Chocolate Candy For the Aficionado

Chocolate candy must be the most well-liked sort of candy in the world. It certainly is in Europe and America. We eat tons and tons of Mars, Cadburys, Lindt and Nestle chocolate candy every year. The sad thing is that most of the people who admit to liking chocolate have never tasted a proper bar of chocolate in their lives.

To a connoisseur, chocolate candy can come from anywhere in the world although Belgium, Switzerland and France are the countries, whose names spring to mind first. Despite that, high-quality candy is also manufactured in Great Britain, Spain, the USA and some areas of Latin America.

This is not unanticipated as chocolate first made its debut among the Mayans of Central America in at least 300 BC and possibly even as far back as 3000 BC. In 300 AD it was a special drink exclusively for royalty and was very bitter. It was so special that it had to be drunk from a golden chalice and that chalice could be used for that purpose only once.

In those days, many more herbs and spices were added to the royal drink called xocoatl. It was also a lot purer in terms of cacao content than almost anything you can buy on the shelves in the shop today as well. The nearest we have to that purity is gourmet chocolate.

Gourmet chocolate will usually have been manufactured by a chocolatier, which is like what a chef is to cuisine. These manufacturers of fine chocolate are the best in the world, highly trained and head-hunted by the best chocolate makers. They can demand large salaries and become world famous among the connoisseurs of fine chocolate candy.

Fine candy must have a high chocolate content. That sounds as if it should go without saying, doesn’t it? However, to be called chocolate in the US, candy only has to contain 15% actual cacao and ‘bakers’ chocolate’ often does not contain any at all. In Europe that figure is 35%, which is why most Americans think that European chocolate candy is sumptuous.

Good chocolate candy is supposed to break cleanly with an audible ’snap’ and ought to have a glossy surface. The chocolate candy most liable to have a high cacao content is dark chocolate, which is also often slightly bitter, reminiscent of the actual taste of cacao before most manufacturers put sugar into the mix. Purer chocolate candy also melts on the tongue and produces a mild euphoria.

Purer forms of chocolate candy have had a variety of reputations over the centuries. It has the reputation of being a pick-me-up and had the reputation of being an aphrodisiac, probably for the same reason. This is due to a chemical naturally present in the bean called Theobromine. Theobromine has effects on other animals too. For instance, it is a proscribed substance for racing horse because it has an exaggerated effect on horses and chocolate should never be given to cats or dogs because it is poisonous to them.

Theobromine and another chemical present, phenethylamine, have been associated with the production of seratonin, which is stimulated by prescribed drugs to fend off depression.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Gourmet Chocolate Candy. If you have an interest in romantic gifts, please go over to our website now at Romantic Gifts Ideas

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Owen_Jones

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