Conventional+Practices+-+Group+A

Ajani Rudek Ms. Mcgann 6-1 4/13/10

=**The growth and making of Chocolate**=

I. __**Growing Cacao**__ A. **Labor** 1. Chocolate is grown in farms in foreign and amazon areas such as Africa and South America. The farm owners used to take advantage of child labor and made children through the ages of 12 to 16 work in their plantations. The chocolate is grown on cacao trees, which are usually covered with cacao beans, which contain the main ingredient to chocolate, cacao nibs. Back then, the children were bought through the slave trade and were forced to work hard and make the chocolate, and they were unpaid, the man who owned the farm got the money. After a few years, people became boycotting and protesting. They also started putting labels on the chocolate that said "Made by slaves." After a very long time, child labor ended along with slavery. a. Some countries that export the best cacao to us are Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Papua New Guinea. Countries that contain the best cacao beans and may not give them to us are Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, Cameroon, Ecuador, Malaysia, Dominican Republic, and Colombia. (1). If you were to go searching for cacao trees in Africa or South America, the best place to look would probably be a rain forest. If you see a colorful but odd looking tree with big pods all over it, you are probably looking at a cacao tree. If you take down 1 of the pods and cut the outer layer off, you have got to the cacao bean. If you decide tto go even deeper, you will get to the cacao nib, which is 1 of the most important ingredient to a good chocolate bar. B. **Layers of cacao** Cacao Tree

II. __**Making chocolate**__ A. **How to make chocolate** 1. In order to make chocolate, you must follow specific steps. First, you cut your way through the cacao pod to the //cacao bean//. Then, you dry, crack, and roast the bean in order to separate it from the //cacao nib//. Then, you ground the //cacao nibs// to get rid of the unhealthy //cacao butter//. After you rid it of the //cacao butter//, you are left with a thick paste called //cacao liquor//. Then, you refine the //cacao liquor// which leaves unsweetened //cacao powder//. This is the time to sweeten it! Of course, it is optional whether you decide to add more ingredients, but if you do, you will have to refine it a second time afterwords. Finally, the last step to making chocolate is to put it in a huge machine with giant wheels and spinning blades that mixes the //cacao liquor// that returns after you have refined and any added ingredients. You must heat the chocolate liquid before putting it in the machine. This machine is known as a "conching" machine, which gets rid of any unwanted things in it while making the chocolate. a. You will need a lot of materials to successfully make good chocolate. First, you will need any form of cacao. You will also need a conching machine, something to grind with, a knife, something to refine with, and any sweet ingredients like sugar that you may want to add to make it nice and sweet. (1). The best chocolate comes from the best cacao beans! There are 2 kinds of chocolate, pure chocolate, and fake chocolate. If you want really good chocolate, look for chocolate that was made from cacao found in Africa or South America. Some chocolate is fake, and some newspapers like the New York Times talk about how bad it is for you. (example: []) B. **2 kinds of chocolate ** Chocolate

Works Cited Alden, Lory. “Chocolate.” Cook’s Thesaurus. N.p., 1996-2005. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. . “All About Chocolate: History of Chocolate.” Field Musuem. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. . “chocolate.” Epicurious. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2010. . “The Issue.” American. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2010. . Jones, Carol. From Farm To You: Chocolate. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print. “Nutrition Profile: Chocolate.” Health Refrence Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2010. . “The Sweet Lure of Chocolate.” Exploratorium. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2010. . The Visual Food Encyclopedia: The Definitive Practical Guide To Food and Cooking. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.**
 * Bibliography: