Chocolate

Chocolate has its roots in Central and Southern America. Since its discovery, pure chocolate has been mixed with many substances to temper its natural bitterness including honey, vanilla, musk, chilli, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, aniseed, alcohol and liquors. During the 19th century the French added butter, cream and sugar and created the silky, edible confection that we know as chocolate. Contemporary flavours are created by blending many varieties and flavours of beans.

Harvesting takes place twice a year. The beans in the pods of the cacao tree are split, the contents scraped out and placed in the sun to ferment. Roasted and crushed, the remaining nib is ground to a paste in temperature-controlled mills causing it to release fat or cocoa butter. The mass emerges from the grinder as chocolate liquor which is cooled and hardened into blocks of unsweetened chocolate. Grinding the residue from the liquor produces cocoa, a highly concentrated powder with an intensely rich chocolate flavour.