Chocolate Passion, the new guide to chocolate
by Tish Boyle
and Timothy Moriarty
editors of Chocolatier
magazine.
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Varieties of Chocolate
A Wiley Online Culinary Seminar with Timothy Moriarty
One of the reasons chocolate has remained such a prized foodstuff throughout the centuries since its discovery is because of the bewildering array of different kinds that are produced. Some are sweet, and some bitter, but all appeal to some chocolate lover out there, no doubt.
1. What type of chocolate works best for dipping candies? (By
"type" I don't mean a brand name, but rather what general kind of
chocolate.)
For molding, coating and shells in candy work, as well as for glazing,
professional chocolatiers and pastry chefs use high-quality couvertures. A
couverture is simply a chocolate with a relatively higher cocoa butter content
(a minimum of 32%, often as much as 35%). In other words, certain companies will
manufacture a semisweet chocolate AND a semisweet couverture, as well as a milk
chocolate AND a milk chocolate couverture, etc. This high cocoa butter content
contributes fluidity, strength and ease of handling. In most cases, these
chocolates' high cocoa solid content also heightens chocolate flavor. Keep in
mind, please, that for dipping candies, the chocolate must be tempered.
Tempering involves the precision heating of the chocolate, letting the
temperature drop and then reheating, all to very precise temperatures, in order
to stabilize the cocoa butter crystals. Tempering gives chocolate its shine,
which is so necessary for candy work.
2. Do you really need to use super-high-quality chocolate for cakes, mousses,
and the like?
"Super" high quality chocolates? No. There are many fine, reasonably
priced chocolates available in supermarkets that are excellent for cake glazes,
fillings, mousses, and so on. As in most other areas of life, however, nine
times out of ten there is a reason that one product is more expensive than
another, and you will find that working with a quality chocolate will eliminate
waste, and make the process easier and the end product more delicious. Our
advice: experiment, find the chocolate you like best, and stick with it.
3. Do you have any background on the use of hazelnuts with chocolate? I've
seen the two paired in a number of recipes, but wasn't sure where that pairing
originated.
The combination of hazelnut and chocolate is a classic in Europe, particularly
in Italy. It probably stems from the fact that Italy's Piedmont region was one
of the first areas of quality cultivation of hazelnuts -- and those are still
considered the best in the world by some. In fact, gianduia originates from
Turin, which is in Piedmont. Gianduia (pronounced john-DOO-yuh) is a combination
of roasted, pulverized hazelnuts and chocolate, usually milk chocolate, and for
my money it's one of the best forms of chocolate there is. Blissful, heavenly.
You can find it in many Lindt stores and Perugina stores.
4. I hadn't heard of "chocolate liquor" before -- do chocolate
manufacturers use (or sell) this type of chocolate by itself? Is it harmful when
eaten?
Chocolate liquor is simply the term for the pure, processed product of the cocoa
bean. In other words: roughly 50% cocoa solids and 50% cocoa butter. Unsweetened
chocolate (which you can buy in the grocery store) is basically chocolate
liquor. There is no alcohol; the term "liquor" is used in the sense of
"essence." So, unsweetened chocolate is 100% cocoa content;
bittersweet chocolate is roughly 35% (the rest being sugar, lecithin, vanilla);
milk chocolate contains approximately 15% chocolate liquor (the other 85% being
milk solids, lecithin, vanilla). Chocolate liquor is only harmful in this sense:
it is so godawful eaten by itself that it might turn you off of chocolate
forever.
5. Why are Grand Cru chocolates so special? I would think it would be easier
to produce chocolate from a single kind of bean, as opposed to creating a blend.
Yes, you would think that Grand Cru chocolates would be easier to produce -- and
maybe they are. Some background: most chocolates are the result of four or five
beans; the beans are usually from all different parts of the world -- South
America, Ghana, Trinidad, wherever. Traditionally, the beans balance each other
-- one might be mild, another acidic, another fruity, another earthy, and
together they create the end product, the recipe. (Is it an accident that the
Hershey Bar you had last week tasted exactly like the one you had when you were
five? No. It's a recipe, and the beans are selected and roasted in such a way to
ensure a consistent product.) Now some companies are producing Grand Cru
chocolates: chocolates made from a bean from a single source, one country or
region. Since this flies in the face of my understanding of how the *best*
chocolates are made, my suspicion is that Grand Cru is nothing more than a
gimmick by marketers to get people to notice, and to buy. The fact that some of
the best companies in the world are producing these things only serves to
confuse me further. I've tasted some Grand Cru chocolates, and I can detect
quality, but not a dramatic difference.
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Chocolate Passion
Copyright: Tish Boyle, Timothy Moriarty, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
All rights reserved
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