Making Chocolate

Cocoa, which is obtained from the cacao tree, whose Latin name means "food of the gods", is Theobromocacao, is produced in West Africa, the West Indies and South America. Cocoa trees begin to bear fruit after the age of four. The tree, which is 4-10 meters in height, yields twice a year. The fruit, which emerges near the trunk or main branches, is up to 35 cm in length when ripe. There are 20-40 seeds, ie cocoa beans, about 2.5 cm in length in a fruit. The seeds extracted from the fleshy, ripe fruits are fermented in a banana leaf for a few days. It is then dried in the sun so that the beans are ready to be processed in the factory. The cocoa beans cleaned in the factory are roasted and ground. The resulting paste-like liquid is used in making chocolate. In addition, cocoa and cocoa butter are obtained by pressing.

Roasted cocoa chunks are mixed with sugar and ground into dough with heavy rollers in a bowl. This dough is formed into thin chocolate layers, which are then softened by adding cocoa butter. It is then put into a machine with rectangular troughs. With the rollers in the grooves, the chocolate is made soft and smooth. The chocolate, which eventually turns into liquid, is poured into molds and cooled. The mold is slightly heated to remove the hardened chocolate.

Milk chocolate is obtained from cow's milk by adding milk powder, vanilla and other flavors and fragrances. When making various chocolates, "lecithin" obtained from soybeans is also added to make the chocolate soft and easy to process.