The Star Online: Metro: Central

Posted: 23 Jun 2011 04:18 AM PDT

YOU have been eating chocolate as a kid since the first celebration that you can remember. This exquisite favourite later transforms into more flirtatious forms that are admirable gifts during Valentine's Day.

Your relationship with this mystical lover continues through ice cream, muffins, brownies, and always with new, heart-pounding possibilities.

It is surely not too late for you to get to know chocolates and why it is irresistible. Chef Anil Rohira who has been working with chocolates understands it the way a winemaker knows wine. He answers questions on everything about chocolates.

Q: What is chocolate?

A: Chocolate is made from the cacao bean. Cocoa cultivation requires a tropical kind of climate like that of Malaysia. The making of edible chocolate from this bean takes weeks if not months. Sugar, vanilla and lecithin are the other essential ingredients. For milk and white chocolates, milk is added in the dehydrated form.

Q: That seems simple. So what does the percentage number mean in a 70% dark chocolate?

A: That's the total percentage in weight that comes from the cocoa bean for that chocolate. The inverse percentage will represent the other ingredients that are not from the cocoa plant, like sugar, vanilla and lecithin. This percentage being indicative of bitterness in the chocolate is a misconception. A good chocolate is not bitter but ripe with flavours representing its origin.

Q: Is there such a thing as a bad chocolate?

A: It is a bad chocolate if you refuse to eat it again. In all seriousness, chocolates share many parallels in other natural foods like cheese and wine. When made with respect, chocolate is magical, but there are many ways a chocolate can be ordinary, especially when care is not taken at the plantation or during the manufacturing process. Every step is important and affects the quality of the chocolate. It is these processes that separate a premium chocolate from an ordinary one.

Q: Give me an example.

A: One of the easiest ways to make cheap chocolate is to use hydrogenated vegetable oil to replace cocoa butter in a chocolate. This causes the chocolate to not melt in your mouth naturally while leaving an oily, lumpy feeling in your mouth and throat. Most "cooking chocolates" are made through this method. On the other hand, chocolates that are made with cocoa butter are called couvertures.

Over-roasting the beans to obtain a dark colour and bitter flavour is destroying the natural flavours of the bean origin.

By doing this, one takes away the natural fruity notes and acidic flavours that develop during the fermentation process.

If a chocolate does not demonstrate some of these flavours, they have been mishandled at some stage.

Q: I have noticed the ingredient "cocoa mass" appear on chocolate labels. What is it?

A: That's the combination of ground cocoa solids and natural cocoa butter. The basic ingredient of chocolate that we talked about earlier that is denoted by the percentage number.

Q: How do I pick the best chocolate for a chocolate cake, for example?

A: If your recipe calls for chocolate, then insists on couvertures. If you need cocoa powder, then use one with a high cocoa butter content of 22% to 24% from a supplier that is quality conscious. It will make a world of difference. There is a careful thought process that a chef goes through when picking a chocolate that involves the specific chocolate taste profile, the accompanying flavours and the desired outcome. I will discuss this more when we meet later this month.

Q: What's the best way to enjoy chocolates?

A: The best way to taste dark chocolate is in the melted state while milk and white chocolates are best tasted in the solid state. Melting dark chocolate when tasting gives you a better sense of the acidic components. When tasting, try to prolong the experience in the mouth rather than swallowing the chocolate upon consumption. In case of the milk and white, it is good to experience the melting of the milk fats and cocoa butter together so it is fine in the solid form.

Q: Why do my chocolates have white spots on it? Is it still edible?

A: White spots can be caused by one of three or a combination of factors. Fat blooms are usually due to improper storage temperature, sugar blooms are caused by condensation or humidity issues, and other whitish textures can be due to improper or lack of tempering. These are important indicators that a chocolate has changed and is not in the best eating condition.

For more and how to buy chocolates, go to kuali.com

For chocophiles

CHEF Anil Rohira's passion for chocolate is rooted in his expert knowledge and manufacturing know-how from working with a world-renowned chocolate producer, Max Felchlin of Switzerland.

He will be conducting a chocolate appreciation session that will be followed by a chocolate pairing dinner at Berjaya Times Square on Saturday. Menu formulation credits of Chef Jochen Kern. The session is priced at RM288. Door gifts include a four-piece praline box.

Kuali readers will get an autographed chocolate recipe booklet and a photo session with Chef Anil when they register for chocolate appreciation dinner. Just mention Kuali when you register. For details, call 03-6272 1155 ext 124.

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Drain serves no purpose

Posted: 23 Jun 2011 04:16 AM PDT

DRAINS built in the opposite direction have road users who frequent the 2km downhill route from SMK Puteri to Taman Bukit Galena in Seremban puzzled.

Bukit Kepayang assemblyman Cha Kee Chin said the drains which were built last month as part of a road upgrading project along the route did not serve its purpose.

"On rainy days, water gushes downhill.The drains are meant to be an outlet for the water, but it seems to defeat its purpose as over 20 water outlets are built in the opposite direction on both sides of the road," he said during a visit to the site recently.

He expressed hope that the Seremban Municipal Council (MPS) which awarded the project to a contractor would look into the matter and make the necessary amendments.

"I don't know the technical aspects but I wonder if there is a purpose for the drains to be built at an odd angle. It is not easy for water to flow in.

"The contractor tasked with the project has to bear all costs if there is an error in the construction of the water outlets," he said.

The project which began in April is scheduled for completion in early October and the construction of drains and road resurfacing work along the route are on-going.

MPS president Datuk Abd Halim Abd Latif said a team from the council's engineering department would check on the claims.

"We are supervising the job," he said.

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Khamis, 23 Jun 2011