XICOLATL – We crafted this bar from Belize pure Criollo Heirloom cacao, the rarest chocolate in the world. These are the beans the Olmec people first used to make drinking chocolate nearly 4,000 years ago.
Answer: In 2009, 'Forbes' named House of Knipschildt's La Madeline au Truffe, the most expensive chocolate in the world. It costs USD 250 (Rs 20416.25) for a single piece. The ganache is made of 70 percent Valrhona dark chocolate which is encased inside a rare French Perigord truffle and shaped to perfection.
Valrhona. Hailing from France's Rhône Valley and crafting couverture since 1922, Valrhona is considered the Rolls Royce of chocolate. The brand has perfected techniques for enhancing the flavor of rare cocoa beans that are directly bought from the plantations in South America, the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean.
Luxury chocolate should contain only the best of ingredients and in preference to inferior ingredients, such as the artificial flavouring “vanillin” or hydrogentated fats, used instead of pure cocoa butter simply because its cheaper.
The scale of production is a big impact on cost not only for production costs, but ingredient and supplies cost. Fine chocolate makers often buy more expensive sugar, organic ingredients, smaller quantities of these ingredients.
Chocolate & the Aztec People
In fact, etymologists trace the origin of the word "chocolate" back to the Aztec's word "xocoatl," which means "a bitter drink brewed from cocoa beans." The Aztecs deemed chocolate more valuable than gold, often using it as a kind of currency.
Ingredients Determine Quality
The key divider between them are the ingredients they use. The largest producers add emulsifiers and loads of sugar to their chocolate, resulting in cheaper, industrial-scale bars that are uniform from batch to batch, ensuring consistency across a global market.
Different Types of Chocolate. There are four types of chocolate: dark, milk, white, and ruby. Chocolate comes from the seeds, or nibs, of the cacao tree. They are roasted and ground to produce a paste called chocolate liquor.
Why are Lindt & Sprüngli Chocolates more expensive than other brands? Lindt & Sprüngli stands for premium chocolates. For us, premium chocolate combines fine ingredients with over 175 years of tradition and artisan-like craftsmanship to create the ultimate chocolate tasting experience.
Contrary to expectations, 100% cacao chocolate has a malty, savoury taste, packed with intricate flavours and undertones. Did you know that the first chocolate drinks developed in Mesoamerica were savoury and rich? They were made from fermented cacao beans, mixed with water.
Dark chocolate is by far the healthiest form of the treat, containing the least sugar and, because of its cocoa content, higher levels of substances that protect the body's cells. If sugar is your number one concern, Allers recommends looking for higher percentages.
A chocoholic is a person who craves or compulsively consumes chocolate.
The Olmec, one of the earliest civilizations in Latin America, were the first to turn the cacao plant into chocolate. They drank an ancient chocolate drink during rituals and used it as medicine. Centuries later, the Mayans praised chocolate as the drink of the gods.
Women and men are equally likely to enjoy milk chocolate (50% and 47% respectively) over dark (35% and 33% respectively) and white chocolate (11% each).
Ferrero Rocher is halal and permissible to consume when produced in Canada, US, Germany & Italy.
Whittaker's have halal suitable chocolate. Most of their products are halal, however, the only one which isn't halal is 'Rum and Raisin' (understandably). Whittaker's Chocolate contains no palm oil and the vanilla flavours used are not extracted with alcohol based solutions.
Suitable for vegetarians. Certified Kosher and Halal. Store in a cool and dry place, away from direct sunlight. Consumer Hotline: Australia 1800 627 231 / NZ 0800 441 512 for more information visit www.ferrerorocher.com/au.
A further observation is that the most widely preferred chocolate is milk chocolate and chocolate-covered confectionery. These contain a lower amount of cocoa solids, and therefore a lower concentration of potentially psychoactive compounds, than 'dark' chocolate which is not so widely craved.
Carob comes from a pod of a tree of the same name, which is native to the Mediterranean. The ripe pods contain a sweet pulp that is dried, roasted, and then ground into a powder. That powder is called carob powder and is sold as is or made into chocolate-like chips.
Criollo Cacao currently makes up just 0.01% of all the cacao grown in the world. Criollo is a very rare and precious variety of cacao that was at risk of extinction for many years. It is the cacao of the Mayas and the Aztecs, the cultivation of which has been progressively abandoned owing to its low yield.
A separate study led by Britsuperstore claims that Milky Way may actually be the most hated chocolate. The study analysed over five million internet search results to try and delve into the thinking of the British public, and which chocolates they like and dislike from the Celebrations tub.
The reason that fancier chocolate is healthier is simple. It all comes down to the ingredients. Ingredients of dark chocolate are immensely variable, stretching from bars made almost entirely of refined, white sugars to more sophisticated versions made primarily of the good stuff.
It can be hard to understand why someone would prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate or vice versa. But the truth is, there are some people who simply don't like the taste of chocolate. And that's perfectly okay!