If you want to start war, tell a Frenchman that you think Belgian chocolates are superior, or vice versa. In no time at all, you will have an international incident at your hands.

There are other countries that make chocolate seriously that is. Italy, Holland, Switzerland, UK and USA, all have niche players, but for the world’s finest chocolate, chances are that it’s a neck and neck contest between Belgium and France.

But does chocolate have to be made in Europe alone to be considered in the race to be excellent? Not literally, but making chocolate, as opposed to growing the cacao bean does require a temperature of about 18 degrees Celsius. Warmer than that and chocolate loses its snap the liquid crunch of a good chocolate. Much warmer and chocolate loses its gloss and begins to melt.

What exactly makes a chocolate fine? Several things. The species of cacao is vital: criollo is the finest of the three types of trees the hybrid trinitario next ad forastero the least desirable. The other point to consider is the percentage of cocoa used in a particular chocolate. Less than 60 percent is not considered to be serious; over 85 percent and you’re treading on delicate ground. Unless you know what you’re doing, as it taste far intense for first timers.

Finally, nature endowed each cacao-growing district with a secret chocolate whose beans originate in San Tome will have top notes of mixed spices especially cinnamon, whereas other parts of the world have undertones of coconut, citrus and even red fruits.

A Brief History of Chocolate

It is one of the most ancient foods, chocolate. The Aztec king Motecuhzoma is said to have drunk 60 jars of stuff daily. Anthropologists say chocolates go back a long way even beyond the Mayan civilization times. Chocolate’s etymology xocoatl is from the Nahautl word xocol (bitter) and atl (water) and was a super drink of the Aztecs, made by crushing cacao beans with water.

Cacao was so dear that is was used as currency in Mayan times. The earliest record of chocolate as a drink comes from dregs found in a 2,700 year old Mayan pot.

Western Africa ponies up nearly two-thirds of the world’s cocoa with about half coming from the Ivory Coast. There are three kinds of chocolate beans with Criollo being the priciest, followed by Forastero and Trinitario being the least.

Chocolate liqueur, processed from these, are blended with butter to create covertures. Plain dark chocolate is a medley of sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa liqueur with vanilla being optional.

Adding milk, milk powder and vanilla essence gives you milk chocolate. White chocolate is from sugar, cocoa butter, milk or milk powder and vanilla. More than 500 components are found in chocolate, twice more than in strawberry and vanilla. Willie Wonka would’ve found more in Loompaland.

How to Use Chocolate

Part of the lure of eating chocolate in optimum surroundings is the gloss it has, and the snap that it makes when you bite into it. Connoisseurs can tell good chocolate from the other kind solely by virtue of its snap the more brittle the better. Conversely, chocolate that has lost its gloss is a thing of the past. When it is ready to be thrown out, it gets a fuzzy coat of what is called bloom.  You are unlikely too see the bloom in the best chocolateries of the western world, but it is not inconceivable in tropical countries where maintaining an even temperature is a challenge.

Bon-bon versus bars: which to buy? Serious chocolate eaters go for the bars, eschewing all else, but of course there is a matter of personal preference. Belgians prefer filled chocolates to them marzipans and hazelnuts do not seem to detract from chocolate. The French, however, like their chocolate unadulterated.