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The First Chocolate Bars Appeared in the Late 19th Century
By Joanne Fletcher

Who hasn't tried and fallen in love with a chocolate bar? The answer would surely be none. This packaged food that may have multiple layers of nuts, fruits, grains as well as coconut, marshmallow, caramel, and much more, has given much pleasure to many and will continue to do so in the future.

The chocolate bar came about in the beginning of the 19th century, and during the early 20th century, it became a commercial venture that has grown ever since and never looked back. There are still many chocolate bars being sold today that are unchanged in form and content since those early days. Up until just after World War II, one could purchase one for a nickel.

Thousands of Different Varieties

There are thousands of chocolate bar varieties being manufactured today, but there are a few big manufacturers that have got a stranglehold on its production, very often gobbling up smaller companies and reproducing their popular products. One can easily purchase a chocolate bar from a vending machine, and now some of them have been supplemented with nutritional content that contain protein as well as many vitamins while still keeping their sweet taste unchanged.

The Hershey's chocolate bar has made people happy for years, and is available in numerous flavors. It all began with the Hershey's milk chocolate bar, with Milton S. Hershey developing a recipe in 1900 that has since become a classic. The making of the chocolate bar today would entail selecting one of the twelve suitable beans, and roasting them according to the type of bean. This would be followed by winnowing, grinding, conching, tempering and molding and packaging.

It may also be surprising to learn that many companies engaged in manufacturing chocolate bars, may be using the same recipe to make the chocolate. They only differ in the cacao that may come from different plant varieties, as well as from different parts of the world. A company such as Nestle has three bars that come from three different countries. Chocolate manufacturing companies may also be making chocolate bars in one country and packaging them in another.

Some of the necessary ingredients that go into a chocolate bar include cacao paste, cocoa butter, and sugar, as well as optional ingredients such as vanilla, and lecithin. Most bars are wrapped in foil that may often leave a metallic taste in the mouth, while plain paper is prone to go bad easily; waxed paper may be more preferable. Thus, it is important to find the right bar for you, and you will certainly know by the taste.

Author Details:
Joanne Fletcher for various sites including the A-Z of and Information Junkie

Source: Simply Top Article Directory

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