"CONCHE" MACHINES. Reproduced by permission of Messrs. J. Baker & Sons, Willesden."CONCHE" MACHINES.Reproduced by permission of Messrs. J. Baker & Sons, Willesden.
"CONCHE" MACHINES.Reproduced by permission of Messrs. J. Baker & Sons, Willesden.
SECTION THROUGH "CONCHE" MACHINE.SECTION THROUGH "CONCHE" MACHINE.
SECTION THROUGH "CONCHE" MACHINE.
Art is shown not only in the choice of the cacao beans but also in the selection of spices and essences, for, whilst the fundamental flavour of a chocolate is determined by the blend of beans and the method of manufacture, the piquancy and special character are often obtained by the addition of minute quantities of flavourings. The point in the manufacture at which the flavour is added is as late as possible so as to avoid the possible loss of aroma in handling. The flavours used include cardamom, cassia, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, lemon, mace, and last but most popular of all, the vanilla pod or vanillin. Some makers use the choice spices themselves, others prefer their essential oils. Many other nutty, fragrant and aromatic substances have been used; of these we may mention almonds, coffee, musk, ambergris, gum benzoin and balsam of Peru. The English like delicately flavoured confections, whilst the Spanish follow the old custom of heavily spicing the chocolate. In ancient recipes we read of the use of white and red peppers, and the addition of hot spices was defended and even recommended on purely philosophical grounds. It was given, in the strange jargon of the Peripatetics, as a dictum that chocolate is by nature cold and dry and therefore ought to be mixed with things which are hot.
MACHINES FOR MIXING OR "CONCHING" CHOCOLATE.MACHINES FOR MIXING OR "CONCHING" CHOCOLATE.
MACHINES FOR MIXING OR "CONCHING" CHOCOLATE.
Small quantities of cacao butter will have been added to the chocolate at various stages, and hence the finished product is quite plastic. It is now brought from thehot room (or themélangeuror the conche) to the moulding rooms. Before moulding, the chocolate is passed through a machine, known as a compressor, which removes air-bubbles. This is a necessary process, as people would not care to purchase chocolate full of holes. As in the previous operations, every effort has been made to produce a chocolate of smooth texture and fine flavour, so in the moulding rooms skill is exercised in converting the plastic mass into hard bars and cakes, which snap when broken and which have a pleasant appearance. Well-moulded chocolate has a good gloss, a rich colour and a correct shape.
CHOCOLATE SHAKING TABLE.CHOCOLATE SHAKING TABLE.
CHOCOLATE SHAKING TABLE.
The most important factor in obtaining a good appearance is the temperature, and chocolate is frequently passed through a machine (called a tempering machine) merely to give it the desired temperature. A suitable temperature for moulding, according to Zipperer, varies from 28° C. on a hot summer's day to 32° C. on a winter's day. As the melting point of cacao butter is about 32° C, it will be realized that the butter is super-cooled and is ready to crystallize on the slightest provocation. Each mould has to contain the same quantity of chocolate. Weighing by hand has been abandoned in favour of a machine which automatically deposits a definite weight, such as a quarter or half a pound, of the chocolate paste on each mould. The chocolate stands up like a lump of dough and has to be persuaded to lie down and fill the mould. This can be most effectively accomplished by banging the mould up and down on a table. In the factory the method used is to place the moulds on rocking tables which rise gradually and fall with a bump. The diagram will make clear how these vibrating tables are worked bymeans of ratchet wheels. Rocking tables are made which are silent in action, but the moulds jerkily dancing about on the table make a very lively clatter, such a noise as might be produced by a regiment of mad cavalry crossing a courtyard. During the shaking-up the chocolate fills every crevice of the mould, and any bubbles, which if left in would spoil the appearance of the chocolate, rise to the top. The chocolate then passes on to an endless band which conducts the mould through a chamber in which cold air is moving. As the chocolate cools, it solidifies and contracts so that it comes out of the mould clean and bright. In this way are produced the familiar sticks and cakes of chocolate. A similar method is used in producing "Croquettes" and the small tablets known as "Neapolitans." Other forms require more elaborate moulds; thus the chocolate eggs, which fill the confectioners' windows just before Easter, are generally hollow, unless they are very small, and are made in two halves by pressing chocolate in egg-shaped moulds and then uniting the two halves. Chocolate cremes, caramels, almonds and, in fact, fancy "chocolates" generally, are produced in quite a different manner. For thesechocolats de fantaisiea rather liquid chocolate is required known as covering chocolate.
Ingredients required forchocolate for covering cremes, etc.:Cacao nib or mass30 partsCacao butter20 partsSugar49¾ partsFlavouring¼ parts100 parts
It is prepared in exactly the same way as ordinary eating chocolate, save that more butter is added to make it flow readily, so that in the melted condition ithas about the same consistency as cream. The operations so far described are conducted by men, but the covering of cremes and the packing of the finished chocolates into boxes are performed by girls. Covering is light work requiring a delicate touch, and if, as is usual, it is done in bright airy rooms, is a pleasant occupation.
GIRLS COVERING, OR DIPPING, CREMES, ETC. (Messrs. Cadbury Bros., Bournville.)GIRLS COVERING, OR DIPPING, CREMES, ETC. (Messrs. Cadbury Bros., Bournville.)
GIRLS COVERING, OR DIPPING, CREMES, ETC. (Messrs. Cadbury Bros., Bournville.)
The girl sits with a small bowl of warm liquid chocolate in front of her, and on one side the "centres" (cremes, caramels, ginger, nuts, etc.) ready for covering with chocolate. The chocolate must be at just the right temperature, which is 88 °F., or 31° C. She takes one of the "centres," say a vanilla creme, on her fork and dips it beneath the chocolate. When she draws it out, the white creme is completely covered in brown chocolate and, without touching it with her finger, she deftly places it on a piece of smooth paper. A littletwirl of the fork or drawing a prong across the chocolate will give the characteristic marking on the top of the chocolate creme. The chocolate rapidly sets to a crisp film enveloping the soft creme. There are in use in many chocolate factories some very ingenious covering machines, invented in 1903, which, as they clothe cremes in a robe of chocolate, are known as "enrobers"; it is doubtful, however, if the chocolates so produced have even quite so good an appearance as when the covering is done by hand.
THE ENROBER. A machine for covering cremes, etc., with chocolate. Reproduced by permission of Messrs. Savy Jeanjean & Co., Paris.THE ENROBER.A machine for covering cremes, etc., with chocolate.Reproduced by permission of Messrs. Savy Jeanjean & Co., Paris.
THE ENROBER.A machine for covering cremes, etc., with chocolate.Reproduced by permission of Messrs. Savy Jeanjean & Co., Paris.
It would be agreeable at this point to describe the making of cremes (which, by the way, contrary to the opinion of most writers, contain no cream or butter), and other products of the confectioner's art, but it would take us beyond the scope of the present book. We will only remind our readers of the great variety of comestibles and confections which are covered inchocolate—pistachio nut, roasted almonds, pralines, biscuits, walnuts, nougat, montelimar, fruits, fruit cremes, jellies, Turkish delight, marshmallows, caramels, pine-apple, noisette, and other delicacies.
A CONFECTIONERY ROOM AT MESSRS. CADBURY'S WORKS AT BOURNVILLE. Cutting almond paste by hand moulds.A CONFECTIONERY ROOM AT MESSRS. CADBURY'S WORKS AT BOURNVILLE.Cutting almond paste by hand moulds.
A CONFECTIONERY ROOM AT MESSRS. CADBURY'S WORKS AT BOURNVILLE.Cutting almond paste by hand moulds.
We owe the introduction of this excellent food and confection to the researches of M.D. Peter of Vevey, in Switzerland, who produced milk chocolate as early as 1876. Many of our older readers will remember their delight when in the eighteen nineties they first tasted Peter's milk chocolate. Later the then little firm of Cailler, realising the importance of having the factory on the very spot where rich milk was produced in abundance, established a works near Gruyères. This grew rapidly and soon became the largest factory in Switzerland. The sound principle of having your factory in the heart of a milk producing area was adopted by Cadbury's, who built milk condensing factories at the ancient village of Frampton-on-Severn, in Gloucestershire, and at Knighton, near Newport, Salop. Before the war these two factories together condensed from two to three million gallons of milk a year. Whilst the amount of milk used in England for making milk chocolate appears very great when expressed in gallons, it is seen to be very small (being only about one-half of one per cent.) when expressed as a fraction of the total milk production. Milk chocolate is not made from milk produced in the winter, when milk is scarce, but from milk produced in the spring and summer when there is milk in excess of the usual household requirements, and when it is rich and creamy. The importance of not interfering with the normal milk supply to local customers is appreciated by the chocolate makers, who take steps to prevent this. It will interest public analysts and others to know that Cadbury's have had no difficulty in making it a stipulation in their contracts with the vendors that the milk supplied to them shall contain at least 3.5 per cent. of butter fat, a 17 percent. increase on the minimum fixed by the Government.
FACTORY AT FRAMPTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, AT WHICH MILK IS EVAPORATED FOR MILK CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURE. (Messrs. Cadbury Bros., Ltd.).FACTORY AT FRAMPTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, AT WHICH MILK IS EVAPORATED FOR MILK CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURE.(Messrs. Cadbury Bros., Ltd.).
FACTORY AT FRAMPTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, AT WHICH MILK IS EVAPORATED FOR MILK CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURE.(Messrs. Cadbury Bros., Ltd.).
Ingredients required formilk chocolate:Cacao nib or mass (from 10 to 20 per cent.), say10Cacao Butter20Sugar44¾Milk solids (from 15 to 25 per cent.), say25= (200 parts of milk.)Flavouring¼100
Milk chocolate consists of an intimate mixture of cacao nib, sugar and milk, condensed by evaporation. The manner in which the milk is mixed with the cacao nib is a matter of taste, and the art of combining milk with chocolate, so as to retain the full flavour of each, hasengaged the attention of many experts. At present there is no general method of manufacture—each maker has his own secret processes, which generally include the use of grinding mills,mélangeurs, conches, moulding machines, etc., as with plain chocolate. We cannot do better than refer those who wish to know more of this, or other branch of the chocolate industry, to the following English, French and German standard works on Chocolate Manufacture:
Of Cacao Butter—It is the best and most naturalPomatumfor Ladies toclearandplumpthe Skin when it isdry, rough, orshrivel'd, without making it appear eitherfatorshining. TheSpanish WomenatMexicouse it very much, and it is highly esteem'd by them.
Of Cacao Butter—
It is the best and most naturalPomatumfor Ladies toclearandplumpthe Skin when it isdry, rough, orshrivel'd, without making it appear eitherfatorshining. TheSpanish WomenatMexicouse it very much, and it is highly esteem'd by them.
The Natural History of Chocolate, R. Brookes, 1730.
Of Cacao Shell.—In Russia and Belgium many families take Caravello at breakfast. This is nothing but cocoa husk, washed and then boiled in milk.
Of Cacao Shell.—
In Russia and Belgium many families take Caravello at breakfast. This is nothing but cocoa husk, washed and then boiled in milk.
Chocolate and Confectionery Manufacture, A. Jacoutot.
In that very able compilation,Allen's Organic Analysis, Mr. Leonard Archbutt states (Vol. II, p. 176) that cacao butter "is obtained in large quantities as a by-product in the manufacture of chocolate." This is repeated in the excellent book onOils, by C.A. Mitchell (Common Commodities of Commerce series). These statements are, of course, incorrect. We have seen that cacao butter is obtained as a by-product in the manufacture of cocoa, and isconsumedin large quantities in the manufacture of chocolate. When, during the war, the use of sugar for chocolate-making was restricted and little chocolate was produced, the cacao butter formerly used in this industry was freed for other purposes. Thus there was plenty of cacao butter available at a time when other fats were scarce. Cacao butter has a pleasant, blandtaste resembling cocoa. The cocoa flavour is very persistent, as many experimenters found to their regret in their efforts to produce a tasteless cacao butter which could be used as margarine or for general purposes in cooking. The scarcity of edible fats during the war forced the confectioners to try cacao butter, which in normal times is too expensive for them to use, and as a result a very large amount was employed in making biscuits and confectionery.
Cacao butter runs hot from the presses as an amber-coloured oil, and after nitration, sets to a pale golden yellow wax-like fat. The butter, which the pharmacist sells, is sometimes white and odourless, having been bleached and deodorized. The butter as produced is always pale yellow in colour, with a semi-crystalline or granular fracture and an agreeable taste and odour resembling cocoa or chocolate.
Cacao butter has such remarkable keeping properties (which would appear to depend on the aromatic substances which it contains), that a myth has arisen that it will keep for ever. The fable finds many believers even in scientific circles; thus W.H. Johnson, in theImperial Institute HandbookonCocoa, states that: "When pure, it has the peculiar property of not becoming rancid, however long it may be kept." Whilst this overstates the case, we find that under suitable conditions cacao butter will remain fresh and good for several years. Cacao butter has rather a low melting point (90° F.), so that whilst it is a hard, almost brittle, solid at ordinary temperatures, it melts readily when in contact with the human body (blood heat 98° F). This property, together with its remarkable stability, makes it useful for ointments, pomades, suppositories, pessaries and other pharmaceutical preparations; it also explains why actors have found it convenient for the removal of grease paint. The recognition of the value of cacao butter for cosmetic purposes dates from very early days; thus in Colmenero de Ledesma'sCurious Treatise on the Nature and Quality of Chocolate(printed at the Green Dragon, 1685), we read: "That they draw from the cacao a great quantity of butter, which they use to make their faces shine, which I have seen practised in the Indies by the Spanish women born there." This, evidently, was one way of shining in society.
Cacao butter has been put to many other uses, thus it has been employed in the preparation of perfumes, but the great bulk of the cacao butter produced is used up by the chocolate maker. For making chocolate it is ideal, and the demand for it for this purpose is so great that substitutes have been found and offered for sale. Until recently these fats, coconut stearine and others, could be ignored by the reputable chocolate makers as the confection produced by their use was inferior to true chocolate both in taste and in keeping properties. In recent times the oils and fats of tropical nuts and fruits have been thoroughly investigated in the eager search for new fats, and new substitutes, such as illipé butter, have been introduced, the properties of which closely resemble those of cacao butter.
For the information of chemists we may state that the analytical figures for genuine cacao butter, as obtained in the cocoa factory, are as follow:
Specific Gravity (at 99° C. to water at 15.5° C.).858 to .865Melting Point32°C. to 34°C.Titer (fatty acids)49°C. to 50°C.Iodine Absorbed34% to 38%Refraction (Butyro-Refractometer) at 40°C.45.6° to 46.5°Saponification Value192 to 198Valenta94°C. to 96°C.Reichert Meissel Value1.0Polenske Value0.5Kirschner "0.5Shrewsbury and Knapp Value14 to 15Unsaponifiable matter0.3% to 0.8%Mineral matter0.02% to 0.05%Acidity (as oleic acid)0.6% to 2.0%
Although the trade in cacao butter is considerable, there were, before the war, only two countries that could really be considered as exporters of cacao butter; in other words, there were only two countries, namely, Holland and Germany, pressing out more cacao butter in the production of cocoa than they absorbed in making chocolate:
Tons (of 1000 kilogrammes)191119121913Holland4,6575,4727,160Germany3,6113,5811,9608,2689,0539,120
During the war America appeared for the first time in her history as an exporter of cacao butter. Hitherto she was one of the principal importers, as will be seen in the following table:
Tons (of 1000 kilogrammes)19121913United States1,8421,634Switzerland1,8211,634Belgium1,1271,197Austria-Hungary1,0621,190Russia9551,197England495934
The next table shows the imports (expressed in English tons) into the United Kingdom in more recent years:
Year191219131914191519161917Tons4779121512599962675
The wholesale price of cacao butter has varied in the last six years from 1/3 per pound to 2/11 per pound, and was fixed in 1918 by the Food Controller at 1/6per pound (retail price 2/- per pound). The control was removed in 1919, and immediately the wholesale price rose to 2/8 per pound.
Although I have described cacao butter as a by-product, the only true by-product of the combined cocoa and chocolate industry is cacao shell. I explained in the previous chapter how it is separated from the roasted bean. As they come from the husking or winnowing machine, the larger fragments of shell resemble the shell of monkey-nuts (ground nuts or pea nuts), except that the cacao shells are thinner, more brittle and of a richer brown colour. The shell has a pleasant odour in which a little true cocoa aroma can be detected. The small pieces of shell look like bran, and, if the shell be powdered, the product is wonderfully like cocoa in appearance, though not in taste or smell. As the raw cacao bean contains on the average about twelve and a half per cent. of shell, it is evident that the world production must be considerable (about 36,000 tons a year), and since it is not legitimately employed in cocoa, the brains of inventors have been busy trying to find a use for it. In some industries the by-product has proved on investigation to be of greater value than the principal product—a good instance of this is glycerine as a by-product in soap manufacture—but no use for the husk or shell of cacao, which gives it any considerable commercial value, has yet been discovered. There are signs, however, that its possible uses are being considered and appreciated.
For years small quantities of cacao shell, under the name of "miserables," have been used in Ireland and other countries for producing a dilute infusion for drinking. Although this "cocoa tea" is not unpleasant, and has mild stimulating properties, it has never been popular, and even during the war, when it was widely advertised and sold in England under fancy names atfancy prices, it never had a large or enthusiastic body of consumers.
In normal times the cocoa manufacturer has no difficulty in disposing of his shell to cattle-food makers and others, but during 1915 when the train service was so defective, and transport by any other means almost impossible, the manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate were unable to get the shell away from their factories, and had large accumulations of it filling up valuable store space. In these circumstances they attempted to find a use near at hand. It was tried with moderate success as a fuel and a considerable quantity was burned in a special type of gas-producer intended for wood.
Cacao shell has a high nitrogenous content, and if burned yields about 67 lbs. of potassium carbonate per ton. In the Annual Report of the Experimental Farms in Canada, (1898, p. 151 and 1899, p. 851,) accounts are given of the use of cacao shell as a manure. The results given are encouraging, and experiments were made at Bournville. At first these were only moderately successful, because the shell is extremely stable and decomposes in the ground very slowly indeed. Then the head gardener tried hastening the decomposition by placing the shell in a heap, soaking with water and turning several times before use. In this way the shell was converted into a decomposing mass before being applied to the ground, and gave excellent results both as a manure and as a lightener of heavy soils.
On the Continent the small amount of cacao butter which the shell contains is extracted from it by volatile solvents. The "shell butter" so obtained is very inferior to ordinary cacao butter, and as usually put on the market, has an unpleasant taste, and an odour which reminds one faintly of an old tobacco-pipe. In this unrefined condition it is obviously unsuitable for edible purposes.
Shell contains about one per cent. oftheobromine(dimethylxanthine). This is a very valuable chemical substance (see remarks in chapter onFood Value of Cocoa and Chocolate), and the extraction of theobromine from shell is already practised on a large scale, and promises to be a profitable industry. Ordinary commercial samples of shell contain from 1.2 to 1.4 per cent. of theobromine. Those interested should study the very ingenious process of Messrs. Grousseau and Vicongne (Patent No. 120,178). Many other uses of cacao shell have been made and suggested; thus it has been used for the production of a good coffee substitute, and also, during the shortage of sawdust, as a packing material, but its most important use at the present time is as cattle food, and its most important abuse as an adulterant of cocoa.
The value of cacao shell as cattle food has been known for a long time, and is indicated in the following analysis by Smetham (in the Journal of the Lancashire Agricultural Society, 1914).
Water9.30Fat3.83Mineral Matter8.20Albuminoids18.81Fibre13.85Digestible Carbohydrates46.01100.00
From these figures Smetham calculates the food units as 102, so that it is evident that cacao shell occupies a good position when compared with other fodders:
Linseed cake133Oatmeal117Bran109English wheat106Cacao shells102Maize (new crop)99Meadow hay68Rice husks43Wheat straw41Mangels12
These analytical results have been supported by practical feeding experiments in America and Germany (see full account in Zipperer's book,The Manufacture of Chocolate). Prof. Faelli, in Turin, obtained, by giving cacao shell to cows, an increase in both the quantity and quality of the milk. More recent experience seems to indicate that it is unwise to put a very high percentage of cacao shell in a cattle food; in small quantities in compound feeding cakes, etc., as an appetiser it has been used for years with good results. (Further particulars will be found inCacao Shells as Fodder, by A.W. Knapp,Tropical Life, 1916, p. 154, and inThe Separation and Uses of Cacao Shell, Society of Chemical Industry's Journal, 1918, 240). The price of shell has shown great variation. The following figures are for the grade of shell which is almost entirely free from cocoa:
Year19121913191419151916191719181919Price65/-70/-70/-70/-90/-128/-284/-161/-
July, 1915.Jan., 1919.s.d.s.d.English Oats31-1/238Cotton Seed Cake25311Linseed Cake1735Brewers Grains (dried)16-1/238-1/2Decorticated Cotton Cake1633-1/2Cacao Shell8-1/414-1/2
The above table speaks for itself; the figures are from the Journal of the Board of Agriculture; I have added cacao shell for comparison.
Before the Spaniards made themselves Masters of Mexico, no other drink was esteem'd but that of cocoa; none caring for wine, notwithstanding the soil produces vines everywhere in great abundance of itself.
John Ogilvy'sAmerica, 1671.
The early writers on chocolate generally became lyrical when they wrote of its value as a food. Thus in theNatural History of Chocolate, by R. Brookes (1730), we read that an ounce of chocolate contains as much nourishment as a pound of beef, that a woman and a child, and even a councillor, lived on chocolate alone for a long period, and further: "Before chocolate was known in Europe, good old wine was called the milk of old men; but this title is now applied with greater reason to chocolate, since its use has become so common, that it has been perceived that chocolate is, with respect to them, what milk is to infants."
A more temperate tone is shown in the following, fromA Curious Treatise of the Nature and Quality of Chocolate, by Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma, a Spaniard, Physician and Chyrurgion of the city of Ecija, in Andaluzia (printed at the Green Dragon, 1685):
So great is the number of those persons, who at present do drink of Chocolate, that not only in the West Indies, whence this drink has its original and beginning, but also in Spain, Italy, Flanders, &c., it is very much used, and especially in the Court of the King of Spain; where the great ladies drink it in a morning before they rise out of their beds, and lately much used in England, as Diet andPhisick with the Gentry. Yet there are several persons that stand in doubt both of the hurt and of the benefit, which proceeds from the use thereof; some saying, that it obstructs and causes opilations, others and those the most part, that it fattens, several assure us that it fortifies the stomach: some again that it heats and inflames the body. But very many steadfastly affirm, that tho' they shou'd drink it at all hours, and that even in the Dog-days, they find themselves very well after it.
So much for the old valuations; let us now attempt by modern methods to estimate the food value of cacao and its preparations.
In estimating the worth of a food, it is usual to compare the fuel values. This peculiar method is adopted because the most important requirement in nutrition is that of giving energy for the work of the body, and a food may be thought of as being burnt up (oxidised) in the human machine in the production of heat and energy. The various food constituents serve in varying degrees as fuel to produce energy, and hence to judge of the food value it is necessary to know the chemical composition. Below we give the average composition of cacao beans and the fuel value calculated from these figures:
Composition.Energy-giving powerCalories per lb.Cacao Butter54.0=2,282Protein (total nitrogen 2.3%)11.9=221Cacao StarchOther Digestible Carbohydrates, etc.6.718.7}=472Stimulants{TheobromineCaffein1.00.4Mineral Matter3.2Crude Fibre2.6Moisture1.5100.02,975
COCOA AND CHOCOLATE DESPATCH DECK AT BOURNVILLE.COCOA AND CHOCOLATE DESPATCH DECK AT BOURNVILLE.
COCOA AND CHOCOLATE DESPATCH DECK AT BOURNVILLE.
It will be seen from the above analysis that the cacao bean is rich in fats, carbohydrates and protein, and that it contains small quantities of the two stimulants, theobromine and caffein. In the whole range of animal and vegetable foodstuffs there are only one or two which exceed it in energy-giving power. If expressed in quite another way, namely, as "food units," the value of the cacao bean stands equally high, as is shown by the following figures taken from Smetham's result published in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, 1914:
"FOOD UNITS."Turnips8Carrots12Potatoes26Rice102Corn Flour104Wheat106Peas113Oatmeal117Coconut159Cacao Bean183
These figures indicate the high food value of the raw material; we will now proceed to consider the various products which are obtained from it.
Composition.Energy-giving powerCalories per lb.Cacao Butter28.0=1,183Protein18.3=340Cacao StarchOther Digestible Carbohydrates, etc.10.228.4}=718Stimulants{TheobromineCaffein1.50.6Mineral Matter5.0Crude Fibre4.0Moisture4.0100.02,241
("Soluble" Cocoa,i.e., cocoa which has been treated with alkaline salts, is almost identical in composition, save that the mineral matter is about 7.5 per cent.).
As cocoa consists of the cacao bean with some of the butter extracted—a process which increases the percentage of the nitrogenous and carbohydrate constituents—it will be evident that the food value of cocoa powder is high, and that it is a concentrated foodstuff. In this respect it differs from tea and coffee, which have practically no food value; each of them, however, have special qualities of their own. Some of the claims made for these beverages are a little remarkable. The Embassy of the United Provinces in their address to the Emperor of China (Leyden, 1655), in mentioning the good properties of tea, wrote: "More especially it disintoxicates those that are fuddl'd, giving them new forces, and enabling them to go to it again." The Embassy do not state whether they speak from personal experience, but their admiration for tea is undoubted. Tea, coffee, and cocoa are amongst our blessings, each has its devotees, each has its peculiar delight: tea makes for cheerfulness, coffee makes for wit and wakefulness, and cocoa relieves the fatigued, and gives a comfortable feeling of satisfaction and stability. Ofthese three drinks cocoa alone can be considered as a food, and just as there are people whose digestion is deranged by tea, and some who sleep not a wink after drinking coffee, so there are some who find cocoa too feeding, especially in the summer-time. These sufferers from biliousness will think it curious that cocoa is habitually drunk in many hot climates, thus, in Spanish-speaking countries, it is the custom for the priest, after saying mass, to take a cup of chocolate. The pure cocoa powder is, as we saw above, a very rich foodstuff, but it must always be remembered that in a pint of cocoa only a small quantity, about half an ounce, is usually taken. In this connection the following comparison between tea, coffee and cocoa is not without interest. It is taken from theFarmer's Bulletin249, an official publication of the United States Department of Agriculture:
Kind of BeverageWaterProteinFatCarbohydratesFuel value per lb.%%%%CaloriesTea(0.5 oz. to 1 pt. water)99.50.200.615Coffee(1 oz. to 1 pt. water)98.90.200.716Cocoa(0.5 oz. to 1 pt. water)97.10.60.91.165
These figures place cocoa, as a food, head and shoulders above tea and coffee. The figures are for the beverages made without the addition of milk and sugar, both of which are almost invariably present. A pint of cocoa made with one-third milk, half an ounce of cocoa, and one ounce of sugar would have a fuel value of 320 calories, and is therefore equivalent in energy-giving power to a quarter of a pound of beef or four eggs.
Cocoa is stimulating, but its action is not so markedas that of tea or coffee, and hence it is more suitable for young children. Dr. Hutchison, an authority on dietetics, writes: "Tea and coffee are also harmful to the susceptible nervous system of the child, but cocoa, made with plenty of milk, may be allowed, though it should be regarded, like milk, as a food rather than a beverage properly so called."
cup of cocoaTea, coffee and cocoa are all so easy to make that it is remarkable anyone should fail to prepare them perfectly. Whilst in France everyone can prepare coffee to perfection, and many fail in making a cup of tea, in England all are adepts in the art of tea-making, and many do not distinguish themselves in the preparation of coffee. Cocoa in either country is not always the delightful beverage it should be. The directions below, if carefully followed, will be found to give the character of cocoa its full expression. The principal conditions to observe are to avoid iron saucepans, to use boiling water or milk, to froth the cocoa before serving, and to serve steaming hot in thick cups.
The amount of cocoa required for two large breakfast cups, that is one pint, is as much as will go, when piled up, in a dessert spoon. Take then a heaped dessert-spoonful of pure cocoa and mix dry with one and a half times its bulk of fine sugar. Set this on one side whilst the boiling liquid is prepared. Mix one breakfast cup of water with one breakfast cup of milk, and raise to the boil in an enamelled saucepan. Whilst this is proceeding, warm the jug which is to hold the cocoa, and transfer the dry sugar-cocoa mixture to it.Now pour in the boiling milk and water. Transfer back to saucepan andboilfor one minute. Whisk vigorously for a quarter of a minute. Serve without delay.
We have noted above the high percentage of nutrients which cocoa contains, and the research conducted by J. Forster[1]shows that these nutrients are easily assimilated. Forster found that the fatty and mineral constituents of cocoa are bothcompletelydigested, and the nitrogenous constituents are digested in the same proportion as in finest bread, and more completely than in bread of average quality. One very striking fact was revealed by his researches, namely, that the consumption of cocoa increases the digestive power for other foods which are taken at the same time, and that this increase is particularly evident with milk. Dr. R.O. Neumann[2](who fed himself with cocoa preparations for over twelve weeks), whilst not agreeing with this conclusion, states that: "The consumption of cocoa from the point of view of health leaves nothing to be desired. The taking of large or small quantities of cocoa, either rich or poor in fat, with or without other food, gave rise to no digestive troubles during the 86 days which formed the duration of the experiments." He considers that cocoas containing a high percentage of cacao butter are preferable to those which contain low percentages, and that a 30 per cent. butter content meets all requirements. It is worthy of note that 28 to 30 per cent. is the quantity of butter found in ordinary high-class cocoas.
As experts are liable to disagree, and it is almost possible to prove anything by a judicious selection from their writings, it may be well to give an extract from some modern text book as more nearly expressing the standard opinion of the times. InSecond StageHygiene, by Mr. Ikin and Dr. Lyster, a text book written for the Board of Education Syllabus, we read, p. 96: "... in the better cocoas the greater part of the fat is removed by heat and pressure. In this form cocoa may be looked upon as almost an ideal food, as it contains proteids, fats, and carbohydrates in roughly the right proportions. Prepared with milk and sugar it forms a highly nutritious and valuable stimulating beverage."
The mild stimulating property which cocoa possesses is due to the presence of the two substances, theobromine and caffein. The presence of theobromine is peculiar to cocoa, but caffein is a stimulating principle which also occurs in tea and coffee. Whilst in the quantities in which they are present in cocoa (about 1.5 per cent. of theobromine and 0.6 per cent. of caffein) they act only as agreeable stimulants, in the pure condition, as white crystalline powders, they are powerful curative agents. Caffein is well known as a specific for nervous headaches, and as a heart stimulant and diuretic. Theobromine is similar in action, but has the advantage for certain cases, that it has much less effect on the central nervous system, and for this reason it is a very valuable medicine for sufferers from heart dropsy, and as a tonic for senile heart. That its medicinal properties are appreciated is shown by its price: during 1918 the retail price was about 8 shillings an ounce, from which we can calculate that every pound of cocoa contained nearly two shillingsworth of theobromine.
Whilst Forster states that treated cocoa is the most digestible, experts are not in agreement as to which is the more valuable foodstuff, the pure untouched cocoa, or that which is treated during its manufacturewith alkaline salts. The cocoa so treated is generally described as "soluble," although its only claim to this name is that the mineral salts in the cocoa are rendered more soluble by the treatment. It is also sometimes incorrectly described as containing alkali, but actually no alkali is present in the cocoa either in a free state or as carbonate; the potassium exists "in the form of phosphates or combinations of organic acids, that is to say, in the ideal form in which these bodies occur in foods of animal and vegetable origin" (Fritsch,Fabrication du Chocolat, p. 216).