COCOA ANTIOXIDANTS
Cocoa has about twice the antioxidants (thought to prevent cancer) of red wine, and up to three times those found in green tea.
Cocoa is the dried and partially fermented fatty seed of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made. In the United States, 'cocoa' often refers to cocoa powder, the dry powder made by grinding cocoa seeds and removing the cocoa butter from the dark, bitter cocoa solids. By itself it has an extremely bitter flavor.
Hot cocoa is often confused with hot chocolate, but hot cocoa is made from the
cocoa solids, while true hot chocolate is made from whole chocolate.
Hot Cocoa
INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
4 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon REAL vanilla flavoring
miniature marshmallows
PREPARATION:
Blend cocoa and sugar in a small bowl. In a medium saucepan, heat milk to
scalding. Mix about 1/3 cup of the hot milk into the cocoa-sugar mixture, then
pour cocoa mixture into hot milk in the saucepan; stir until well blended. Stir
in vanilla. Serve with mini marshmallows on top. Serves 4.
More Cocoa Recipes
History
Chocolate and cocoa are made from the beans of the
cacao tree, which apparently originated in the foothills of the Andes in the
Amazon and Orinoco basins of South America. The tree was introduced into Central
America by the ancient Maya, and was cultivated in Mexico by the Toltecs and
later by the Aztecs.
Cocoa was an important commodity in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Spanish
chroniclers of the conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés relate that when
Moctezuma II, emperor of the Aztecs, dined he took no other beverage than
chocolate, served in a golden goblet and eaten with a golden spoon. Flavored
with vanilla and spices, his chocolate was whipped into a froth that dissolved
in the mouth. No less than 50 pitchers of it were prepared for the emperor each
day, and 2000 more for nobles of his court.
Chocolate was introduced to Europe by the Spaniards and became a popular
beverage by 1700. They also introduced the cacao tree into the West Indies and
the Philippines. It was used in alchemical processes, where it was known as
Black Bean.
The cacao plant was first given its name by Swedish natural scientist Carl von
Linné (1707-1778), who called it "theobroma cacao" or "food of the gods".
World Production
In 2004 the world production
of cocoa beans FAOSTAT (in MT, metric tons) per country was assorted as follows;
1. Côte d'Ivoire - 1,331,494 MT
2. Ghana - 736,000 MT
3. Indonesia - 430,000 MT
4. Nigeria - 366,000 MT
5. Brazil - 169,416 MT
6. Cameroon - 130,000 MT
7. Ecuador - 88,000 MT
The global production went
From 1,556,484 MT in 1974,
To 1,810,611 MT in 1984,
To 2,672,173 MT in 1994,
To record 3,607,052 MT in 2004.
An increase of 99.2% within 30 years.
The use of chocolate, cocoa and other products is world-wide. Belgium has the
highest per capita consumption of cocoa at 5.5 kg, ten times the world-wide
average.
Prices for the commodity reached a five year high in November 2004; this is
because exports from Côte d'Ivoire are likely to be cut due to escalating
violence in the region.
Harvesting
A pod has a rough leathery rind about 3 cm (1¼ inch) thick. It is filled with
sweet, slimy pulp, enclosing from 30 to 50 large almond-like seeds or "beans"
that are fairly soft and pinkish or purplish in color. As soon as the pods are
ripe, they are harvested from the trunks or branches of the Cocoa tree with a
curved knife on a long pole.
Processing
The harvested pods are then opened with a machete, the pulp and cocao seeds are
removed and the rind is discarded. The pulp and seeds are then either piled in
heaps, placed in bins, or laid out on grates for several days. During this time,
the seeds and pulp undergoes "sweating", where the thick pulp liquifies as it
undergoes fermentation. The fermented pulp trickles away, leaving cocao seeds
behind to be collected. The quality of the beans, which originally have a strong
bitter taste, depends upon sweating. If it is overdone, the resulting cocao may
be ruined; if underdone the cocao seed maintains a flavor similar to raw
potatoes and become susceptable to mildew. The liquified pulp is used by some
cocoa producing countries to distill alcoholic spirits.
The fermented beans are then dried by spreading them out over a large surface
and constantly raking them. In large plantations, this is done on huge trays
under the sun or by using artificial heat. Small plantations may dry their
harvest on little trays or on cowhides. Finally, the beans are trodden and
shuffled about (often using bare human feet) and sometimes, during this process,
red clay mixed with water is sprinkled over the beans to obtain a finer color,
polish, and protection against molds during shipment to factories in the United
States, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and other countries. About 3,000,000
tonnes of cocoa are grown each year. The Netherlands is the leading cocoa
processing country, followed by the U.S.
Producing chocolate
To make 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of chocolate, about 300–600 beans are processed. In a
factory, the beans are washed and roasted. Next they are de-hulled by a "nibber"
machine that also removes the germ. The nibs are ground between three sets of
stones until they emerge as a thick creamy paste. Cocoa powder is made from this
"liquor" by removing part of its fatty oils (the "cocoa butter" used in
confectionery, soaps, and cosmetics), either with a hydraulic press or by using
the Broma process. With starch and sugar added, the liquor is churned and beaten
in a "Conges" machine to produce sweet chocolate.
Adding an alkali produces Dutch process cocoa powder, which has less acidity and
is what is generally available most everywhere in the world except the United
States. Regular or nonalkalized cocoa is lighter in colour and sharper in
flavour. It is acidic, so when added to recipes with an alkaline ingredient like
baking soda, the two react and leaven a product. Dutch processed cocoa is less
acidic, darker and more mellow in flavour.
Use of cocoa
Uses of cocoa are numerous. It may be used in cakes, creams, drinks, toppings.
Cocoa has about twice the antioxidants (thought to prevent cancer) of red wine,
and up to three times those found in green tea.
Issues with cocoa as a commodity
Many cocoa farmers receive a low price for their produce. This has led to cocoa
and chocolate being available as 'fair trade' items in some countries, but this
fair trade remains a tiny percentage of total trade.
Slavery has commonly been used in its production: see Cocoa Protocol for an
effort to end this.
Pollination is exclusively by midges, which may be affected by pesticides
The source of this article is
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this
article is licensed under the
GFDL
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