Where does the chocolate tree grow, in what economic areas are its fruits used? What beneficial substances are contained in cocoa beans, are there any contraindications for their use? Delicious recipes for home cooking. High doses of chocolate and products made from cocoa beans provoke calcium leaching, so you should not get carried away with them by pregnant women and introduce them to the menu for children under 3 years old.
Cocoa beans and foods containing them can be enjoyed in moderation during pregnancy and breastfeeding. However, it is best to seek advice from a doctor leading the pregnancy. There is another possible harm to cocoa beans - an increase in the tone of smooth muscles, which means the introduction of the uterus in tone. Keep in mind: 1 square of a standard dark chocolate bar contains up to 2 mg of caffeine.
Absolute contraindications for cocoa beans:
- Diabetes mellitus - blood sugar rises.
- Preparation for surgery is due to this action plus an increase in vascular tone, which means an acceleration of blood supply, which can provoke bleeding during surgery.
- Bowel disorders - increases the rate of metabolic processes, which has a laxative effect.
- If a person has frequent migraine attacks, vasospasm is possible.
- Gout and similar diseases associated with impaired uric acid metabolism.
It is not recommended to introduce products made with cocoa butter into the diet for those who suffer from obesity. The same people need to choose other recipes for the treatment of cough - even a short-term use of funds that include cocoa butter can cause an increase in weight by 1-2 unnecessary kilograms.
Cocoa Bean Recipes
In cooking, products made from cocoa beans are often used - chocolate and cocoa powder, but you can also make these derivatives of the seeds of the chocolate tree at home, or use cocoa nibs to give the dish an original taste.
In addition, there are such recipes for cocoa beans, according to which you can prepare healthy and tasty dishes:
- Cocoa bean seasoning … Raw grains of the chocolate tree should be roasted in the oven at 170 ° C for about 10-15 minutes, then cooled and dried thoroughly. Grinding is desirable on a coffee grinder, but if it is not there, then you can get by with a meat grinder. How to eat crushed cocoa beans? Grits can be added to any culinary creams, sprinkled with mousses and jellies. This will add a slightly bitter spicy flavor to the culinary masterpiece.
- Creamy Cocoa Bean Sauce … A tablespoon of 1-2 grade flour is fried in a pan; as soon as it turns golden, add a glass of 20% cream to it. Then put the sauce on the fire for 2 minutes to boil, adding half a tablespoon of ground cocoa beans and a little pepper and salt. You can wrap unmilled cocoa beans in cheesecloth and lower them during boiling, and then get them out.
- A simple homemade chocolate recipe … The ground chocolate tree seeds are fried in a pan or left in the microwave for 2 minutes at 600 watts to help the cocoa aroma unfold. Then the fried flour is mixed with cocoa butter, milk powder is added and placed in a water bath. Cook until the mixture is smooth. Stir constantly so that no lumps appear. The proportions of the composition are 2/2/1. Then the future homemade chocolate is poured into molds. First, they allow it to cool at room temperature, then put it in the refrigerator so that everything finally solidifies. Before hardening, you can add additional ingredients for taste: rum, nuts, powdered sugar.
- Complex homemade chocolate recipe … It is made from the following products: cocoa butter - 70 g, ground cocoa beans - 4 tablespoons, milk - 1 tablespoon, cane sugar - 1 teaspoon, vanilla - 1 pod. Cocoa butter is melted in a water bath, all the ingredients are added to it, stirring constantly, then baking paper is put into the molds and hot chocolate is poured. Cool in the refrigerator.
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe … It is necessary to immediately expect that the preparation of cookies is quick, but drying takes 10-12 hours. If you want to enjoy a delicacy in the morning, you should cook it in the evening. Required ingredients: chopped cocoa beans - 3-4 tablespoons, ripe bananas - 1, 5-2 pieces, chopped flaxseed - 1 tablespoon, coconut or sesame seeds for dusting. Bananas are kneaded or chopped in a blender, cocoa beans and flax seeds are added to them, and kneaded like a dough. Form small cakes with a wet tablespoon, roll in sesame or coconut flakes, leave to dry in a warm place. It is advisable to turn the finished product every 3 hours. Can be dried in the oven, over low heat, at a temperature of about 70-90 ° C. The fact that the cookie is ready can only be known by trying it. The confection should crunch pleasantly when consumed.
- Toning sports cocktail … The number of products is calculated for 4 servings. In advance, you should prepare chopped cocoa beans - 100 g, chopped pine nuts - 30 g, liquid cocoa butter - 30 g (this is about 2 tablespoons), honey - 2 tablespoons, banana, 3 cups of cold and 2 cups of warm water, almost hot, 75 ° C. Cold water, honey, cocoa powder, banana are mixed in a blender. Then add warm water. Beat until tender for at least 3 minutes.
If there are no cocoa beans, you can use cocoa powder to prepare all dishes. Just before using it, it is worth checking how high-quality the product is. When rubbing the powder in your fingers, the skin should feel greasy. No greasy residue - cocoa powder is not of high quality and is not suitable for cooking.
Interesting facts about cocoa beans
The seeds of the chocolate tree were used as a trading currency by the Maya Indians. All goods were evaluated in cocoa units: a slave cost 100 beans, the services of a priestess of love - 10, and poultry - chicken or turkey - 15-20 beans. As a bargaining chip, Indian tribes used cocoa beans until the end of the 18th century.
But the Europeans could not understand the value of the product for a long time. Columbus was not interested in cocoa beans, he took them for low-quality almonds. The following conquistador invaders even once burned a Spanish ship with cocoa beans, mistaking them for sheep dung.
By the beginning of the 17th century, Europeans already appreciated the chocolate drink, but the Catholic Church strongly opposed its use, putting it on the same level with heretical behavior.
Already in the 18th century, the chocolate tree began to be cultivated artificially - plantations appeared in Brazil, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ecuador, Malaysia and the Dominican Republic. Despite the fact that the homeland of Theobroma cacao is still America, 69% of all cocoa beans are grown in Africa, which turned out to be the most fertile climate for this crop.
The life span of the chocolate tree is about 200 years, but only relatively young shoots bear fruit - from 3 to 28 years of age. To grow 4 million tons of cocoa beans per year (this is how much is sold now on the world market), plantations need to be constantly replanted. To make 1 kg of cocoa powder, you need to use 40 fruits of the chocolate tree.
In order to reduce ESR and increase hemoglobin, it is enough to consume 50 g of dark chocolate with a cocoa content above 72% per day. To achieve the same results with orange juice, you would have to drink more than 15 glasses a day.
In most cases, refined cocoa beans are used in cooking, but their shell - cocoa shell (cocoa shell) - is also widely used in countries that grow plantations of chocolate trees. Crushed cocoaella - meal - is added to the soil as fertilizer and feed for farm animals. Meal is also used in pharmacology, it has a high content of the stimulant theobromine. Cardiac stimulants are made from the shell of cocoa beans.
At home, crushed chocolate tree seeds and cocoa powder can be used not only for food - the products are used for rubbing and wrapping in the fight against stretch marks, added to the mask to accelerate hair growth.
The wide popularity of cocoa is explained not only by its pleasant taste, but also by its regenerating, antioxidant, anticarcinogenic and immunomodulatory effects.
How to make chocolate from cocoa beans - watch the video:
If you observe the measure when using products containing cocoa, you can purchase it only from trusted manufacturers, you can enjoy the taste and use the healing effect regardless of your own diagnosis.
