Chocolate Tips

Never refrigerate chocolate. The ideal temperature for storage is 18`c to 22`c.

Look for a shiny appearance when choosing chocolate. If it isn’t shiny it may contain vegetable fat or have been overheated. Texture is also crucial. Chocolate should feel velvety in the mouth and melt quickly. The color of dark chocolate should be dark brown like mahogany.

Chocolate that is much darker may not be as good.

Chocolate contains cocoa in three forms. Cocoa butter, cocoa mass and cocoa powder. The ideal proportions depend on taste and use. In a climate like Dubai, much chocolate is low in cocoa butter. For taste, the percentage of cocoa is no guarantee of quality. Some chocolates with high cocoa content are made with acid or badly cooked beans. Officially, any chocolate with over 43 percent cocoa content can be defined as high quality, but look for a minimum of 55 percent.

Chocolate contains phenylethlamine, which provokes a similar reaction to falling in love.

There are three varieties of cocoa bean. Forester beans, which are low in flavor, provide 85 percent of chocolate. Creole is lower-yielding but stronger flavored and provides five percent of chocolate. Trinitarian is a hybrid that provides around 10 percent chocolate is good for you. It contains vitamins A1, B1, B2, C, D and E and the minerals calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, chromium and phosphorus. It is also rich in polyphones, which has antioxidant qualities. But to obtain these benefits, buy chocolate that is high in cocoa solids and avoid chocolate with added vegetable fats.