Following up on last week’s introduction to chocolate, this week I wanted to go a little into the industrious way in which chocolate arrives at the corner shop, lovingly wrapped in foil and a little straight jacket.

Cocoa beans like many other rich, sensual beans (coffee beans and vanilla beans, for instance) only grow within 10 degrees north and south of the Equator but one good thing about this tropical climate is that you can harvest two crops each year. When the cocoa bean pods are harvested, the pods are split open, the beans are removed and then allowed to ferment for between five and 10 days for the cocoa flavour to develop. Next, the beans are dried, put into sacks and shipped all around the globe for processing.

The beans are first blended using different varieties of cocoa bean and then roasted. This, as with coffee, is the most important stage of the process. They are then finely crushed and the thin shell discarded. This is pressed with a huge multi-ton hydraulic press and the two components separate. The cocoa butter runs through screens and the leftover solids are pulverised and sifted into cocoa solids (cocoa powder if you like).

The basic fundamentals of the three main varieties of chocolate are: dark chocolate (cocoa butter, cocoa solids and a small amount of sugar), milk chocolate (cocoa solids, cocoa butter, milk solids and sugar) and lastly, white chocolate (only cocoa butter, milk solids and sugar).

Some chocolate snobs will say that white chocolate shouldn’t even be classified as chocolate as it contains no chocolate mass, but it still seems to be every little kid’s favourite.

Whatever the chocolate you buy, it has gone through a process known as conching. This is a flavour-developing process in which heated heavy rollers plough through the chocolate back and forth, for a few hours or a few days depending on how fine the quality of the finished product will be.

Expensive, premium chocolate are conched longer than cheaper varieties. Hence, the expense on heat and electricity. This kind of chocolate has very intense and pronounced smell and flavour and is totally smooth to taste.

Next, it is moved on to the tempering process. This is when the chocolate is heated, cooled and re-heated to specific temperatures, and this is what gives the chocolate its shine and snap when you break a piece off. This helps to stabilise the chocolate by manipulating certain crystals (don’t ask me about the science, but I suppose it’s the same as when you temper metal, raising and lowering the temperature to strengthen its structure).

After all that, the chocolate goes through the final process. It is moulded, packaged and boxed and sent off all round the world for us all to enjoy.

Chocolate is looked upon as being a very difficult item to match with wine and it is only matched with very sweet, sticky dessert wines or aged ports because of its richness. The idea is that no other wine can stand out in a marriage and the chocolate takes away all the glory from the wine.

If you have never tried a good dessert wine, now is the time you should. Nothing can match the smooth, rich silkiness as it trickles down your throat.

Next week, I’m going to talk about all that makes chocolate fantastic, and something that everyone should consume on a daily basis. Below is a recipe for a very simple but delicious chocolate mousse.

The great chocolate mousse

Melt 450 g of dark chocolate either on a low heat or in a microwave and set aside to cool slightly. Next, whip around 350 ml of cream and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to fold the whole thing together. In a clean mixing bowl (wipe it with a piece of kitchen paper with a little vinegar or lemon juice to make sure it is free of any grease residue) place three egg whites and two tbs of castor sugar. Whip the whole thing until light and fluffy.

Lastly, fold the egg whites into the chocolate, slowly as you go, and then fold in the cream. Pour into glasses and leave to set in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Serve them with an extra drizzle of cream and some cookies or wafers for dunking.