Chocolatiers
Radical Sabbatical : Episode FLRAD-105
Chocolatiers Facts:
- The first chocolate house was opened in London in 1657.
- Scharffen Berger is the only American chocolate company founded in the last 50 years.
- Consumers spend more than $7 billion a year on chocolate.
- Per capita, the Swiss consume the most chocolate.
- Most cacao beans are grown within 15 to 20 degrees from the equator.
- Theobroma cacao, the scientific name for the cacao tree, comes from the Greek words meaning "food of the gods."
- "Chocolate liquor" is the sticky paste that results from the process of fermenting, roasting, and grinding cacao beans. It is mixed with sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla to form chocolate.
- Cacao beans were once used as currency in Mayan and Aztec cultures.
- The original name for chocolate was "xocalatl" which means bitter water.
- Phenylethylamine, a chemical substance contained in chocolate, produces a sense of euphoria.
Contact Information:
Scharffen Berger Chocolate
914 Heinz Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94710
510-981-4050
www.scharffenberger.com
Resources:
Chocolate Passion: Recipes and Inspiration from the Kitchens of Chocolatier Magazine
by Tish Boyle, Timothy Moriarty
Chocolate and Cocoa Organization
www.chocolateandcocoa.org
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