Science of Chocolate
August 23, 2011
Have you ever tried munching on chocolates and then think about its fragile crystal structure? Or do you even wonder about its milk protein contents as this melt-in-your-mouth goodness touches your palate? I bet no. The only thing you can think of is whether to get another bar or not, but there are people who take interest in this kind of scientific stuff.
Galit Segev, a chef and a biochemist in the pharmaceutical industry, enjoys her chocolates but is also enthralled by its physical properties. Having a background in such field, she is normally interested in why certain foods react variedly to certain cooking techniques.
She just recently had a part in the Ultimo Science Week talking about the science of chocolate such as how these treats are manufactured. From soil to your mouth, she gave a talk about what makes for a quality chocolate.
She explained the three categories of chocolate. These categories are the dark, milk and white chocolate. Dark and milk chocolates contain cocoa solids, while white chocolate contains just the cocoa butter which is a pale vegetable fat taken out of the cocoa bean, which is why technically, it is not chocolate.
When eating a bar of chocolate and it leaves an oily film on the roof of your mouth, it means it was made with a cheaper fat such as palm oil rather than cocoa butter. Cocoa butter could solidify or crystallize into six different forms, and definite temperature control is needed to come up with such.
Segev said: "The different types of crystal are sensitive to different temperatures. In chocolate we are after a particular type of crystal. They look like stars under an electron microscope.''
There is a certain process called “tempering” which is the heating and cooling of chocolate at specific temperatures making for crystals being compacted together, a characteristic of a quality dark chocolate.
She also assured people that chocolates that appear to have grey powdery appearance, say, when you leave it in your car, are not out of date, they are just out of temper. This happens when chocolates are not cooled and melted at correct temperatures.
The lessons here at Chocolate University Online go into greater detail on the science of chocolate as well as the tasting, knowledge, and enjoyment of chocolate. Join us.
- Whipped Cream Chocolate Frosting Recipe - December 3, 2014
- Chocolate Hazelnut Cake Recipe - November 26, 2014
- Broiled Banana Chocolate Pudding Recipe - November 19, 2014