(Originally on singlesfood.com)
If you’re addicted to chocolate but don’t want the sweet stuff, try chocolate nibs. The endorphins soar but the sugar levels don’t.
Dabbling on the Hotel Chocolat website, I discovered a very handy guide to chocolate ingredients. It even comes with a pronunciation guide so you have no need to look like a lemon when you’re discussing the finer points of a choclate ganache with someone you want to impress.
If you’re addicted to chocolate but don’t want the sweet stuff, try chocolate nibs. The endorphins soar but the sugar levels don’t.
Bain-Marie (BAN mar-EE)
Used to melt chocolate. Consists of a bowl placed over a pan of boiling water.
Bouchon (BOO-shon)
French for ‘cork’, often used to name distinctively shaped chocolates
Café au Lait (CAF-ay oh LAY)
Coffee made with milk.
Chocolatier (shok-o-LAT-ee-yay)
Person, or sometimes company, making chocolate.
Cocoa
The preferred term in the UK for the tree, Theobroma cacao, and the bean found within its fruit, the cocoa pod. Referred to as CACAO predominantly in the USA and Europe.
Cocoa Butter
The fat which is removed from cocoa beans in order to produce cocoa powder. Cocoa butter is then added back at a later stage in the chocolate-making process to enable moulding. Read more.
Cocoa Mass This is the main ingredient in chocolate and is the product of grinding roasted cocoa nibs into a thick paste. Also known as cocoa solid and cocoa liquor.
Cocoa Nibs
The part of the cocoa bean used in the manufacture of chocolate. The dried and roasted kernel of the cocoa bean that remains after the husk has been removed.
Cocoa Plantation Plantings of a number of Theobroma cacao trees for food or beverage. Watch a video of our Rabot Estate Cocoa Plantation here.
Cointreau (CWUN-troh)
Orange liqueur.
Conching
A process invented by Rudolph Lindt in 1879, which breaks down the particles making up chocolate by gentle heating and kneading. This improves the texture of the chocolate and produces more mellow flavours by driving out bitterness.
Confiseur (con-fee-SER)
Person, or sometimes company, making confectionery.
Couverture
The chocolatier’s key ingredient and basic building block. A mixture of cocoa mass, cocoa butter and sugar. Usually contains a higher cocoa butter content than non-couverture chocolate.
Criollo
The most delicate and sought-after type of cocoa bean, representing only 5-10% of the world’s crop, thought to have originated in Mexico.
Cuneo (KEW-nee-yoh)
Italian province.
Dark Chocolate
Quality ingredients are the key to real, quality dark chocolate. Around 70% cocoa beans.
Diamant (DEE-a-mon)
Literally ‘diamond’. Name used for an Hermès chocolate.
Dragée (DRA-zjay) chocolate coated in sugar shell.
Eau de Vie (OH der VEE)
Fruit brandy.
Engaged Ethics
This is the name we give to our “roll-up-the-sleeves and get-involved” ethical programme. Sustained investments of know-how, sweat and passion as well as dependable funding really does make a difference to cocoa communities in Ghana and St Lucia.
Enrobing
A process by which individual chocolates are given an outer shell by being passed through a waterfall of molten chocolate.
Feuilletine (fo-yer-TEEN)
A praline textured with small pieces of crispy, oven baked pancakes (crepes dentelles).
Fondant
A mixture of sugar, water and glucose used in the production of creamy-textured confectionery. Can also be a covering paste, made with sugar icing.
Forastero
The mainstay of the world’s cocoa bean crop (80%), with a robust flavour, thought to have originated in the Amazon.
Framboise (FROM-bwarz)
French for ‘raspberry’.
Ganache (ger-NASH)
A mixture of chocolate and cream, with a velvety smooth texture. Created when a nineteenth century apprentice knocked some cream into a tub of chocolate. His boss called him ‘un ganache’ - an imbecile!
Gianduja (zjan-DO-ya)
A blend of chocolate, very finely ground hazelnuts and sugar, typically much smoother than a praline. A silky smooth texture.
Grand Marnier (GRON MAR-nyay)
Cognac-based orange liqueur.
Grande Bûche (GROND BOOSH)
French for ‘Yule log’.
Grappa
Very potent Italian spirit.
Griotte (gre-OT)
French for Morello Cherry.
Hermès (AIR-mez)
Flemish chocolatier.
Hotel Chocolat (HO-tel SHOCK-o-la)
A place where only the best, most authentic, most original chocolate finds sanctuary.
Kastanjes (kas-TAN-ya)
Chestnut-shaped chocolate.
Kirsch (KERSH)
German for ‘cherry’, and also the name of a cherry liqueur.
Lecithin
A natural emulsifier made from soya, used to stabilise the fats in chocolate and improve its texture.
Limoncello (LEE-mon-chell-oh)
Italian liqueur made from lemons.
Marc de Champagne (MAR der sham-PAIN)
A distilled spirit. Known as Marc de Champagne in the Champagne area; goes by other names in other places, eg. ‘grappa’ in Italy.
Marijke (ma-REE-ka)
Name used for an advocaat-filled chocolate from Ickx.
Marrons Glacés (MA-ron GLA-say)
Crystallised chestnuts.
Mendiant (MON-dee-on)
Literally ‘blind men/beggars’ in French. Piped discs of solid chocolate studded with fruit and nuts.
Merlot (MER-lo) Type of grape used to make red wine.
Milk Chocolate
What makes quality milk chocolate?
Moulded Chocolate
Individual chocolates or chocolate shapes made by pouring molten chocolate into moulds and allowing it to set to create a shell.
Myrtille (MEER-tee)
French for ‘blueberry’.
Pâtes de Fruits (PAT der froo-EE)
Pure fruit pastilles.
Piedmont (pee-YAYD-mon)
A region of Italy famous for its hazelnuts.
Pinot Meunier (PEE-noh MER-nyay)
Grape from the Champagne region used to make wine, especially sparkling. Also used as the name of the wine.
Poire William (PWAR William)
A sweet pear-flavoured liqueur, strongly aromatic but mild-tasting. Named after the type of pear it is made from.
Praline (PRAH-leen)
Paste of crushed hazelnuts/almonds, caramelised sugar and chocolate.
Prosecco (proh-SEHK-koh)
A sparkling wine made from a variety of white grape grown in the Veneto region of Italy.
Rabot Estate (ra-BOW)
Hotel Chocolat’s 140 acre cocoa plantation on the island of St Lucia, near the original French capital, Soufrière. Watch a video of our Rabot Estate Cocoa Plantation here
Sahne (ZAR-na)
German/Dutch for ‘cream’.
Single Estate Chocolate
Cocoa grown on a single, named estate whose distinctive flavours are directly influenced by the terroir (or environment) in which it is grown. These flavours will vary from harvest to harvest and can be readily tasted in the chocolate they produce.
Single Origin Chocolate
Chocolate grown in a single region or country whose distinctive flavours are directly influenced by that terrior (or environment). These flavours will be less varied than single estate.
Sugar
A vital ingredient in chocolate but should be used in moderation; too much makes chocolate cloying and sickly.
Tempering
The precisely controlled heating and cooling of molten chocolate to correctly crystallize or solidify the cocoa butter within, which produces the required consistency and a smooth, glossy finish.
Terroir
A term taken from French that describes the external influences that help define the character and flavour nuances of cocoa, includes the geographic location, the topography, the type of soil and the climate.
Trans Fats or hydrogenated vegetable fats
Used by industrialised chocolate makers as a replacement for the more expensive cocoa butter. Linked to the clogging of arteries and heart disease.
Trinitario
Type of cocoa bean - a hybrid of Criollo and Forastero, with delicate flavours, but easier to grow than the Criollo.
Truffle
Often handmade, made from ganache of chocolate mass, cream and a little butter, shaped into a round ball or piped into a peak. Soft, yielding texture. Find out more about gourmet chocolate truffles.
Glossary from Hotel Chocolat: www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/
