Chocolate is a typically sweet preparation, usually brown, from Theobroma cacao seeds, roasted and ground. It is made in the form of liquid, paste or block, or is used as a flavoring ingredient in other foods. Cocoa has been cultivated by many cultures for at least three millennia in Mesoamerica. The earliest evidence of the use of traces in the Mokaya (Mexico and Guatemala), with evidence of chocolate drinks dating from 1900 BC. The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavor.
After fermentation, the beans are dried, cleaned and roasted. The peel is removed to produce cocoa seeds, which are then ground to the cocoa mass, unadulterated chocolate in rough form. Once the cocoa mass is liquefied by heating, it is called chocolate liquor. The liquor can also be cooled and processed into its two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Chocolate for baking, also called bitter chocolate, contains cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions, with no added sugars. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, a combination of cocoa solids, cocoa butter or added vegetable oils and sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that also contains milk powder or condensed milk. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar and milk, but not cocoa solids.