Known as one of the most delicious and popular delicacies, chocolate is a food paste made with ground cocoa and sugar. It is a product currently used for sweet preparations that can range from simple desserts to cookies, cakes, pastries, ice creams, mousses, chocolates, Easter eggs, bakery products, puddings and much more.
Chocolate is a very noble element, but its work requires care, knowledge and patience, since it is at the same time delicate and must be treated properly to obtain the best results.
millennial origin
Chocolate is not actually a raw material, but rather a product obtained from the cocoa plant to which other elements such as fat, sugar, milk, dried fruits or different flavors are added according to the interest of whoever prepares it. . The cocoa plant is native to America, where it was discovered by Europeans only from the 16th century. Numerous pre-Columbian cultures used cocoa as a drink, although its taste and appearance had nothing to do with what we know today as chocolate, being much more aggressive and unpleasant.
Elaboration
Chocolate is made from the fermentation, drying, roasting and kneading of cocoa beans. Once they are processed, a hard and dense cocoa mass is obtained, the purest form of chocolate in the entire production process. To obtain what we normally consume as chocolate, this product is separated into the liquid form and the cocoa butter, responsible for giving the product a creamy and smooth consistency. It is considered that the more cocoa butter a chocolate has, the smoother and creamier it will be, but this means that there will be less traces of pure cocoa, which is why smoother chocolates are generally considered to be of lower quality. At the same time, more or less sugar can be added to the chocolate according to the purity that is being sought.
As said, working with chocolate is not easy as it requires experience, tenacity and patience. Chocolate must be tempered in order to be worked, which means that its temperatures must be altered to balance them and thus make it a more easily moldable product. Chocolate receives numerous criticisms, some positive and others not so much: while chocolate is often seen as a prohibited element in any diet due to its high value in fat and calories, it is also considered a very nutritious and effective food in the prevention of certain type of diseases as long as it is consumed in an adequate and measured way, of course and like everything in life.
benefits of consumption
As a matter of fact, from now on we will delve into the benefits and advantages of its consumption. Now, we must clarify before cheering up many people who will be happy that we tell them that they are going to consume chocolate because it is good for their health, that the beneficial properties are held by that dark chocolate that has more than 70% cocoa in its composition. .
The circulatory system is one of the most benefited from the consumption of chocolate, it reduces the possibility of heart disease, cerebrovascular accidents, actions are also recognized when it comes to lowering blood pressure, bad cholesterol, antioxidant effects, and some They attribute an aphrodisiac effect to it, although this is certainly not proven, there is only a basis in the pleasure that its consumption causes most people.
Another benefit that is attached to it and that without sweating turns out to be very important today is its relaxing effect. It has been proven that consuming chocolate relaxes the mind and it can be an excellent option when routine and daily obligations put our nerves on edge.
A contribution of chocolate specifically for women is its great action at the request of the premenstrual stage since dark chocolate helps reduce fluid retention that occurs at this time in the female cycle and also minimizes the anxiety that women feel in this moment.
But we must also say that this Up effect for the mood is generalized and men can also enjoy it if they are going through a mood slump, not only women when their period is approaching.
And now we have to refer to its main disadvantage, which is the fact that it is a product that concentrates fat and calories and therefore the fact that it is consumed in large quantities, in an unbalanced diet and without the corresponding physical exercise that helps to lower the calories consumed from, will increase the risk of obesity.
Following