The Future of Chocolate

About that chocolate processing. Good summary article from a woman who is a strong proponent of bee colonies. She didn’t add, though, the interesting way bees interacted with chocolate traditionally.

Perhaps the very first additive flavor put into chocolate was actually vanilla, which is derived from an orchid that must be pollinated by bees. This was one of the early hurdles to bringing chocolate to the old world from new. Sure, you could bring the plants (cocao trees and Vanilla orchids), but you couldn’t bring the ecosystem, the bees, and replicate the environment. Grrr.

But by the mid-1800’s, it was discovered that you could hand-pollinate the flower — which is wicked time consuming, frees the need for bees, and a main reason it’s expensive. In the native ecosystem, you need bees. However, once they figured out how to do it by hand, only THEN could they distribute it globally as a flavoring for their beloved chocolate.

Isn’t it funny that chocolate and vanilla are often seen as opposites. However, from the very very beginning, they were married and melded into one delicious, makes-you-moan-out-loud food of wonderfulness.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost