A little about chocolates And how to choose them...

Chocolate is made from the seeds of the tropical cocoa tree. I don't know how many are familiar with the fruit of the cocoa tree. Inside the thick outer layer of it; there will be a pulpy white stuff which is sweet and inside that are the seeds or the cocoa beans (looks like kind of coffee bean). My mom's uncle had a cocoa plantation. In my childhood me and my cousins used to savour that fruit eating the white part and throwing away the seeds, the reason being we never believed it could make chocolate :) .

What is chocolate?

The seeds called cocoa bean are fermented, cleaned and dried and the shells are removed.

It is then ground to cocoa mass, which is the pure rough form of chocolate. It is then processed in to cocoa solids and cocoa butter.

Unsweetened baking chocolate contains primarily cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions.

Sweet chocolate, combines cocoa solids, cocoa butter or other fat, and sugar.

Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk.

White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk but no cocoa solids.

Benefits of chocolate:

Dark chocolate is naturally rich in flavonoids and that makes the cocoa bitter tasting.

These compounds are thought to lower blood pressure and help protect against heart disease.

Chocolate contains caffeine in modest quantities.

Chocolate has tryptophan, an essential aminoacid. It is mood modulating which diminishes anxiety.

Chocolate triggers the release of endorphin which reduces the chocolate eater's sensitivity to pain.

Its rich in magnesium content. Likewise the benefits goes on.

But chocolate is high in calories. So have in moderation.

How to choose quality chocolate?

The first ingredient in the list should be cocoa mass(cocoa,cocoa liquor or cocoa beans).

In general if you look at any product's ingredient list the first thing listed will be the highest amount of item in that and the next the lower and so on and the last one the least amount.

Next look at the percentage. The percentage refers to the amount of cocoa mass and cocoa butter present in it.

In dark chocolate it ranges from 55 to 85% and in milk chocolate from 30 to 40%.

So if it says 80%, its means roughly 20% will be added sugar. The higher percentage means it will be less sweet and will have more intense flavour of chocolate.

Choose chocolate that is at least 60 percent cocoa, and as you become accustomed to the flavor, gradually increase the percentage of the chocolate in your treats, easing up to bars that are 70, 80 or even 90 percent pure cocoa as darker chocolate has more health benefits.

A good quality chocolate should have nothing other than Cocoa beans, Cocoa butter, Sugar, an emulsifier like soya lecithin, vanilla extract. And milk powder in case of milk chocolate.

So if in the ingredient list the first item is sugar, think twice before getting it!