Chocolate

This week's ingredient is CHOCOLATE. Chocolate is made from the seeds of the cacao tree and was discovered by the Mayan's around 2000 years ago. They took the tree, growing wild in the rain forests of Mesoamerica, and grew it near their homes. They harvested the seeds and made them into a paste which they then mixed with chili and other ingredients to make a spicy chocolate drink. This form of chocolate however was vastly different to what we know as chocolate today, mainly because sugar was not available to the Mesoamericans. Chocolate was spread to Europe by the Spanish who recognized the potential for cacao, both as a delicacy and as a commodity, and shipped cacao seeds back to Spain. They added cinnamon and sugar and it stayed as a Spanish delicacy for a further 100 years before it eventually spread to the rest of Europe. Cacao and sugar were both expensive to buy, so chocolate became somewhat of a status symbol for the wealthy, however by the 1800's along with the industrial revolution chocolate had moved into mass production and become readily available to a broader public. Through further technological advance chocolate was also able to be made into a solid form for eating rather than just drinking chocolate. The first ever bar of chocolate was produced in England by Cadbury in 1842.

Chocolate today is consumed in large quantities around the world and while is a readily available affordable sweet it is also still a feature in fine dining as well. Chocolatiers across the world strive to bring together new flavours and perfect the balance in flavour and texture to excite the palette. I have been lucky to taste one fo the world's best chocolatiers product when I was in Brussels. Pierre Marcolini's chocolate is stunning and we had originally bought many square blocks as presents only to end up enjoying them all to ourselves. I would recommend it to anyone if you get a chance he has stores in several major cities.