LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - DECEMBER 9, 2018 by Lynne Belluscio This last weekend during the Candlelight Tours, there were some discussions about chocolate. As most of you know, cacao was discovered by Europeans when they began exploring South America. The early chocolate beverage did not resemble what we know as hot chocolate or hot cocoa. It was bitter and sometimes spicy. It was not made with milk. When chocolate was introduced into Europe, it was more expensive than tea or coffee. The demand for Cacao beans created the need for Cacao plantations and slave labor. The English, Dutch and French colonized and plant- ed cacao as well as sugar which was needed to sweeten the bitter beverage. Processing chocolate from the cacao bean was labor in- tensive, but in 1765, Dr. James Baker of Dorchester, Massachu- setts, bought a water-powered grist mill and turned it into a chocolate mill. (Thus Baker’s Chocolate – not because it was used by bakers. Eventually, the company was taken over by Walter Baker, and the com- pany continues today under that name. Baker’s Chocolate was bought by Postum in 1927 shortly after Postum acquired Jell-O and became part of Gen- eral Foods. In 1969, - a year after Jell-O moved to Dover, Delaware, Baker’s Chocolate moved to Dover. It was moved to Canada in 1992. In 1995, Baker’s became part of Kraft Foods. ) In 1815, a Dutch chemist Coenraad van Houten treated chocolate with alkaline salts which reduced its bitterness. This process created Dutch Chocolate and the process is called “dutching.” (A couple of us tried chewing some of the chocolate beans and the choc- olate nibs, and found them to be very, very bitter. There was a slight chocolate flavor, but it was hard to get past the bit- terness. ) In 1828, Houten cre- ated a press that removed the natural fat (cocao butter) from the chocolate and manufactured what we call cocoa. It was a lot cheaper than chocolate. Previ- ously, only the wealthy could enjoy hot chocolate, but with cocoa, even the middle class en- joyed this hot beverage. I emailed a food historian friend, and asked her wheth- er the LeRoy family in LeRoy would have had chocolate. Mrs. LeRoy’s cookbook, although it has a lot of Dutch recipes, does not have any chocolate recipes. “Yes indeed,” she said. “ In fact there was a chocolate mill in Al- bany which would have made chocolate available to the Le- Roys.” Chocolate was enjoyed only as a beverage until 1847, when Joseph Fry learned that if melted cacao butter was added back into the cocoa, the choco- late was moldable and became a solid, edible treat. It wasn’t until 1875 that Daniel Peter Nestle, of Switzerland, added powdered milk to chocolate and created Milk chocolate and today some of the best chocolate is made in Switzerland. ( I can’t forget the television commercial - - N-E- S-T-L-E-S Nestles’ make the very best chocolate.” ) In the 19th century, Belgian choco- latiers made Belgian Chocolate famous. Cote d’Or and Godiva are probably the most famous today. Belgian pralines shaped like sea shells are sold all over the world. There are over 200 chocolatiers in Belgium. In 1893, Milton Hershey purchased chocolate processing equipment at the World’s Co- lumbian Exposition in Chicago and soon was selling chocolates and chocolate-coated caramels from his factory in Pennsylva- nia. A visit to Hershey Pennsyl- vania isn’t complete until a visit to the museum and factory. The first box of package chocolates appeared in 1854. Richard Cadbury introduced the first Valentine’s Day box of chocolates. In 1893, Wilbur’s Chocolate Company in Litiz, Pennsulvania, introduced the Wilbur “Bud” in the shape of a flower bud. It closely resembles the Hershey Kiss, which was introduced in 1907. Wilburs are not wrapped in foil like the Kiss, but if you’ve never had a Wilbur Bud, you’ve missed a chocolate treat. I just learned that chocolate production in the Wilbur Factory in Litiz closed in 2016, and was moved to one of their other sites. It was always a favorite side trip on the way to see my family in Pennsylvania to stop at Wilburs to buy some chocolate. The chocolate “Tootsie Roll” was introduced in 1896. (The Tootsie Pop was intro- duced in 1931.) In 1913, the Southern favorite, Goo Goo Clusters, a mix of milk choc- olate, caramel, marshmallow and peanuts was introduced. In 1920, Babe Ruth Candy bars – named for President Grover’s daughter, not the famous base- ball player, were introduced followed by the popular Mars Bar in 1923. Crunchy Heath Bars are introduced in 1928. In 1930, Mars Candy introduced the Snickers Bar, named for the favorite horse owned by the Mars family. In 1941, M&M’s – “which melt in your mouth and not in your hand” became part of the chocolate candy history. At Christmas time, we all enjoy a cup of hot cocoa. And a little bit more of history. An- cient Egyptians made a type of candy from the mallow plant, but no one knows for sure what it was like. The French candy makers made marshmallows in little molds from the mal- low plant in the early 1800s, but it was very labor intensive. Eventually confectioners used gelatin to make marshmallows and finally in 1948, a machine for extruding the batter was in- vented and began the Campfire Marshmallow Company. So the cocoa in the 1830s kitchen was served without marshmallows - - only whipped cream which isn’t too bad either. I discovered one other chocolate Christmas tradition that I think is worthy to men- tion, and that is the Christmas chocolate advent calendar. Ap- parently it was started in the 1950s, and I think it’s a tradition we all should continue. Chocolate pot and sugar cone Hot Chocolate or Hot Cocoa