We have seen that fermentation is essential for flavour development, but how do we transform
cocoa beans into chocolate?
We asked a multi award winning bean-to-bar chocolate maker, to tell us more.
Hi, I'm Luisa, I'm the chocolate maker.
Something that I've always loved is to make food, and to work with such a wonderful product,
with a wonderful story telling journey from source to the actual finished product is such
a creative process.
What we do as chocolate makers is we are looking for super premium cocoa. It's all about the
environment where the cocoa is produced, it's all about where the cocoa grows, and we
are looking for supreme flavour. So, we are looking for very fine nuances that we can
tease out.
We are buying from South America now, which is fantastic, so this project has enabled
us to connect with three wonderful women, and to forge relationships that we can continue
and buy cocoa from them directly, but also from other countries as well, like from the
South Pacific Islands, Solomon Islands, Madagascar.
Chocolate making begins with roasting the fermented cocoa beans. This is a much slower
and gentler affair than for coffee, typically occurring between 120 and 150 degrees Celsius.
The exact roasting profile depends on the condition and variety of the beans.
As the temperature rises, the Maillard reaction will consume reducing sugars and amino acids
to birth a plethora of flavours, aromas and deep brown colours.
Next the roasted beans are broken or "cracked" to help loosen the shells from the bean.
During winnowing, air is used to separate the light shell materials from the rest of
the bean.
The waste shells remain a valuable source of protein, fibre and polyphenols, with wide
ranging applications from brewing to agricultural mulch.
The deshelled and cracked pieces of cocoa bean are referred to as chocolate "nibs".
Nibs are subjected to a griding stage, in order to reduce their average size ahead of
mixing and conching.
Depending on the recipe, conching equipment can be used to mix in sugar and cocoa butter,
as well as further to reduce the particle size and viscosity of the cocoa liquor, which
will improve the texture of the final chocolate.
However, conching is a long process and can take several hours or even days. Agitating
the chocolate above 50 degrees Celsius drives off unwanted volatiles such as acetic acid,
and enhances the formation of new flavours like caramel.
When cooled, cocoa butter can stack together in six different forms of crystal known as
polymorphs. These crystals have different melting points, which give chocolate different
physical properties. We undergo a slow cooling process known as "tempering" to create
form V crystals.
We start with a bowl of completely melted dark chocolate at 50 to 55 degrees Celsius.
Three quarters of the chocolate is agitated on a cool marble slab, until it reaches 27
degrees Celsius - the melting point for form IV crystals.
As we return the cooled chocolate to the bowl, the temperature is raised to 31 degrees
- just under the melting point for form V crystals.
At this point the tempered chocolate can be placed in a suitable mould vibration is
used to displace air bubbles and to enhance the conversion of crystals to form V.
If tempering is successful, the chocolate should be easy to remove from the mould after
cooling and hardening. Our end-product has a smooth non-gritty texture, good snap, with
a glossy finish.
It's wonderful to work with farmers, and know exactly where your product is from. To see
it growing on the tree and actually bring it back and make it into a chocolate bar is
amazing. It's the whole journey and the thought process behind every step, that inspires me
every day.
Food is a wonderful sensory journey, so to have these amazing flavours present naturally
in chocolate that you would not think - cherry notes, fruity notes, caramel notes - all these
naturally occurring flavours.
It's fascinating, that you can get that from one plant source and just because of the land,
or where it's been grown, the work of the farmers you can tease out these amazing flavours.
It's a wonderful journey and I am so happy to be in chocolate!
The Future Food Beacon.
Exploring new ways of feeding the world.