Why do some chocolates advertise a cacao percentage instead of cocoa?
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Question by Caesarion: Why do some chocolates advertise a cacao percentage instead of cocoa?
If cocoa comes from the cacao seeds, and is used to make chocolate, why do some chocolate bars list the percentage of cacao instead of cocoa? I know that some use cocoa. It's very confusing to me, can someone clear it up?
Best answer:
Answer by thejanith
Cacao is the "general European" word used for referring to the powdered stuff you use in making chocolate that comes from the cacao seeds. (We Americans tend to call that stuff cocoa.) The fancier chocolates use the European word for it, either because they are European or because they think it sounds finer.
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There has been disagreement in the EU about the definition of chocolate, but chocolate is any product made primarily of cocoa solids and cocoa fat. Different flavours can be obtained by varying the time and temperature when roasting the beans, and by varying the relative quantities of the cocoa solids and cocoa fat, and of course by adding non-chocolate ingredients.
Production cost can be reduced by reducing cocoa solid content or substituting cocoa butter with a non-cocoa fat. Chocolate is a popular ingredient in many other foods, so any change in its cost has a significant economic impact.
The two main jobs associated with creating chocolate candy are: chocolate makers and chocolatiers. Chocolate makers are those who produce couverture chocolate from harvested cacao beans and other ingredients. Chocolatiers take the finished couverture to make chocolate candies (bars, truffles, baked goods, etc.)
Its because some people like darker chocolate than others, so when the percentage is displayed, people can choose the chocolate thats right for them.
=]
Having the facts–listed above–is worthwhile, to be sure.
The direct and BEST ANSWER, however, is that when chocolate lovers–or, those who are addicted passion-seekers–look for their fix (truly and not being derisive),
what they’re seeking is the comfort of PURITY.
And authenticity. And deep, dark chocolate FLAVOR.
Because as soon as it (the bar) is handled, as it’s being caressed down the aisle and across the checkout threshhold, there is begun a relationship with it.
(This has been discovered, tested, and agreed-upon by every form of corporate and capitalist psychological probing. And those people mean to tap into every cent they can convince everyone they’re “worth.”)
Again, it’s a drug of choice. Just tastes better than- and isn’t potentially lethal- like smokes and booze.
To many, it’s a step up or two from the candy bars they’d grown up with.
Or, to adapt part of a cliche, “It’s giving people what they think they can’t live without.”
Thankfully, in moderate indulgence, it’s good for us.