Angel: Like water for Chocolate

Alebrije (ali-bre-haze) - hand carved and hand painted wooden animals created by artisans in small towns outside the city of Oaxaca, Mexico.

The winter has just faded away, I have to mention that I am a little bit sad to say goodbye to delightful coffee-&-chocolate afternoons, and say hello to lemon sorbet times, laid down on the Royal Foyer fields. However, I’m not going to lie, saying such a delicious ritual has gone, nope, not at all, but winter weather is one of the reaction conditions needed to finish off long lab days, full of creativity and motivation. Bringing up to the surface this memorable experience: Have you ever thought which is the best cocoa butter crystalline polymorph for either preparing double chocolate cookies or creamy bar chocolates?

The diverse polymorphs are formed under different crystallization conditions. The thermodynamically most stable form, VI, has a dull surface and soft texture; only form V shows the hardness and glossy surface appreciated by the consumer.

Gourmets only accept chocolate in its crystal form V, as it is this form that has the noble surface sheen, crisp hardness and the pleasant melting sensation in the mouth.

I am sure, if someone comes up with such a weird question, I would give a what-face in answer, and then, transform it into an OMG face due to the fact, cocoa butter can crystallize into six polymorphic forms! Now, are you intrigued? The click on the following links to find the secrets behind the chocolate experience:

• Chocolate - The Noblest Polymorphism: part I, II and III
• A reason to eat chocolate

Finally, If you ask where to find the best chocolate in Mexico, unfortunately, I don’t know many options due to our chocolate tradition vanishing, mainly because of big corporations and the bad economy. Nevertheless, according with my experience, I can recommend visit the city of Oxaca which offers a great sensory experience. Yep! If you have been there once, then now your nose is being mesmerized by the smell of sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and toasted nuts - What a wonderful place is the city market of Oaxaca!

Also later, in the Mayan and Aztec cultures, cocoa, here called xocoatl, played an important role, although it was only available to the rich and privileged. Cocoa was preferably consumed in frothed up form and was prepared in various ways. In addition to corn meal, flowers and diverse spices, particularly chili powder and vanilla, were added.