GANACHE

A velvety smooth blend of chocolate and cream, often with butter added, that is usually dipped in chocolate and rolled in cocoa powder and sugar or other coatings to make a truffle.  It is often used as a center for bonbons. Ganache can be made from dark, milk, or white chocolate and flavored with chocolate, coffee, liqueurs, extracts—virtually any flavor that inspires the chocolatier. Using more chocolate than cream yields a firmer ganache, whereas more cream than chocolate yields a softer more velvety mixture. Ganache can be beaten with butter and used to fill and frost cakes and pastries (ganache beurre or ganache soufflé), and in its liquid state can be poured over cakes and pastries as a glaze. 

GARNISSAGE

The French term for filling a chocolate shell using a piping bag.

GERMAN CHOCOLATE or GERMAN’s CHOCOLATE

A sweet baking chocolate developed by Sam German for Walter Baker & Company, manufacturer of Baker’s Chocolate, in 1852. In 1957 a Texas homemaker submitted the recipe for German’s Chocolate Cake, today generally called German Chocolate Cake, to a Dallas newspaper. A chocolate sour cream layer cake with a coconut pecan topping and filling, it has become a popular recipe.

GHANA

A prime growing region for cacao that is bold, assertive, and dark-toned. Most of it is Forastero, but with a low level of bitterness. Common flavors are pure cacao, coffee, and tobacco.

GIANDUJA or GIANDUIA

Also called hazelnut praliné, a smooth nut paste made of roasted and finely ground hazelnuts and chocolate and sugar, conched together. It can also be made of almonds. Gianduja was invented in the 19th century Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy (not surprisingly, the Piedmont is the major hazelnut-producing area of Italy). History says that because of the Napoleonic blockade, chocolatiers were unable to obtain enough cacao from South America. What was available was extremely expensive. So they started to incorporate bits of roasted hazelnuts to make the chocolate more affordable. The first gianduioto, later called gianduja, was produced in 1865. Gianduja was originally made with cocoa powder although today, milk and dark chocolate are used.

GOURMANDISES

The French word for “sweets,” gourmandises (goor-mun-DEEZ) can include the non-chocolate items sold by a chocolatier (i.e., not bonbons, truffles or chocolate bars), such as chocolate-dipped fruit, dragèes, marshmallows, mendiants, nougatine, pâte de fruits and other items we might think of as gourmet candy.

GRAND CRU CHOCOLATE

Chocolate created with beans from a particular area or region, i.e., single origin chocolate. It can either be a blend (e.g. Criollo and Forastero) or a single variety of beans, as long as the beans come from the one origin. The origin can be closely defined geographically, e.g. the island of Trinidad, or more broadly, e.g. the Caribbean. The term was coined by Valrhona, which launched the first single origin bar in 1986, Guanaja 70%, a mix of Criollo and Trinitario beans, and defined the origin as South America. Their Jivara Lait milk bar is also from South American beans; their other Grand Cru bars come from Caribbean and Madagascan beans. What Cluizel calls 1er [Premier] Cru chocolate, from specific plantations, is called Estate Grown by Valrhona. To add to the confusion, in the wine industry, from which this terminology is taken, a Grand Cru wine is better-quality than a Premier Cru wine. But the reverse is true given these chocolate definitions: Cluizel’s 1er Cru chocolate, which is single estate, is of higher quality than Valrhona’s Grand Cru, which is only single origin. See also 1er Cru and Single Origin.

GRAIN

(1) The pattern of crystallization of a chocolate bar’s components (cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, sugar), which can be observed on a cross-sectional basis, when a bar is broken in two. (2) Another term for the cacao bean or seed.

GRINDING

After the beans leave the roaster, they go to the grinding room for the mechanical process of pulverizing the roasted cacao nibs into the chocolate liquor. The nibs, which are about 53% cocoa butter, pass through a millstone which extracts the fat (the cocoa butter) and separates the cocoa mass, or chocolate liquor.

GRIOTTE

(Gree-UT) French for Morello cherry.

HACIENDA

A plantation or estate where cacao is grown.

HARVEST

Cacao is harvested throughout the year; but the main growing seasons are November to January and May to July.

HAZELNUT PRALINÉ

See Gianduja.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF CHOCOLATE

Cacao has a high concentration of antioxidant-rich phytochemicals called flavanols, but once that cacao is converted into chocolate, it acquires a substantial amount of sugar and fat that are not exactly heart-healthy; plus, the amount of flavanols in the chocolate are diluted with the addition of sugar and milk. Although research indicates that cacao may improve blood flow and even reduce the formation of clots, 2,300 calories a pound is a high price to pay for prophylactic measures. Cocoa powder made with lowfat milk and a minimum of sweetener is the best way to consume cacao antioxidants. Choose a cocoa powder that has not been “Dutched”: Dutching destroys phytochemicals.

HOT CHOCOLATE

Hot chocolate, as first served by the Swiss, is different from hot cocoa. The latter is made with defatted cocoa powder; the former is made by pouring hot milk over shaved chocolate. Since chocolate contains cocoa butter, hot chocolate is a much richer beverage.

IER CRU

Actually 1er Cru, not ier Cru, an abbreviation for Premier Cru: 1er is French for 1st, or premier growth. The term, originally applied to the best vineyards in Bordeaux, has been adopted by growers of cacao and coffee beans to designate their finest-grown beans.

INFUSE

Infusion is a method of flavor extraction that incorporates flavors such as fruits and nuts into chocolate by steeping and removing. For example, orange zest is added to melted chocolate and then the chocolate is strained to remove the zest. The chocolate retains the orange flavor without actually possessing any of the orange itself.

INTERIOR

A term describing the insides or centers of confections that are enrobed with chocolate.

JAVA

A prime growing area for quality beans, often used in milk chocolate because they usually offer bold flavors that can withstand the dilution of the milk solids and the relatively low cocoa content. Javanese beans are usually characterized by a dark tone of leather and smoke, although lighter flavors are sometimes found, such as lemon and sweet spice.

KAKAWA

The word for cacao used by the Olmec civilization, the first cultivators of cacao and the earliest known name for the plant. The word survives in Mixe-Zoquan the language of the people native to what is now Honduras.

KASTANJES

Pronounced kas-TAN-ya, a molded, chestnut-shaped chocolate. It may or may not have a chestnut-flavored fillin; most often, it is filled with ganache. The preferred chestnut confection is marrons glacés, candied chestnuts.

LECITHIN

Lecithin can be extracted from egg yolks or soybeans (when it is called soya lecithin, and is generally the type of lecithin used by most chocolate makers). It is a natural product used as a thinner in chocolate. As an emulsifier, it helps maintain an emulsion (attachment) between the cocoa butter and the sugar. It also increases the chocolate’s fluidity (pliability) through the reduction of viscosity. (Cocoa butter is also added to for this purpose.) When no lecithin is added, the chocolate is dense and thick and tends to keep air inside the bar, which can create a rough surface texture including air bubbles. However, some of the finest chocolatiers, including Domori and Michel Cluizel, elect not to emulsify their chocolate, as they believe it interferes with nuances of taste in the cacao. Their chocolate is outstanding because of the overall care and quality of their production process.

LIMITED EDITION CHOCOLATE BAR

Some companies, such as Amano and Scharffen Berger, produce “Limited Edition” bars. This means that there aren’t enough beans to warehouse for future batches, and the small crop has an unusual flavor that can’t be guaranteed to be duplicated in next season’s crop—assuming the beans are available at all. Hence, only a limited number of bars that taste like this can ever be produced.

LIQUID CHOCOLATE

Not real chocolate but a product developed for baking convenience, made with vegetable oil rather than cocoa butter. It comes in individual one-ounce squeeze packages and requires no melting. However, it delivers neither the flavor nor the texture of regular chocolate.

MALTITOL

A natural sugar substitute that provides the most natural sweetness in sugar-free chocolate.  Made from malt extract, it is more expensive than other non-sugar sweeteners but used in the finer sugar-free chocolates.

MADAGASCAR

A growing region and cacao often associated with a vibrant and crisp citrus tartness. Grape and pineapple-like tones are common as well. Vodka and white wine notes sometimes accompanies these flavors. Although not as common, spice, cedar, and other woody tones are appearing in more Madagascan chocolate. It is a slightly lighter style, sharp on the palate but with no bitterness.

MANON A classic bonbon filled with buttercream and topped with a halved walnut. The couverture can be white, milk, or dark chocolate. Some chocolatiers put the walnut inside the bonbon. MARACAIBO A Criollo cacao grown near the banks of the Maracaibo River in the Sur del Lago region of Venezuela. Soft and gentle, very smooth consistency, fairly noncomplex, the cacao bears flavors of sweet spice, soft woods, and sometimes slight red fruit tones. In old times, Porcelana was called Maracaibo because it was shipped from the port of the same name.

Manon photo courtesy of Pierre Marcolini Chocolatier.

MARRONS GLACÉS

Pronounced mah-RAWN glah-SAY, candied chestnuts (also called glazed chestnuts or crystallized chestnuts). In an elaborate process, cooked chestnuts are are candied in a glucose syrup flavored with vanilla. The glucose creates a crystalline effect that sugar does not.

MARZIPAN A thick paste of finely ground almonds and melted sugar, often coated with chocolate; or formed into realistic fruits or figurines and painted with vegetable colors to be enjoyed plain. It was originally used to cover wedding cakes before a layer of fondant or icing and used in some European recipes as the only covering for the cake.
	“Bambi“ immortalized in almond paste. Available at Albert Uster Imports.

MEAT
Another word for the nib of the cacao bean.

MENDIANTS
Mendiants are disks of chocolate studded with nuts and dried fruits. Unlike chocolate bars that enrobe the nuts and fruits, mendiants are generally made so that the beauty of the different nuts and fruits are studded in the top to offer visual appeal as well as flavor. Mendiants are often made in large slabs and then broken into smaller pieces, like bark. The word mendiant means ”beggar” in French: One would gladly beg for a piece.

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE or CHOCOLATE MEXICANO

This term has two definitions: (1) a chocolate beverage similar to cocoa, or (2) a semi-soft cinnamon-scented sweet chocolate, also called Oaxaca Chocolate. The cacao beans are ground and mixed with cinnamon, sugar and almonds and then pressed into tablets or bars. Other varieties may include almonds, nutmeg and clove in a mixture of eggs and cocoa beans. The chocolate is used primarily in making hot beverages. The Ibarra brand is most commonly found, in the form of three-inch round tablets that are packaged in octagon-shaped, cylindrical, bright yellow and red cardboard boxes. To purchase Mexican chocolate, click here.

MILK CHOCOLATE

Along with white chocolate, the sweetest eating chocolate. Made of chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, some form of milk, sugar, and flavorings. Today, fresh, sweetened, condensed or powdered whole milk, depending on the individual manufacturer’s formula and manufacturing methods, is blended with the sugar and added to the chocolate liquor during the crumb or flake process. It is then dried on heated rollers to produce the flavor more typical of European chocolate or mixed with slightly acidified milk to produce the flavor preferred in the U.S. The milk often brings out cream, caramel or butterscotch flavors in the chocolate. All milk chocolate made in the United States must contain at least 10% chocolate liquor and 12% whole milk (usually in dried form). Bars of fine milk chocolate generally contain between 30% and 45% cacao. The most inexpensively made, commercial cacao can have as little as 5% cacao. Since the higher the cacao content, the more “snap” a bar has, milk chocolate has less snap than dark chocolate. Milk chocolate was first made successfully in 1879 after Daniel Peter*, a Swiss chocolate manufacturer, had the idea to substitute powdered milk for the whole milk or cream that had been unsuccessfully attempted previously. Powdered milk had been invented by his neighbor, Swiss chemist Henri Nestlé, in 1867, after eight years of experiments. So while the Spanish were responsible for bringing cacao to Europe from the New World and Englishman Joseph Fry created the first chocolate bar, the Swiss have full ownership of milk chocolate. Today, the trend among chocolate connoisseurs is toward dark milk chocolate.

*Peter was a candle maker who fell in love with and married the daughter of a chocolatier. He converted his candle factory into a chocolate plant—to great success. His original formula using powdered milk is still in use today. In 1879 Peter and Nestlé founded the Nestlé Company.

MOCHA

The flavor combination of chocolate and coffee.

MOLDED CHOCOLATE

Chocolate shaped in a mold, including classic treats like chocolate Easter bunnies, Easter eggs, and Santas. Tempered chocolate is poured into a mold, cooled, and unmolded. Molded chocolates can be solid or hollow. Chocolates that are not molded are enrobed. Chocolates that were both molded and filled first appeared in 1913. They were developed by Swiss confiseur Jules Séchaud of Montreux, who created the machine and the process.

MOLDING

Molding has two meanings: (1) In the chocolate-making process, after conching, the chocolate is tempered, poured into the molds, passed through the refrigerated tunnel and then unmolded. This creates the large blocks of couverture from which all chocolates are made, and can also create the producer’s individual chocolate bars. The chocolate bars are left to rest for a few days so their flavors will age and to insure stability. Then the chocolate is packaged. (2) In making molded chocolates, the tempered chocolate is poured into molds and the molds are turned so the chocolate creates a fine coat (the shell). The shells are subsequently filled with ganache, praline, whipped cream, or other filling; then closed with a layer of chocolate and cooled. The molds are tapped to remove the finished chocolates.

MOLINILLO

A wooden spindle for frothing chocolate drinks. While it may seem like an Aztec invention, this wooden frother was developed by the Spanish in the 16th century: The top twists between the hands in a back-and-forth motion to beat the chocolate drink and make it frothy. The Aztecs generated froth by pouring the drink from one vessel into another.
Photo courtesy of VosgesChocolate.com

MOLE

A spicy, unsweetened chocolate sauce. The classic Mexican dish mole poblano, composed of turkey in mole sauce, is said to have been invented by nuns in the convent of Puebla, outside of Mexico City.

MOUTHFEEL

The texture and other sensations of the chocolate in the mouth. In general, a good chocolate will be smooth and dissolve into liquid in the mouth.  A less good chocolate will be grainy, gritty, or waxy (the latter may indicate that cheaper vegetable fat has been substituted for the cocoa butter).

NACIONAL or ARRIBA NACIONAL CACAO

Nacional cacao is predominantly grown in Arriba Mocache, Los Rios, Ecuador, with some stock grown in Colombia. Overall, it is a cacao that shares the hearty flavor of Forastero and nuances of Criollo, and could be viewed as the best of both worlds. Some people consider it a Forastero, while others argue that genetically it’s a fourth subgroup of cacao altogether—it has the same fragility and high disease susceptibility as a Criollo. It regarded as a flavor cacao, though not quite as delicate or fine as Criollo. Typical Nacionals possess a delicate cacao flavor, accented by a perfumed floral scent and lovely floral tones including a dominant jasmine note and nutty after-tones. However, others can be quite hearty and bear flavors of coffee, vanilla, soft red fruits and spice. Unlike most Forasteros, which can be harsh and bitter, the bitterness level of these beans is practically nil—its flavor is smooth, which further adds to its unique character. In fact, it is a “sweeter” bean, and in higher percentage cacao products—75% and up—it produces a sweeter, smoother chocolate given the same amount of sugar as a different bean.

NAPOLITAIN or PALET or TASTING SQUARE A sample-size portion of bar chocolate, individually wrapped. The typical napolitain is a five to 10 gram square. Palets from Scharffen Berger.

NATURAL PROCESS COCOA or NATURAL COCOA POWDER or NON-ALKALIZED COCOA

Cocoa in its natural state, that is not dutched—i.e., cocoa processed without an alkaline treatment. Early chocolate was mostly consumed in a liquid form as a drink. Cocoa butter was originally removed from chocolate by boiling and skimming until the early 1800s, when Dutch chemist Coenrad van Houten developed a hydraulic press to remove the cocoa butter and produce cocoa. There were two problems with this early cocoa: it didn’t easily mix well with water and it had an acidic taste. So van Houten treated the powder with alkaline salts (potassium or sodium carbonate). The process became known as Dutch-processed cocoa. The process darkens the color and eliminates the acid notes. Natural cocoa powders are usually yellowish-brown in color and have a fruity flavor with an acidic backbone. Their sharper flavor may give certain recipes a slightly harsher taste, but generally it is not very noticeable. When added as an ingredient to various recipes, it will add a pale brown color to the food. Dutch cocoa powder, on the other hand, provides a richer flavor and a deeper brown coloring to the food or beverage. As recipes are prepared using one or the other, is generally best not to substitute natural process cocoa for Dutch unless baking powder or baking soda is added to the recipe. In a top quality cacao, it may not be necessary to Dutch the cacao to remove the acid; whereas in an average quality cacao, it is.

NIB, KERNEL or MEAT The interior meat of the cacao bean. The nib is retrieved after the beans are roasted and the husks are removed. The nibs themselves are more than 50% fat (cocoa butter): nibs from fine beans have 53% or more. While nibs are ground and conched to make chocolate, they are also roasted and sold as crunchy confections plain and chocolate covered; for use in desserts, for savory uses in salads and sauces, and as garnishes. A number of chocolatiers make bars with nibs.

Cacao Nibs

NOUGATINE or CROQUANT A confection made of hard crystallized/caramelized sugar to which ground almonds are typically added. Crushed nougatine pieces are used as filling in certain chocolates and chocolate bars. Nougatine photo courtesy Debauve et Gallais.

NUT

The cacao pod. Also called the cabosse.

OAXACA CHOCOLATE

A chocolate made in Oaxaca, Mexico. See Mexican Chocolate.

OCUMARE 61 and OCUMARE 67

Criollo and Trinitario hybridized blends originally from the Ocumare de la Costa valley of Venezuela. Ocumare 61 has a sharp punch. Flavors vary, but earthy spiciness, peaches, red fruits, and fresh dairy are common. Ocumare 67 is darker in tone, more robust and assertive, and lacks 61’s sharpness. Flavor notes include cashews, peanuts, spice, pepper, and sometimes dairy.

1ER CRU CHOCOLATE

See Premier Cru Chocolate.

ORGANIC

Organic refers to how foods and other products are produced. Organic production is based on a system of farming that maintains and replenishes the fertility of the soil and the health of plants, animals and people. Organic foods are produced without the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers and are processed without artificial ingredients, preservatives or irradiation. Organic chocolate contains a minimum of 95% naturally grown and certified raw materials. Organics produced in the United States are under the authority of the Organic Foods Production Act, and can apply for official certification.

ORIGIN CACAO or ORIGIN CHOCOLATE

See Single Origin Cacao.

From the Nibble