Chocolate Temptation

  The mere mention of chocolate elicits a pleasurable response. Rich, molten, smooth and sensual, it is christened, among many names, as the ‘food of gods’.

Take a look at any dessert menu and the list will undoubtedly feature chocolate. And why not? Proven to be a panacea for mood-ills, it is one of Nature’s most pleasant anti-depressants, and one that can be transformed into myriad fantastic dessert creations, too.

Just what is chocolate? It is the raw or processed product of the seed of the cocoa tree. Naturally bitter, the seeds (cocoa beans) need to be fermented to develop its flavour, then dried, cleaned and roasted. The shell is then removed to produce cocoa nibs, which are ground to produce cocoa mass (pure chocolate in rough form, which when liquefied, is referred to as chocolate liquor). The liquor is then processed into cocoa butter (the fatty component that gives chocolate its smooth, silky texture and a low melting point) and cocoa solids (the low fat component that gives chocolate its characteristic colour and flavour).

Like wines, the making of chocolate invites a quest for perfection: meticulousness in harvesting, pride, passion, and the use of rigorously selected ingredients. Connoisseurs will go for nothing less than high quality couverture made of cocoa, sugar, pure vanilla, lecithin, milk powder and sometimes, malt. Brands like Callebaut and Valrhona fetch a premium and are favoured by professional pastry chefs and chocolate purists. Says Tammy Mah, executive pastry chef at Sweets Garibaldi, “Couverture chocolate is definitely preferred over compound chocolate for its superior taste and texture and it is what we use to make our desserts at Sweets Garibaldi. However, for novice home cooks, I’ve included a recipe that uses compound chocolate for this feature as it is easier to handle.”
Here’s why. Couverture chocolate contains a high percentage of cocoa butter (which has different fats that melt at different temperatures). To get that desirable glossy shine, silky mouthfeel and clean snap when bitten into, it needs to be tempered before use. Tempering involves heating and cooling the chocolate to specific temperatures, then working the melted chocolate with a palette knife to ensure the fat molecules are distributed in an orderly fashion. Simple as it sounds, tempering requires much practice and is easier to control in the air-conditioned professional pastry kitchen than in the domestic kitchen, which tends to be warmer. Compound chocolate, which is low in cocoa butter but high in hard vegetable fat, does not melt at room temperature and is thus easier to handle. The downside? The final product has a waxy mouthfeel, looks dull and tends to bloom (the appearance of white patches).

Besides chocolate, chocolate products like cocoa powder also play a key role in confectionery. Ground from cocoa solids, cocoa powder is widely used in baking, especially where lightness is key, such as in the making of chocolate sponge cakes.

All that said, the use of chocolate is not limited to just desserts. Mexicans have long incorporated it into savoury dishes, chief among them the Mexican mole (sauce), which is a rich sauce with complex flavours of spices, chillies and bitter chocolate. Today’s creative chefs have also paired it with foie gras and strong-tasting game meats. Well, with imagination and experimentation, the culinary possibilities of chocolate are endless. Experiment and have fun cooking!