CHOCOLATE
With Christmas fast approaching we'll all be thinking of food, wine and of course chocolate, and it's chocolate which provides the subject for this programme. Joining Dudley is Sara Gibbard -Jones, a freelance product developer specialising in chocolate. Together they visit London, Belgium and New York in search of the best chocolate in the world.
THE HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE continued...
- However, by 1606 the Spanish monopoly on chocolate was broken following the visit of an Italian traveller, Francesco Carletti, to Central America. There he discovered what the Spanish had learnt and took this knowledge back to Italy.
- The French acquired the secret of chocolate in 1615 and by 1684 their supply of cocoa beans improved greatly after they conquered the islands of Cuba and Haiti and set up their own cocoa plantations.
- By the mid 17th century the Dutch had captured the Caribbean island of Curacao, which enabled them to source their own beans and encourage the spread of trade.
- The secret of the chocolate drink finally reached England via France in the 1650’s where it quickly became the sole domain of the rich and influential (akin to the Mayans). This was due to the high import duty imposed on cocoa beans.
- In 1657, the first Chocolate House opened in London followed rapidly by many others and were used as clubs by wealthy socialites and businessmen.
- The 1600s also saw British colonists carry cocoa to their territories in North America who, along with Canada, are the world’s largest chocolate consumers.
- The drink could even be made at home, by purchasing a pressed cake of solid cocoa.
- The early 1700s saw the English improving on the taste by adding milk and the end of the 18th century brought about the demise of the chocolate houses.
- Although indigenous to the Amazon basin and much of Central and South America, cocoa plantations were started in countries with suitable climatic conditions around the world to meet the increasing demand for cocoa beans.
- In 1853, the British government lowered the tax on chocolate due to industrialisation significantly improving transport methods and standards. As a result, the less affluent were able to indulge in the chocolate experience.
- Greater interest in chocolate generated an increase in its manufacture. Believing that chocolate held medicinal qualities, the earliest cocoa manufacturers were chemists such as Fry’s of Bristol and Terry’s of York. Soon after manufacturers appeared via the grocery trade, most notably John Cadbury of Birmingham and Rowntree’s of York.
- Today, it’s a well established fact that most of us love chocolate since, in the UK alone, we spend £3 billion and consume over half a million metric tons of chocolate products!
- Up until the 1800’s the only form of ‘solid’ chocolate available was when cocoa powder was added to cake mixes. Then in 1828, Coenraad Van Houten, a Dutch chemist, invented a way of extracting the bitter tasting cocoa butter from the roasted beans. Unbeknownst to him, Van Houten paved the way for solid chocolate, as we know it today.
previous page