Cocoa And Chocolate
The Tree, The Bean The Beverage

126 THE COCOA AND CHOCOLATE INDUSTRY almonds. And as aroma is a part of flavour he will probably add a minute quantity of vanilla or Vanillin, coumarin or heliotropin ; or odoriferous spices like aniseed, cinnamon or nutmeg ; or aromatic bodies like balsam of Peru, gum benzoin or attar of roses. The variations on the fundamental processes are too many to be described here, and only the essentials will be briefly mentioned. The original method of making chocolate with a mortar and pestle has been expanded in the factory into a number of operations known as grinding, melangeuring, refining and conching. The nib is finely ground either as described for cocoa or between revolving Steel discs. The sugar is ground to an almost impalpable snow-white powder either in a mill resembling a mortar mill or eise in a disintegrator. The nib and sugar are then mixed in suitable proportions. Whymper cites the following recipe as giving an eating chocolate possessing a very good flavour— RECIPE FOR PLAIN EATING CHOCOLATE Ibs. Caracas nib . , . . 16J Para nib 9} Trinidad nib . . . 18| Sugar.......................55| Vanilla . . . . | 100 The mixing is done in a machine called a melangeur, a refined kind of edge-runner, which consists of two heavy granite rollers resting on, and revolved by, a rotating granite bed. The melangeur is kept warm and the mixture is obtained in a soft and plastic condition. This is chocolate in the rough and, though gritty to the teeth, would have satisfied consumers fifty years ago. This chocolate dough is now put through a refiner, a