Learning to make chocolate

A while back I went down to El Salvador in Central America to visit some friends and family. At the house that I was staying at, I noticed that they had a cacao tree growing. This piqued my curiosity because I had never seen one before, and was interested in knowing how chocolate was made. I went on the internet to explore and research this information and soon came to the conclusion that I could make it myself. The basic gist to making it is to remove the cacao beans from the pod, then store them in a bin to ferment the pulp, place them under the sun to dry for several days, roast them in an oven, and then finally decide on which method to process the beans. This is the most difficult step in making chocolate because chocolate companies use highly sophisticated machines to make chocolate, chocolate liquor, cocoa powder, and cocoa butter. Though I didn’t have access to those sorts of machines, I didn't fret because there are alternatives to still making a decent quality chocolate. Besides, the Mayans were making and drinking chocolate hundreds of years ago using hand-made methods that are still used today in many Latin American countries. The easiest part of learning to make this chocolate was to remove the cocoa beans from the pods and drying them in the sun. I had started drying them in the middle of the summer when the days were hottest. What became difficult was all the hand mashing I had to do to crush and mix the beans together. Luckily I decided to speed that process up by using a small blender. As it was mixing, I added sugar and milk to make it more of a familiar chocolate taste that I’m used to. Once it was done, I placed the mixture on a plate and put in the refrigerator. When I took it out I was amazed at how it felt, almost like clay. I then wrapped it up in aluminum paper and stored it in the freezer for several weeks. Finally this week I decided to unwrap it and eat it. As I was opening it up, the smell of chocolate filled the air with its aroma. The texture was similar to the chocolate part of an M&M, or a Hershey’s Kiss but it also felt a little grainy because of the sugar I added. Despite how it felt, the taste was amazing. I had never tried anything like this before. It was natural and pure, and nothing like those artificial chocolate bars you can buy in a store. The taste resonated in my mouth, as I let the chocolate melt. As it ignited my sense of touch, taste, sight, and smell I thought to myself this was the best chocolate I have ever had in my life.




YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tu7FCAEtFE

M&M’s Pretzel

This year M&M’s introduced Pretzel M&M’s. Although most people wouldn’t think that chocolate goes with pretzels (especially because they are salty), I really thought it was a good idea. The reason for this is because I had chocolate covered pretzels a long time ago and they tasted really good. For some reason chocolate pairs really nicely with salt, and they almost accentuate the flavor of each other. I’ve also found that as I’ve gotten older I have started to like many foods that I didn’t like as a child, such as mint and dark chocolate. But I must say M&M’s hit the jackpot with this new candy. To begin with, I couldn’t find them anywhere because they were sold out everywhere I looked. Luckily I did find a store that had some left and I was able to buy a few bags. The candies themselves look like any other M&M’s candy because they are covered in those bright colors, and are round. As mentioned before, although the pretzel is salty, it being covered in chocolate and candy really work together to make this a tasty treat. Since the pretzel is also hard, it gives you a nice crunch every time you bite into it. I really love this new candy and can’t wait to have it again.

YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moH3gzE5gOg