So, it seems that people are in a real tizzy over this video from Good Morning America. Even my aunt asked me about it. I’ll give you the long and short of the video so you don’t have to watch it. Basically, Hershey got called out on replacing cocoa butter with vegetable oil, a cheaper fat. I’m a) not shocked and b) not offended. The FDA has very strict guidelines about chocolate standards of identity, so you can’t just go throwing anything into chocolate and still call it “Chocolate.” Once vegetable oil is added to chocolate, it is no longer considered to be chocolate and the product label must be changed. Hershey did in fact change the labels for their products right on the front of the packaging and if you just read the ingredients, it said veggie oil right there, plain as day. Everyone feels tricked and betrayed by their beloved Hershey. And to that I say, it’s f*cking hershey, get over it. It’s not a high quality product to begin with (still love it, though).
It’s hard right now for chocolate makers. Milk prices are soaring and so is the cost of cocoa beans. The most expensive product right now is cocoa butter, so of course in times of financial difficulty companies are going to try to figure out ways to save money without passing the cost onto their consumers. Hershey’s just trying to be profitable and it’s not like they used vegetable oil in their standard chocolate bars, they just used it in candies (kissables, almond joys, etc), which really shouldn’t have affected overall flavor a great amount. It would have changed the way it melts and the mouthfeel more than flavor. I just think this is a dumb thing to get worked up about, especially when so much food right now is making people sick. Can we focus on making and growing food that won’t give us E. Coli and forgive a little vegetable oil?
I’m ridiculous, I know. This was from the day at the Astoria Beer Gardens, which was filled with brats ‘n beer. Thought this would be a good Friday post, just looking forward to the weekend and am thankful that I’m not this guy. I didn’t realize that they publicly executed the Chinese dude in charge of food safety. I’m sure the same fate is in store for the guy in charge of the lethal baby formulas. Yikes.
About a month ago, I got dumped at the Trappe Tavern. A note: Fellas, don’t bring someone to a place that serves a menu of mostly fried foods to dump them, especially when said place is where most of the podunk retards from your high school go to rub against one another. It’s just disrespectful. Let’s just call the guy XX, because he’s obviously a turd for letting go of someone so amazing. Anywho, since XX dumped me, I’ve embarked on a wonderful albeit painful path in terms of dealing with all the crappy things in my life that I have tried to ignore for over 10 years. Therapy, yoga (which is so amazingly wonderful I can’t even begin to express it) and of course chocolate!!!
Since I work at a chocolate factory, I am surrounded by chocolate all the time. I’ve always loved eating chocolate and the more I learn about it, the more I like it. There’s a rumor going around that chocolate makes you happy. Totally true. There’s a chemical naturally found in chocolate called phenylethylamine or PEA that is also found in the brain, which releases dopamine and peaks during orgasm. It also contains a cannabinoid compound called anandamine, but you can’t actually get high from eating chocolate (unfortunately). It has many other compounds that studies show are “feel-good” components. So, eating chocolate actually does lift your spirits. And don’t feel bad about the fat, it actually lowers bad cholesterol while raising good cholesterol. Of course, the darker the chocolate, the better for you it is. There are so many other health benefits, which I will divulge some other time. For now, eat chocolate, do yoga, and be merry!
Tonight I’m leaving to go to the Outer Banks, NC for vacation. Whenever I go south of the Mason Dixon line, particularly to the beach, I think about crabs. No, not the ones you got from that sailor during Fleet Week, I’m talking Callinectes Sapidus (beautiful/savory swimmer) The Blue Crab.
Because I was a marine biology enthusiast and nerd back in high school, I went to Wallop’s Island not once but twice for a class trip. There, we investigated, studied and ate our friend the blue crab. I thought the most interesting place we went to visit was to the soft shell crabbery. There, the newly-molted crabs would meekly sit and wait for their shell to come back, which of course would never occur. Instead, they would be packed a certain way in ice to ensure that they would arrive at their ultimate resting place still alive, soft and delicious. Typically in nature a blue crab would be highly vulnerable during molting and would make a tasty and easy snack for predators. The lady crabs will molt and a strapping young crab dude would come along and protect her and carry her in this fragile state. This seems sweet and almost romantic, until the crab man spawns with her while she’s still getting her shell back then goes his own way. Just like a human man. Dang, I’m salty…just like the Atlantic that I’ll be frolicking in by this time tomorrow.
Note: It’s been a while since high school, so please forgive me if my recollection of the biological details is fuzzy.
I can tell that I’m out of it at work lately because I’m just not in tune with my chocolate! I have not been tempering very well at all lately and it’s bumming me out.
Tempering is the process of cooling down liquid chocolate while agitating it in order to encourage the growth of Beta crystals in the cocoa butter. Then heating it slightly to destroy bad crystals. The end result is a glossy chocolate that has snap and a smooth mouth feel. If you’ve ever left chocolate in your car and it melted, then cooled off and solidified, you would likely notice that is has a white look to it and feels weird when you chew it. That white appearance is known as “bloom” and in the case of too much heat, it’s a fat bloom. The cocoa butter got hot and out of temper and showed itself on the surface of your chocolate. Tempering is tricky and frustrating at times, but when it’s done well — it’s amazing. I am usually so good at it, but my head’s not in the game. Each chocolate has its own “personality” when it comes to temper and I’ve just been ignoring them. Need to get back in the game!!!
I can’t stop snacking on our 54% organic chocolate! It’s soooo good. We make it with a blend of Hispaniola and Arriba liquors. Hispaniola comes from the Dominican Republic and is a fermented bean, which gives it its characteristic flavor notes of brown fruits, fresh fruit and even sweet tobacco. The DR also has an unfermented bean called Sanchez, which lacks any distinguishing flavor notes. Arriba comes from Equador and tastes floral, almost honey-like, and sometimes has fruity notes. I literally need to walk away from my desk to stop eating this chocolate. Which I intend to do right……….now
Over the weekend, an employee at Blommer Chocolate died allegedly from “ammonia-like gas.” This is really such a tragedy, I just hate hearing about people in my industry getting injured or killed. The Chicago Sun-Times article reporting about it is rife with statements bordering libel. It’s either intentionally misleading or a stupid person wrote it.
Says the article:
“About 11 a.m., fire personnel initiated a Level 2 hazardous materials response in the factory, at 600 W. Kinzie St., after fumes overcame employees working in the factory when a powdery substance used in the chocolate gave off an “ammonia-like gas,” Fire Media Affairs spokesman Rich Rosado said.”
The “powdery substance” they refer to is also known as cocoa powder. It’s true that certain cocoa powders do need processing agents in order to make them alkalized, which are typically ammonium bicarbonate and potassium carbonate. Are these substances potentially harmful if used improperly? Yes. This is why safety measures required to handle them, which I can tell you are in place.
Many chocolatiers use these processing agents and sell products that are made with “liquor* processed with alkali,” such as Godiva, Hershey and Mars. Oreo cookies are made with alkalized cocoa powder. The use of alkalized liquor or powder does not mean that a product is bad or harmful for you to eat, but it does make it less health-beneficial by decreasing antioxidants naturally occurring in chocolate to virtually nil.
So why use alkali at all? Chocolate is naturally acidic so in order to make it close to neutral, alkalizing agents used. This gives it a different flavor and color ranging from dark brown to red to black. This process in cocoa powders is also known as dutching, so named after its inventor, Coenraad Johannes van Houten, a Dutch man. Dutched cocoa powder will react differently than natural cocoa powder when used in recipes, so make sure you follow the recipe or feel free to experiment for a different flavor and adjust the leavening agent levels.
*Liquor here means the thick liquid that you get from grinding cocoa beans, not booze. It is very bitter for people unaccustomed to tasting it
