Chocorific - French Chocolate

French Chocolate

History of French Chocolate

Can you imagine a time when chocolate was considered a "barbarous product and noxious drug"? That was the case in France prior to the 1600s. But then the Paris medical faculty gave its approval, and a French queen then declared chocolate the official drink of the French court.

In the 1800s, a French food writer named Brillat-Savarin who was passionate about chocolate and drank 12 cups of chocolate a day, declared that "Chocolate is health." He suggested it could cure many things, including hangovers! This was long before science actually proved him right.

The Production of French Chocolate

The French government strictly regulates the production of French chocolate. These regulations prohibit and vegetable or animal fat in the production of French chocolate. They can only use pure cocoa butter--a minimum of 26%, in fact. It also has to have at least 43% cocoa liquor. Most of the French chocolate that's produced today has far more than that. In fact, the best French chocolate has up to 80% cocoa liquor, which gives it more flavor.

In addition, the flavors of French chocolate vary greatly depending on where the cocoa beans used to make it came from. Some think the best chocolate comes from a blend of four beans or more beans coming from one of the following five regions:

Venezuela
Madagascar
Brazil
The Ivory Coast
Central America

Today, the French are very picky about their chocolate because they have so many varieties to choose from. In fact, the pickiest look for the words "Guanaja", "Manjari", "Pur Caraibe" or "Guayaquil" on their chocolate bars. Anything else simply won't do!