Wait is worth it for chocolate

Students in Rachel Boehm's fourth-grade class at Hawthorn Elementary North in Vernon Hills asked, “How do they use cacao pods to make chocolate, and how do you become a chocolatier?

Good things come to those who wait, like chocolate candy, chocolate cake, chocolate bars and hot chocolate.

From tree to table, the process of making chocolate can take months, but such tasty results are definitely worth all the steps involved to create the delicious treat.

Grown in tropical regions, cacao pods branch straight out of the trunk of the cacao tree. Cacao pods must be gently sliced by hand from the tree trunk. Workers slash the pods with machetes to release the beans inside.

That cocoa-chocolate flavor develops only when the beans are fermented. Beans are placed in containers, layered with banana leaves and left to ferment for up to nine days. The fermented beans are dried and shipped to chocolate factories in huge 300-pound bags.

Factory processes make the chocolate into a smooth, sweet paste. Sugar and milk can be added to enhance taste. The resulting mixtures can be made into chocolate or sent to specialty chocolate makers, who add their own magic to create scrumptious treats.

Chocolatiers are chefs who specialize in making chocolates.

“There are many paths you can take to become a chocolatier, said Julie Raio, chocolatier at Anna Shea Chocolates & Lounge in South Barrington.

“There is culinary school, which is a school that specializes in food preparation. There are pastry courses that are also offered at all types of schools.

Some schools teach chocolate making exclusively, such as Ecole Chocolat in Canada. Other schools, such as the Culinary Institute of America, offer degrees in baking and pastry arts, with coursework in chocolates and confection making.

“Some chocolatiers start out by working in a chocolate store or chocolate factory and learn on the job, Raio added. “Whichever path you take, there are certain qualities that you must have. Working with chocolate and creating designs and flavors takes a lot of patience, creativity, repetition and, most of all, hard work. Anyone who is interested in becoming a chocolatier must have a passion for chocolate not just eating it even though that's good, too.

Anna Shea Chocolates & Lounge offers adult classes in chocolate making, such as truffle making and tempering chocolate. For details, call (847) 428-5446 or visit annasheachocolates.com.