Chocolates --a lure to the sweet tooth

Just think of the Birthday-party and that too without chocolates? No. Never. They would never allow us to celebrate any occasion without chocolates.

Today the  chocolates play a heart -warming role in our daily lives. The soft brown substance packed in  shiny golden ,silver or purple wrappers is always a lure to the children as well as the grown-ups. If I am not wrong, you must have  heard of the fictitious Chocolate CreamSoldier who used to carry chocolates  in stead of explosives. Did you? Well, this soldier knew  that it would be hard to get food in the battlefield .So , he hatched a plan and put lots of chocolates inside his boxes meant for cartridges.. These chocolates had been his  friends indeed as they helped him in need to survive during the war.

However ,in this age of globalisation ,chocolates have created an age-old relation with human beings. They are  produced from the seeds of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree . This tree can be found in Mexico.  However ,you cannot eat them without processing. So, the people processed these seeds and used them for chocolate beverages. These people mostly belonged to central Mexico and Guatemala.

The process consists of different stages. First the beans  are fermented. Then they are dried. After drying ,they are cleaned and then roasted. The roasting makes the shells

loose and they are removed from the cacao seeds. Finally fat and sugar are mixed with nibs, the crashed cacao beans, and are put into the moulds.

Most of the youngsters ,  today , are chocoholics. It can be dark chocolate, it can be bitter -sweet chocolate  ,it can be milk chocolate or it can be white chocolate --- they would prefer anything.

Dark chocolate and semisweet chocolates are used in cooking too. Dark chocolate is used in decorating cakes which is known as icing and many other recipes are there in which various kinds of  chocolates are used as ingredients. Though authentic Indian cuisine has no room for chocolates, Western desserts are decked up ,most of the time, with chocolaty flavour.

Some  chocolates are rich in cocoa butter. Some are prepared with milk- powder. But  cocoa powder is unsweetened and compound chocolates are made of cocoa, peanuts , nuts or fruit caramel. The fabulous delicacy of chocolates can be a delight to all but it causes obesity and dental problems which should never be a welcome-note to the warriors of the present stressful world.