'unmeltable' chocolate that can survive temperatures up to 38C.

Football legend David Beckham's son Brooklyn posted a photo of his dad sleeping with chocolates all over his face and neck on Instagram.  The photo, which seems to be taken while David was taking a nap, has gone viral. The famous father-son duo have been constantly trying to outdo the other by posting embarrassing pictures of each other on social networking sites.

Chocolates are sweet and the very word  enamours children and elders.  It  is of Spanish origin and  comprises a number of raw and processed foods produced from the seed of tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Its beans after fermentation are dried, cleaned, roasted, shell removed to produce cacao nibs, which are then groun to cocoa mass – pure chocolate in rough form.  Chocolate candy, chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, anything with chocolate is delicious.

Chocolates  are made of cocoa bean.... the dried and fully fermented fatty seed of Theobroma cacao, from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter are extracted. A cocoa pod (fruit) has a rough and leathery rind about 3 cm thick (this varies with the origin and variety of pod). It is filled with sweet,mucilaginous pulp (called 'baba de cacao' in South America) enclosing 30 to 50 large seeds that are fairly soft and white to a pale lavender color. While seeds are usually white, they become violet or reddish brown during the drying process.  Republic of Ghana,  in West Africa is famous for cocoa beans.  Toblerone  is a Swiss chocolate bar brand owned by Mondelēz International, Inc.,  It is well known for its distinctive prism shape (triangular prism or pentahedron).  Here we have Cadburys and more !

If one were to write down – one trouble with them – it is that trait of  it becoming soft and melting When the chocolate begins to get warm, it will soften and then it will melt and become liquid. The softening point of chocolate is about 85F and the melting point is about 93F.  Like many substances, the natural vegetable fat in cocoa beans – cocoa butter – will crystallize to form as solid as it drops below its freezing point – about room temperature. The invisible molecules of natural cocoa butter fat in the chocolate are arranged in a geometric pattern causing the chocolate to be a solid. When the pattern is properly formed while making the chocolate, then the chocolate will be shiny, smooth and you can hear it snap when it breaks.

Today’s MailOnline reports -  of Swiss firm starts selling 'unmeltable' chocolate that can survive temperatures up to 38C.  In a ‘Sweet edu kondadu’ moment – a Swiss chocolatier claims to have found the technology which stops chocolate from melting .  It is an invention worthy of Willy Wonka - chocolate which does not melt in hot weather.  The Swiss chocolatier claims to have conquered the technology which keeps chocolate solid even when exposed to temperatures of 38C.

Barry Callebaut - the world's biggest seller of wholesale chocolate - has already started selling heat-resistant luxury chocolate, which can survive at 4 degrees higher than normal without disintegrating. The move is in a bid to help the company, which is based Zurich, break into new markets, including the warmer climes of the Middle East and Asia.   Its Chief executive is quoted as telling the Financial Times that a non-melting chocolate which does not sacrifice taste could 'fundamentally change the game'.   According to him – it would remove many barriers : retail stores need not be airconditioned; it can be transported easily !

Western chocolate manufacturers have been trying to perfect the recipe for high-quality temperature-tolerant products for several years.  In the Middle East, African and Asian countries, chocolate remains far less popular than biscuits or cakes, largely because it is expensive and hard to distribute without chilled storage. In 2012, Scientists at Cadbury's research and development plant in Bourneville, near Birmingham, say they had found the technology for 'temperature-tolerant chocolate' to ensure bars of Dairy Milk stay completely solid even when exposed to 40C temperatures for more than three hours. Hershey - which provided 'tropical bars' to troops during the Second World War and Gulf War - has been researching the issue for decades and expect to start selling a similar product outside of the US within two years.

Sweet news indeed !

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

28^th Dec 2015.