{"id":14139,"date":"2022-03-23T16:44:05","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T15:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vinhood.com\/uncategorized\/il-cioccolato-un-tripudio-di-scioglievolezza-ed-emozioni\/"},"modified":"2023-04-28T15:03:01","modified_gmt":"2023-04-28T13:03:01","slug":"il-cioccolato-un-tripudio-di-scioglievolezza-ed-emozioni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vinhood.com\/en\/magazine-en\/il-cioccolato-un-tripudio-di-scioglievolezza-ed-emozioni\/","title":{"rendered":"Chocolate: a triumph of emotions that melts in your mouth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chocolate<\/b>: faithful everyday ally, versatile friend in the kitchen, and an enveloping sensory experience. We find <\/span>dozens of kinds<\/b> on the supermarket shelves and sometimes even in our pantries: with different percentages of cocoa, crunchy, with a creamy center, with nuts, with spices, and so on! Nevertheless, one of the characteristics for which chocolate is particularly famous is its <\/span>ability to melt in your mouth<\/b>, leaving behind a pleasantly enveloping sensation.<\/span><\/p>\n

A famous brand has even turned this characteristic into its forte! <\/span>Together let\u2019s discover what gives chocolate this characteristic!<\/span><\/p>\n

WHY DOES CHOCOLATE MELT SO WELL IN THE MOUTH?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Chocolate is made from the seeds that are found in the fruit of cocoa beans. These seeds undergo a process of partial fermentation, drying, roasting, and grinding. Once this first phase is over, the ground product that\u2019s obtained is pressed in order to extract the fats which it contains. It\u2019s these fats that <\/span>give chocolate its final melty quality<\/b> and the method with which it\u2019s processed modulates its characteristics.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the contrary to animal fats, like those in butter or bacon, which melt at very different temperatures from one another, the <\/span>melting temperature <\/b>of <\/span>cocoa butter <\/b>is between <\/span>32\u00b0C and 36\u00b0C, just slightly lower than our body temperature.<\/b> This characteristic is due to the presence of three primary triglycerides whose building blocks are mainly saturated fats with a higher melting point than unsaturated fats.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second characteristic which makes chocolate more or less <\/span>melty<\/span><\/i> is the overall <\/span>size<\/b> of the <\/span>particles<\/b> of which it\u2019s made up. Dark chocolate is made up of cocoa powder, cocoa butter, sugar, and sometimes certain emulsifiers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The smaller the particles of these ingredients, the less friction they create in our mouth and the more the chocolate is perceived as velvety, creamy, and melty!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"cioccolato<\/p>\n

Swiss chocolate<\/b>, which has very fine particles, is obtained through a unique technology invented by Rodolphe Lindt in 1897.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Lindt<\/b> developed a pressing method (<\/span>conching<\/span><\/i>) that was capable of obtaining a well-blended and homogeneous \u201cmixture\u201d of powder and cocoa butter. It\u2019s thanks to this pressing method that Swiss chocolate is so smooth and creamy!<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the fact that, for some of us, Swiss chocolate has our <\/span>taste buds singing hallelujah<\/b>, different traditions and preferences exist for this product as well. For example, Mexicans prefer a chocolate with a coarser structure. Here cocoa powder and sugar are coarsely ground and the final texture of the product is more grainy. The same characteristics are found in the chocolate of Modica, an obligatory stop for anyone who visits Sicily. Belgium, on the other hand, is known for its praline chocolates, or those filled with different flavors. <\/span>In short, whether because of its melty quality or any of its other taste or texture characteristics, chocolate is considered a <\/span>comfort food<\/b> par excellence and it\u2019s rare to find a friend or family member who doesn\u2019t have some in their home.<\/span><\/p>\n

But how would you feel if we told you that our emotions guide our choice of chocolate?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A research project at the <\/span>University of Turin<\/b> tried to study how emotions lead people to consume one kind of chocolate rather than another. To do so, they interviewed a sample of people living in Piedmont and Sicily.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re from one of these regions, then you have even more reason to keep reading!<\/span><\/p>\n

WHAT CHOCOLATE DO ITALIANS PREFER?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Two quick pieces of data before revealing the preferences of the Italians who were interviewed. 390 people between the ages of 19 and 63 years old were involved in this study, 284 of which were women (Piedmont = 141 and Sicily = 143) and 109 of which were men (Piedmont = 54 and Sicily = 55).<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on the information that was gathered, the <\/span>preferred categories of chocolate<\/b> regardless of the region of origin were <\/span>dark chocolate<\/b> (cocoa at least 43% and cocoa butter 28%), <\/span>extra dark<\/b> chocolate<\/b> (cocoa greater than 45%), and <\/span>milk chocolate <\/b>(cocoa not inferior to 25%). If we analyze the difference between the samples from Piedmont and Sicily more closely, we see that in Piedmont there is a clear preference for <\/span>gianduia<\/b>, for chocolate <\/span>with nuts<\/b>, and for <\/span>flavored<\/b> chocolate. The absolute favorite consumption format for this group is <\/span>ice cream<\/b>. In Sicily, on the other hand, women seem to prefer <\/span>chocolate with hazelnuts and cereals<\/b> and use it in both a <\/span>spreadable<\/b> format and in <\/span>recipes<\/b>. Finally, men indicated that their favorite is <\/span>milk chocolate<\/b>, better yet if it\u2019s the filling for a soft <\/span>croissant<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"pane<\/p>\n

A CHOCOLATE FOR EVERY EMOTION<\/b><\/h2>\n

What emotions push us to consume chocolate? Which chocolate specifically? And how do we feel afterwards?<\/span><\/p>\n

The UniTo research team tried to answer these questions, seeking to understand if there\u2019s a <\/span>correlation <\/b>between certain <\/span>emotional states <\/b>and <\/span>the type of chocolate that\u2019s consumed<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

They made the following discoveries:<\/span><\/p>\n