these other resources at Chocolate University Online:
2 minute chocolate tasting interview (video)
basic chocolate tasting
Of course, for the full chocolate tasting experience, become a student at here at CUO. The first 10 weeks of study are all about chocolate tasting.
Categories: chocolate education, fun chocolate facts
Tags: chocolate facts, flavors, tasting
It’s hard to resist chocolates, no argument there. What if they’re made with more cocoa butter than the regular ones? How mouth-watering could that get?
Couverture chocolate is a special form of high-class chocolate used by chocolate companies and chocolatiers. It has a way richer and creamier consistency as compared to regular chocolate due to the fact that it contains a higher amount of cocoa butter. And with the right tempering, you get a more polished and glossier chocolate with a crisper “snap” when broken. It’s perfect for coating, molding, garnishing and dipping.
Not more than 100 firms worldwide manufacture couverture chocolate. Some of them create exclusively for their own private usage, while others market to other chocolatiers who don’t possess enough capacity to make their own couverture.
Couverture chocolate outstands the regular chocolate by its unique properties. One of which is its quality. Couverture chocolate specialized chocolate gets help from chocolate scouts who go on a hunt for the best cacao beans in the world, and meticulous research is being done in order to come up with the perfect bean blend for that very distinct flavor profile.
In order to be considered couverture, the chocolate should contain 32 to 39% of cocoa butter and the overall percentage of the cocoa butter together with the cocoa solids must reach at least 54%.
Never get couverture chocolate confused with confectionery chocolate or compound chocolate as these contain much less cocoa butter, if any. In addition to that, they may also have vegetable/coconut/palm oil, hydrogenated fats, and even artificial chocolate flavoring in them.
Couverture chocolate is normally not blended in with any other ingredients due to its high price and quality. It is meant to stand out on its own as an ingredient. It is perfect for chocolate fountains, the cocoa butter acts as a lubricant to prevent the chocolate from getting stickier than it should.
When you plan on trying it out for taste, you can order samples from certain companies to get the flavor profile you personally like since couverture chocolates have varying tastes depending on the source of the beans and the process they undergo.
Categories: fun chocolate facts
Tags: chocolate formulas, chocolate fountain, cocoa butter, couverture, temper, working with chocolate
For such a valued and delectable dessert, information about the origins of chocolate mousse is rather sparse.
The word “mousse” is a French word which means “foam” or “lather”. A mousse is a certain type of food that incorporates air bubbles to give it an airy texture. Depending on how you prepare it, it can turn out light and fluffy or creamy and thick.
It made its way into the culinary world in the 18th century which was the period when chefs in Europe, especially in France, learned about the frothing power of eggs. A French writer Menon recorded the recipes which mostly involved different kinds of dishes from fish to vegetables. It didn’t take too long until the infamous 19th century French painter and cook Henri de Toulouse came up with the idea of mixing in chocolate with mousse. He originally called it “chocolate mayonnaise”, which we now know by the more appealing name “chocolate mousse”.
In the United States, the earliest printed references to chocolate mousse supposedly come from a Food Exposition which took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 1892.
Mousse, as we know it today, is yielded by the introduction of egg whites. The invention of electric mixers definitely made life easier, as doing the foaming process by hand is downright agonizing and it’s just not as effective.
Nowadays, there are endless possibilities with regard to working with chocolate mousse. Some recipes even have fancy liqueurs in them, but the main ingredients stay the same, namely chocolate, egg whites, and sugar.
However you plan on presenting your chocolate mousse, as with any other recipe, it all boils down to the quality of ingredients you use. Opt for only the finest ones and not just anything you can get your hands on. Your chocolate mousse is only as good as your chocolate, or so they say. So you better get the best chocolate you can.
Categories: fun chocolate facts
Tags: chocolate dessert, chocolate facts, chocolate history, mousse
Probably by now, you know that chocolate is made from the fruit of the cacao tree. Let me share some tidbits about all you chocoholics’ own version of “tree of life”.
Cacao trees are tiny evergreen trees that are only about 6 meters tall. These trees produce fruit and flowers all year round and they are cultivated in countries within 10 degrees North and 10 degrees South of the Equator where the climate is most favorable for the cultivation of cacao trees as they require warm and humid environment. Furthermore, cacao trees need fertile and well-irrigated soil along with regular rainfall to grow their best.
Cacao trees are naturally found in rainforests where they make use of the shade of the heavy canopy, since they grow best when they are covered by some sort of shade. In the wild, these trees grow underneath the larger evergreen trees and are often found along rivers.
For the record, cacao has been grown for at least three millennia now in Mexico, Central America and South America. The leading suppliers of cacao are Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Indonesia.
It takes around five years for a cacao tree to yield its first crop. It becomes an adult plant come year ten. It yields between 300 and 1000 pounds of cocoa per acre for approximately 50 years.
The seed pods grow directly off the trunk of the cacao tree, rather than the ends of the branches. Each pod is as large as a pineapple measuring 5 to 12 inches long and 3 to 5 inches wide and generally contains about thirty to fifty seeds. It takes about 400 to 500 seeds to produce one pound of chocolate. Cocoa beans, which are used in making chocolate, are the dried and fully fermented fatty seeds of the cacao tree.
Just so you know, cacao flowers are not pollinated by bees or butterflies like most flowers, but by forcipomyia midges which are like tiny flies. And just a fun fact, these midges have the fastest wing-beats of any creature on earth, about 1000 times per second!
Categories: fun chocolate facts
Tags: cacao tree, chocolate facts, cocoa, cocoa beans
The queens of France were allegedly the ones held responsible for the craze of drinking chocolate during their times. They brought the practice along with them from their countries of origin, or so they say.
The first queen was Anne of Austria who married Louis XIII. When the king died, she became regent and declared her immense love of chocolate. She was even given a personal chocolatier!
The second queen who had extreme love of chocolate was Maria Theresa of Austria who married Louis XIV. It is said that she only had two passions in life… the king, and you guessed right, chocolate. And according to the king, chocolate tricks hunger but does not fill the stomach.
After Maria Theresa of Austria died, Louis XIV married Madame de Maintenon and she laid down the order to serve chocolate at feasts and celebrations.
David Chaillou was the first official chocolate maker in France during the 16th century. Vendors of soft drinks were then allowed to sell drinking chocolate. In 1800, chocolate became all the rage that more and more people engaged themselves in the chocolate sector, consumers, and traders, among many others.
The mistresses of Louis XV were also huge fans of chocolate. Madame de Pompadour used it as an aphrodisiac to treat her sexual dysfunctions. Reportedly, the king’s remark was that she was “a cold fish.” On the other hand, Madame du Barry, being nymphomaniacal, gave chocolate to her lovers so they could keep up with her almost unappeasable lust.
The circle of queens went on, and then came Marie-Antoinette who married Louis XVI. She originated from Austria along with her own personal chocolatier. The chocolate maker usually prepared chocolate with sugar and vanilla, but there were other more intricate recipes such as chocolate mixed with an orchid bulb for strength, chocolate with sweet almond milk to aid digestion, or chocolate with orange blossom to calm the nerves.
Yep, even several hundred years ago, chocolate was such a delight that royalties themselves couldn’t get enough of it!
Categories: fun chocolate facts
Tags: chocolate facts, chocolate history, European chocolate
Young couples volunteered to have their hearts and brains monitored and were then asked to melt dark chocolate in their mouths before kissing their partners.
The research was led by Dr David Lewis, formerly of the University of Sussex, and now of the Mind Lab. “These results really surprised and intrigued us,” he said. “While we fully expected chocolate – especially dark chocolate – to increase heart rates due to the fact it contains some highly stimulating substances, both the length of the increase, together with the powerful effects it had on the mind, were something none of us had anticipated.”
The romantically attached volunteers who were all aged in their 20s, had electrodes hooked up to them by scientists as they put a piece of dark chocolate on their tongue and, without chewing, indicated when it started to melt. The couples then had to kiss each other the way they normally would.
The scientist also compared their resting heart rates with those where they had the chocolate and kissing tests. The discovery was that even the most passionate kisses were no match to the buzz chocolate can give. At the point which the chocolate was melting in the mouth, all regions of the brain were stimulated far more intensely and lasted way longer than the mental excitement they got from kissing. The lumps of chocolate also allegedly made the heart beat faster.
And albeit the fact that more women love chocolate, and not to mention, are more romantic, both sexes yielded the same results.
“There is no doubt that chocolate beats kissing hands down when it comes to providing a long-lasting body and brain buzz – a buzz that, in many cases, lasted four times as long as the most passionate kiss,” said Dr Lewis.
Chocolate is known to have several substances that give natural high, namely phenylethylamine, which is elicited when we are in love, theobromine, and caffeine.
The study used a 60% cocoa dark chocolate. “You’d think people would be shy about kissing in a laboratory, but that wasn’t the case at all. We’re not talking about a quick peck here,” said a spokeswoman for the chocolate makers.
Categories: fun chocolate facts
Tags: chocolate facts, chocolate studies, kissing, phenylethylamine, theobromine
Chocolate has a long history of use in treating several ailments such as reducing anemia, stopping the progress of diarrhea, relieving an overworked brain, and soothing an upset stomach.
It is commonly used in helping emaciated patients gain weight and stimulating the nervous systems of the physically weak by allegedly strengthening the lungs and energizing them. Yes, chocolate is that significant in traditional medicine.
Chocolate drinks with added coconut milk and onion were used in the Dominican Republic to lessen common cold symptoms. Sounds a bit odd, I know.
On the other hand, traditional healers in Oaxaca, Mexico who are called “curanderos” reportedly used chocolate in treating “espanto” or “susto,” a sickness said to be caused by being startled or frightened. Both the healer and patient go back to where the fright took place with cocoa beans in hand. These beans are then planted into the ground as an exchange for the patient to be healed. Some of these healers in Oaxaca utilized chocolate against scorpion, wasp, and bee stings.
In the modern times, chocolate still has a special place in medicine. Certain people from San Joaquin Valley of California say that fresh beaten eggs added to hot chocolate could make a good cure against fatigue. When mixed with cinnamon and rue, chocolate can ease stomach aches.
Other parts of the cacao tree are still used by indigenous people of America. The cacao bark can be used in treating bloody stools and lessening abdominal pains. Meanwhile, cacao flowers, when mixed with water, can be drunk to improve mental alertness and reduce nervousness.
Cacao fat is used in disinfecting minor wounds and burns. It also makes for a good moisturizer when the skin is chapped, so is cacao oil/butter which is applied on chapped lips. Cacao oil/butter is also used in patients with hemorrhoids to relieve irritation, while cacao fruit pulp is given to pregnant women to pave the way for easier delivery.
Nevertheless, non-believers are claiming that the positive results are mere placebo effects associated with the pleasure one gets when eating or drinking chocolate.
Categories: fun chocolate facts
Tags: chocolate drinks, cocoa, cocoa butter, folk medicine, medicine
By the time American Pilgrims celebrated their first Thanksgiving, cacao was largely unknown outside of Meso-America. The unfortunate side-effect of this timing is that chocolate would not have been present at that original Thanksgiving dinner.  Therefore, it’s not part of the American traditional Thanksgiving meal. 
Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter. In the grand scheme, today is a day to stop and give thanks for the many blessings we have received. Chocolate is still one of those blessings. And so are you!
Chocolate University Online has always been dedicated to the love of chocolate, helping everyone who comes this way to learn some new nugget of information about our favorite food. Since you are here reading this, you must find value in this. So I am thankful for you.
As much as I love chocolate, sharing information is useless unless someone is present to receive. So whether you just stop by for a bit of chocolate insight from time to time, or you’re a current CUO student or alumnus, thanks for showing up. It’s for you that I am here.
Have a great Thanksgiving Day! And, if you’ve worked chocolate into your Thanksgiving traditions, how about posting a comment below for all of us.
Categories: chocolate education, fine foods & beverages, fun chocolate facts
Tags: holidays, Thanksgiving
Did you know that some centuries back, the Catholic Church used to associate chocolate with heretical behavior such as blasphemy and even witchcraft? Intriguing? I know.
Does the word ‘Inquisition’ ring your bell? If not, let me shed some light. The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis (inquiry on heretical perversity), depicts religious overkill, torture, and intolerance. It was the fight against heresy by the Roman Catholic Church.
What certain behavior connects such disheartening event to chocolate, you may ask. Well, it was the act of drinking chocolate alone while attending an event. As morbid as it may sound, there were even stories wherein Charles II, King of Spain, drank chocolate while witnessing Inquisition victims being killed.
Inquisition documents even recognized some activities of chocolate merchants that are involved in anti-Christian behavior and actions, chocolate was also used in seduction and witchcraft. Those documents also presented how people turned against each other, deliberately or inadvertently.
Many of the people in those times were accused of using chocolate in “non-Christian” ways. Some chocolate makers were denounced for being observant Jews.
Today, chocolate is almost synonymous to anything cheery. Let bygones be bygones, it’s a thing of the past! That was quite a transition though.
Categories: fun chocolate facts
Tags: chocolate, chocolate facts, chocolate history
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