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Chocolate
One of the most popular flavors and foods is undoubtedly chocolate. Who doesn't love some chocolate? When we think of chocolate, we often think about the sweet, milky, and smooth chocolate bars, the ones that come in colorful, shiny wrappers. But how and where can you get halal, vegan and vegetarian chocolate? Before we get into it, let's look into what chocolate is.
A Versatile Ingredient
Chocolate does not always have to be sweet and milky. It comes in so many varieties of flavors and textures! It is surprising how many people seem only to associate chocolate with overwhelming sweetness and have no idea how versatile chocolate can be. Original chocolate itself is the complete opposite of what most of us know it. It is bitter, hard, and has to be extracted from cocoa seeds. Then it goes through a pretty long process to be made into the sweet, smooth chocolate bars we know of.
Where Chocolate Comes From
Making chocolate starts with a small tropical tree called Theobroma Cocoa Tree. It is native to Central and South America but grown on large, commercial scales across the tropics. One cocoa tree can produce up to 2000 pods per year, and 70% of the world's cocoa trees are grown in Africa. The Olmec, an ancient Mesoamerican civilization, was the first to turn cocoa plants into chocolate 4000 years ago.
How Chocolate is Made
When a cocoa tree matures, ripe pods are harvested and broken to extract cocoa beans out of them. Cocoa beans have an extremely bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the desired chocolate flavor. They are then dried, cleaned up, and roasted depending on the flavor chocolate makers are looking for.
The shell is broken to extract cocoa nibs, which are then ground into cocoa mass, known as the rough form of chocolate. Chocolate makers will add various ingredients and make it into white
chocolate, milk chocolate (the popular form we all know and love), dark chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, cocoa powder, and Ruby chocolate.
Generally, chocolate is halal, but it is not vegan, especially if made with cow milk. You can find some vegan chocolate options, but they're usually quite expensive. Dark chocolate is confused with being vegan, but it can contain dairy. Cocoa powder and unrefined cocoa beans are vegan, though.
Types of Chocolate
The three main types of chocolate are white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate. These are the types of chocolate we can readily buy and consume from stores around us. However, it can be hard to find vegan options, and not all chocolate is certified halal. So, where can you get halal and vegan chocolate ready to eat?