20 things you never knew about chocolate

EVER wondered why chocolate is synonymous with Valentine’s Day? Is it because it’s an aphrodisiac? Or because it’s luxurious, decadent; a treat?

Once upon a time, when chocolate was as rare and expensive as coffee, sugar, and spices, it was considered all those things. 

But these days, chocolate is everywhere, in shapes and sizes of all kinds, made and sold quickly and cheaply, or crafted slowly by master chocolate makers.

But how much do you really know about chocolate?

1. Chocolate grows on trees

The Cacao Tree, Theobroma cacao, is about the size of an apple tree. It’s a shade grown plant that thrives under the canopy of taller trees in tropical forests and jungles.

Twice a year, the trees produce a cluster of blossoms which produce a fruiting body – the cacao pod – that grows on the trunk of the tree, not its branches. Inside the pod are up to 50 cacao beans.

2. Cacao trees only grow near the equator

The trees only grow in countries on, or ten degrees north or south of, the equator. Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Indonesia are among the only countries in the world that can grow cacao.

Although it originated in South America, the Ivory Coast and Ghana are the world’s biggest cacao producers and arrived there because of colonialisation.

3. Food of the Gods

Theobroma, the Latin name for cacao, translates as Food of the Gods. It was revered and worshipped by ancient Aztec and Mayan civilisations, who believed it had many mystical powers which they would imbue when they ate and drank it.

Cacao was used to trade with and was once more valuable than gold.

4. Cacao is a natural stimulant

Cacao contains a stimulating compound called Theobromine. It is a distant relative of caffeine, but where caffeine provides a fast hit that falls off quickly, Theobromine releases slowly, providing a steady release over a much longer duration with no crash. Dark chocolate instead of espresso!

5. Every cacao pod is hand harvested

As cacao pods ripen on the tree, they change colour from green to yellow, orange, red and purple and can only be harvested by hand using a special cutting tool.

The pod must be carefully cut from the exact same spot every time so a new flower and pod will grow. Damaged stems never produce another flower again.

6. Chocolate is a fermented food

After harvesting, pods are chopped open using a machete. Inside are beans covered with a sweet tasting, slippery white pulp. The beans and pulp are scraped out and covered with banana leaves.

In the heat, the pulp ferments off the beans. During fermentation, the acidity of the beans is altered, and flavour compounds are activated.

After fermentation, beans are laid out and turned by hand for several days under the hot sun to dry.

Sun-drying reduces moisture content in the beans, preserving them and preventing mould growing.

7. One pod is equal to one chocolate bar

Each cacao pod contains up to 50 beans, enough to make at least one bar of chocolate!

8. Beans are good for you!

Beans are composed of 50% cocoa and 50% cocoa butter, a heart-healthy butter that is good for circulation and aid digestion. Beans are rich in minerals, nutrients, and antioxidants such as Vitamin E, zinc, iron, manganese, copper, and chromium.

9. Eat the beans!

Think of cacao/cocoa in the same way as a nut, as sweet and savoury. Keep some handy in your pocket for an energy hit out for a hike or cycle. Plus, the beans won’t melt in your pocket!

10. Cacao or Cocoa

Cacao and Cocoa is the same thing – cacao is raw (uncooked) and cocoa is roasted (cooked).

So, what is chocolate? Chocolate is made when sugar is added to cocoa during conching (see below).

11. How does Cacao become Chocolate?

After cacao is harvested, fermented and sun dried, they are ready to start becoming chocolate – a process with eight stages!

First, beans are roasted very quickly over a high heat, transforming cacao to cocoa. Cocoa beans are cracked to loosen the outer husk from the nib inside, then winnowed to separate the husk from the nib. Cocoa nibs are placed inside a large stone grinder called a Concher. Sugar and other flavourings, such as a milk or mint, are added. The concher grinds the cocoa nibs for hours and days until the right consistency is reached. 

The natural friction of the stones creates heat, releasing cocoa butter and slowly turning it into liquid chocolate. When ready, the liquid chocolate is poured out and aged to allow the chocolate to settle.

After ageing, chocolate is placed into a tempering machine, returning it to liquid, raising and lowering the temperature to achieve good shine and crack in the finished bar. The chocolate is poured into moulds and left to set.

Hey presto, a chocolate bar!

12. What does the percentage mean?

The percentage on a bar of chocolate relates to how much cocoa it contains in relation to other ingredients such as sugar.

A 100% chocolate bar will only contain cocoa and nothing else. A bar with 20% will only contain that much cocoa with 80% made up of other ingredients.

13. Melting Moments

Chocolate is the only food that melts at the exact same temperate as the human body – 37 degrees Celsius. That’s why it’s so nice to let it slowly melt in your mouth!

14. Flavour bomb

Numbers vary, but chocolate can contain between 500 and 1,500 different flavour compounds – more than any other food, even wine!

Flavours compounds are activated during fermentation, drying, roasting, and conching.

15. Chocolate Maker or Chocolatier

A chocolate maker works directly from the bean whereas a chocolatier uses a ready-made base, called a couverture.

A chocolate maker will roast, crack, winnow, conch, flavour, and age their own chocolate. They have complete control over the ingredients they put into their own base.

A chocolatier will temper and mould chocolates. They can select a base, but their skill is in crafting exquisite looking and tasting chocolates.

Where a producer combines the skills of chocolate maker and chocolatier, this is known as Bean to Bar.

16. How many bean-to-bar chocolate makers are there in Ireland?

There are only five bean-to-bar chocolate makers in Ireland, and two of them are in Cork - Wilkies, Midleton and Exploding Tree, Clonakilty.

The other three are NearyNogs, Co Armagh, The Proper Chocolate Company, Co Dublin, and Hazel Mountain, Co Clare.

17. Terroir?

Just like wine, there are many different varieties of cacao tree, some more prized than others.

Where and how they are grown (country, altitude, soil, environment, etc) can affect the flavour of the finished chocolate.

Like coffee, chocolate can be from a ‘single estate’ or ‘single origin’.”

18. What is white chocolate?

White chocolate isn’t chocolate at all! It’s made from cocoa butter and milk solids, sweetened and flavoured, often with vanilla.

19. How much chocolate do we eat in Ireland?

We do eat a lot of chocolate in Ireland – fact! A 2017 report said the average person consumed the equivalent of 155 Mars bars. A 2020 Teagasc report put the per capita consumption figure at 3.6kg (about 70 Mars bars for anyone who needs a chocolate-oriented metric).

In the lead up to St Valentine’s Day last year, we increased our spend on chocolate by a whopping 13%!

20. Not just for snacking or baking cakes…

Chocolate is great for cooking with too. Dark chocolate can be grated like a seasoning on salads, stirred into chilli, casseroles - even Bolognese sauce. Nibs can be baked into breads and added to granola or porridge.

A mix of cocoa powder and spices makes an excellent rub for red meat. Cocoa butter is a healthy and natural vegan alternative for butter, the beans can be eaten like nuts, and even the husk can be brewed like tea!

Whatever you decide to do with it, Chocolate will never look the same again!