If the cocoa beans have been washed and dried, they are crushed, carefully sorted and then ground again step by step. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Finally, other important ingredients: sugar, cocoa butter and milk powder for the manufacture of milk chocolate are added, and the amounts of these ingredients must be strictly followed by a secret recipe that is highly secret.

The mixed raw material is ground in the rolls until each molecule in the mixture is less than 20 micrometers.

The next step is to carry out the traditional royal chocolate production process, which is a Swiss invention: the Conchieren process.

The dried mixture is placed in a container called a "Conche", stirred for several hours, and then rocked from side to side. These raw material mixtures melt at gradually increasing temperatures. The water vapor evaporates some of the unwanted flavors in the mixture, such as acetic acid.

All the particles in the mixture will be surrounded by oil, resulting in a chocolate with a smooth texture.

There is still no clear answer to why this particular "Conchieren" process, invented by the Bernese native Rudolf Lindt in 1789, can achieve such an ideal melting effect.

Every step of the process is scientific, intuitively tried or found by coincidence, and it has been passed down from generation to generation, to the wrestle of today's food experts.

Therefore, it is very difficult to systematically improve this chocolate production process with a simple trial.

In terms of material science, chocolate is a very complex combination: sugar, cocoa powder, cocoa butter, milk oil, egg white, emulsifier and a small amount of water. Cocoa butter, in particular, is a complex composition consisting of triglycerides, which crystallize at different melting points and in different forms.

The quality of chocolate is determined not only by its taste, but also by its structure and its melting condition, but only one crystalline form can achieve the desired effect.

This crystal, known as "Beta-V-Kristalle", is the most difficult to master in the chocolate manufacturing process, which produces the ideal breaking strength, long-term shelf-holding, the best melt taste and the best brightness.

In general, this necessary crystallization process is the result of proper cooling of all the mixed materials of the chocolate followed by heating.

To improve this process, Erich Windhab, a food engineer at ETH Zurich, and his research team have developed a new method based on other previous crystallization experiences.

A small fraction of the chocolate material is taken and injected with the ideal cocoa butter molecule "Beta-V-Kristalle", and this small part of the chocolate material acts as a model, and when it cools, it automatically forms the desired lattice structure, which is very similar to "Beta-V-Kristalle".

Windhab says that chocolate made with this new method not only has greater stability, but also has a shorter cooling process. As a result, the 50-metre-long cooling tunnel in the current chocolate factory can be shortened by a factor of more than 10.

This result is also very convincing for the conservative chocolate industry: 12 large chocolate manufacturers around the world have already introduced the "Seedmaster", a model for the crystallization of cocoa butter produced by the Swiss Bühler Group of Companies.

Food engineers also wanted to improve the microstructure of milk powder in milk chocolate.

Milk powder is porous and very absorbent, so it has an effect on the melting properties of chocolate in the mouth, so it should be replaced by another fibrous milk powder.

Although the results of the trials so far have been good, it will be some time before the improved chocolate is available.

In order to be able to judge at the final stage of production whether the finished chocolate meets the expected requirements, it needs to be evaluated by a senior person.

What matters: the mouthfeel of the chocolate, which is a sensory impression that the chocolate leaves on the tongue and palate, including firmness, meltingness and, of course, taste.

In order to avoid injecting too much personal subjectivity into the tasting process, the tasting work is usually carried out by several people.

Still, technical workers who have traditionally focused more on objective testing methods are not reassured. Many large chocolate factories have begun to carry out fine instrumental tests on chocolate, but the human palate is always more convincing than an "electric nose" to determine whether chocolate is delicious or not.

Swiss chocolate is losing much of the reputation it once held. Schwyz's Max Felchlin is ready to regain its former reputation.

The almost 100-year-old company has now extended its reputation to Asia: chefs and pastry chefs in four- and five-star hotels in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing are invited to the Condirama company training centre in Nietenbach, between Schwyz and Seewen.

According to statistics, Switzerland is the world's highest consumer of chocolate, with a record of 12.3 kg of chocolate per capita in 2001.

In 2002, more than 80 per cent of the chocolate consumed was milk chocolate, 10-12 per cent was dark chocolate and 3-4 per cent was white chocolate.

In 2002, more than half of the chocolate products produced in Switzerland were exported abroad, with a large proportion (23 per cent) going to Germany, followed by the United Kingdom (12 per cent), France (11 per cent) and the United States (6 per cent).

Switzerland is a small mountainous country with an area of only 410,000 square kilometres and many exotic plants.

However, the temperature is very different from that of the tropics, and the cocoa trees used to produce chocolate cannot grow in Switzerland.

Switzerland also never had a colony and had no direct ties to cocoa-producing areas such as Africa, South America, etc. But why is Switzerland the world's number one producer of chocolate and its global reputation?

The reason for this is because the Swiss have brought the process and method of making chocolate to the point of almost perfection. And all chocolate-making methods were invented in Switzerland. The Swiss have transformed chocolate from an expensive luxury item to a mass consumer product.

In 1819, François-Louis Cailler (1796-1852) established the first Swiss chocolate factory in Corsier, Vevey, French-speaking Switzerland.

The semi-automated manufacturing process makes chocolate an affordable product for the masses.

Previously, the price of 500 grams of chocolate was as high as 6 Swiss francs, which was equivalent to three days' wages for an average worker at the time.

In 1826, Philippe Suchard (1797-1884) established a chocolate factory in Serrières. All machines and plants are powered by hydraulics.

Each worker can produce 25-30 kg of chocolate per day. In 1880 Suchard established its first foreign branch in Lörrach, Germany.

Charles-Amédée Kohler (1790-1874) initially sold finished chocolates at his Colonial Products Company, and in 1830 he began to manufacture his own chocolate specialities.

Together with his sons, he built a factory in Lausanne and invented European hazelnut chocolate. Later, the respective factories were merged with Daniel Peter.

Daniel Peter (1836-1919), the son of a butcher, was the first Swiss to invent milk chocolate by mixing it with milk. Since then, the history of chocolate with bitterness has been changed, and chocolate products have a leap forward.

At the same time, he discovered that Henri Nestlé's latest invention of condensed milk was ideal for making milk chocolate products.

Henri Nestlé (1814-1890) was a very clever factory owner who invented milk powder for children and also invented the method of concentrating milk, which also made Daniel Peter's milk chocolate a reality.

In 1879 Rodolphe Lindt (1855-1909) founded his own chocolate factory on the banks of the Aer River under the Bern Cathedral. He invented a process called "Conchieren", in which cocoa butter was added to a harder chocolate puree, giving Swiss chocolate its noble, exquisite taste today.

When he came to the chocolate-making kingdom, Ye Chao had to taste it.

The Swiss have almost made chocolate a work of art.

Both the chocolate itself and the outer packaging are very delicate......