The quick answer is from my local distributor, and he gets it from Belgium, but how did it get to Belgium and why is it considered the best chocolate in the world?
The chocolate that I used today to make your candy came from a long line of cacao seeds that became trees in the Amazon Rain Forests more than 40 centuries ago. These trees were most probably discovered by the Incas who then traded the seeds to the Olmecs.
About 30 centuries ago the Olmecs planted the seeds and began enjoying the fruits of their labor - cacao seeds. The Olmecs were a trading society that traveled quite extensively throughout the region and they introduced the cacao seeds, among other seeds, to the Aztecs.
The Aztecs started mixing ground up cacao with various spices and vanilla to make a chocolate drink. When the Spanish Conquistadors were exploring modern-day Central America they noticed the nobility drinking this chocolate drink. They acquired the seeds and brought them back to Spain. Unfortunately, for the Spanish, the cacao trees can only grow in the equatorial regions so they needed to plant the cacao seeds in their colonies in the West Indies and the Philippines. The Spanish being a trading society passed on their new commodity to other European countries over the next two hundred years. One country that got these cacao seeds was Belgium.
Belgium colonized an area of Africa, in the late 1800's, that had both the weather conditions and the soil to plant the cacao seeds. The Belgians took over the land (and the cacao trees) in The Congo and started importing the cacao seeds to chocolate makers in Belgium. These cacao seeds were mixed with various items by the fine chocolate craftsmen to create the best chocolate in the world. Some of the ingredients that the chocolatiers used were various nuts, thus inventing the praline. Therefore, technically, unless pralines are made from Belgian chocolate they really are not pralines.
The Belgian chocolatiers shared their recipes with foreign chocolatiers but the Belgians apparently did not share their techniques because over the last century Belgian chocolate is still the industry standard for the finest quality chocolate available. Belgian chocolates place in History was solidified in 1912 when the Belgian chocolatiers Jean Neuhaus created what is called couverture (the term translates from the French as roughly meaning "coating"). This creation made it possible to make chocolates with fillings. Today the European Union regulates the amount of cacao (at least 35%) and fat (at least 31%) in the finished chocolate.
A. Conway
Owner/Chocolatier
The Nut Shop
http://www.thewoodburynutshop.com/
We offer the finest hand-made chocolates available.
We're nuts about chocolate!
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