PUNTOITALY N°2 - July - December 2012

THE ITALIAN MAGAZINE FOR INTERNATIONAL BUYERS IN GELATO, PASTRY AND TRENDY FOOD-AND-DRINK hard to believe but there is an American patent to produce synthetic chocolate. It is not what we would like to receive for our birthday but the smell, or aroma, is obtained combining together a mix or chemical substances. Fortunately we don’t usually find it in our stores. IT HELPS It is something that we know from experience: chocolate can- not solve everyday problems, but it helps. If you just ask to your girlfriend what she looks for to cheer up on a bad day, in 90% of cases the answer will be: “a chocolate bar (or maybe two)”. This because chocolate contains some alka- loids, don’t bother their names, that are normally synthesised in mammalian brain. Researcher have discovered that these two substances have an anti-depressive effect and that too much is not good, chocolate gives addiction! PERCENTAGES Sometimes in supermarkets we find chocolate with a per- centage of cocoa reaching the 70%, inducing the consumers to think that the quality is particularly good. The first question that can arise in our mind is: but what is in the remaining 30%? Good question and easy to answer: sugar. Usually it is sac- charine, the normal sugar that we use to sweeten coffee. And if you still have a doubt about that 70%, it is worth saying that 30-40% is cocoa butter and the rest is cocoa fiber. If you want a sugarless 100% cocoa mass…well enjoy it, but it won’t be the most exciting experience of your life. TWO WORDS ABOUT TEMPERING Chocolate tempering or hardening is one of the most used expression when talking about chocolate. Its meaning is well understood by those who have tried to manipulate choco- late, because without a well carried out tempering process, chocolate is neither good to see or eat. The tempering process is a thermal cycle that causes the crystallization of the cocoa butter. In other words you melt the chocolate to 40-45°C, cool it down to 27-29°C and then bring the temperature up again to 30-31°C depending on the type of chocolate. It is not difficult but a very useful skill is requested. • 63