Cocoa Bean

The cocoa bean is the tasting substance for chocolate. The bean is the seed in the fruit of the cocoa tree. Hernán Cortés brought the first cocoa beans back to Spainfrom Mexico. The recipe for cocoa drink was there over 100 years be kept confidential. The cocoa beans were first roasted, crushed and diluted with water to form a thick mass. For flavor was honey and sugar added.

Discovered In 1825 the Dutchman Coenraad Johannes van Houten the basis for the preparation of cocoa powder, cocoa butter and chocolate. He discovered how cocoa butter from the beans could be pressed. Wooden also discovered the alkalising: a method of the acids present to neutralizein the cocoa. This was the taste for good. ==Origin and processing[ Edit] == Cocoa beans are grown in many countries around the equator, such as in Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Indonesiaand Honduras . There are many different kinds of beans, each with its own taste. After the harvest the beans undergo a natural fermentation process, fermentation. As a result, the beans develop important taste and color components. After fermentation, the beans are dried and the bean can be further processed. The beans are then roasted (burned). As a result, the taste develops itself even further. After roasting, the beans are ground, hereby liquid dark brown fabric, the cocoa mass. This cocoa mass can be ' squeezed ' in which cocoa butter (the liquid portion) and cocoa powder (the main ingredient) arise. Cocoa mass is the raw material for cocoa powder, butter and chocolate. ==Cocoa Powder[ Edit] == The cocoa mass is squeezed under high pressure, making cocoa powder and butter emerged. Taste and color are determined by the type of used roasted cocoa beans and the temperature at which these are. Also the acidity of the cocoa mass influence. This acidity can be adjusted during the preparation process.