Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1913-04-25
THE STORY OF CHOCOLATE

THE STORY OF CHOCOLATE
Fragrance and Flavor Are So Marked
They Cannot Be Initiated.
The three associated beverages.
cacao. tea and coffee. are known to
the French ~ aromatic drinks. Each
Of these has its characteristic aroma.
The fragrance and flavor are %
marked that they cannot be inflated
by any artificial products, although M.
merous attempts have been made In
regard to al three. Hence. the Dc.
lection Of a~dulteration 10 not . dim.
cult matter. Designing persons,
aware Of the extreme dinaculty Of imi.
tating these substances, have under.
taken to employ lower grades, and by
manipulation copy, al far % may be,
the higher sorts. Everyone knows
how readily tea and coffee, for that
matter, will take up odors and favors
from substances placed near them,
This is abundantly exemplided In the
country grocery or general store,
where the teas and coffees share In
the pervasive fragrance of the cheese
and kerosene. But perhaps It is not
SO widely understood that some Of
these very teas and coffees had been
artificially favored or corrected be.
fore they reached their destination In
this country.
Cacao lends itself very readily to
such preliminary treatment. In a flrst-
class article, the beans should be Of
the highest excellent; they should be
carefully grown on the plantation and
there prepared with great skill, ar.
irving In the factory in good condi'
ton. In the factory. they should sim.
ply receive the mechanical treatment
requisite to develop their high and at.
tractive natural flavor and fragrance.
They should be most carefully shelled
after roasting and finely ground with.
out concealed additions.
Now, as q matter Of fact, In the
preparation OF many Of the cacao
products on the market q wholly diff.
ferent course has been pursued. Beans
Of poor quality are used, because Of
their cheapness, and In some In.
stances they are only imperfectly, II
at all, shelled before grinding. Chem
ical treatment is relied on to correct
In part the odor and taste Of such
inferior goods, and artificial flavors,
other than the time-honored natural
vanilla and the like. are added freely.
The detection Of such imposition ID
easy enough to the expert, but 10 dit.
ficult to the novice: therefore the pub,
lie 10 largely unable to discriminate
between the good and the inferior, and
It IL perforce compelled to depend ri.
most entirely on the character and rep.
utatiOn OF the manufacturer.
Pure cacao products are character
lied by extreme delicacy Of favor.
But they possess another feature OF
attractiveness,-a beautiful rich red.
brown color which Ii 30 truly charac'
teristic, that its name, Chocolate.
has passed into many languages %
denoting. this charming shade. When
the ace product IL pure, this shade
10 not q very dark brown, It incline1
rather to q dark red. When the color
Of q cacao-product ID 10 dark ~ To
appear almost black It ID Z sure sign
that 1t has been tempered with In the
process Of manufacture or else that
the original cacao-seed was Of pool
quality. The uninformed person nat
urally thinks that the deeper shade
means strength. This It never means
The black color simply shows that the
manufacturer has seen At to employ
harmful alkaline additions ct some
stage OF the process, or perhaps hal
preferred to color his goods artificial