http://www.chocorific.com/chocolate/european-chocolate/french-chocolate/ French chocolate comes in many different varieties and flavors. This could be because the production of French chocolate is highly regulated as far as what it is made from. en-us Tue, 19 Jun 2007 12:54:49 EDT Tue, 19 Jun 2007 12:54:49 EDT Weblog Editor 2.0 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! Tue, 19 Jun 2007 12:54:49 EDT