ColaCao
Lo he "tomao" en cantidades industriales, y lo recuerdo con cariño, en recuerdos de antaño. Aun asi, no deja de sorprenderme que los colacaos hayan "llegao" donde han "llegao", siendo el cacao en polvo un producto tan corriente, tan de casa, y de tan facil preparacion. El cacao se disuelve muy mal, es cierto, pero el colacao no se disuelve mejor, y eso que lleva poco cacao. A lo que vamos, prepararse un colacao casero del bueno no podria ser mas facil: una cucharadita (o al gusto) de cacao en polvo natural, azucar al gusto (en mi caso, 0), leche fresca (entera) fria, y a revolver con ganas para que se formen muchas burbujas. Como se disuelve bastante mal, echar mas o menos la misma cantidad de leche que de cacao al principio y revolver hasta que se disuelva completamente, luego echar el resto de la leche. Y cuanto mejores los ingredientes, claro esta, mejor sera el colacao; asi de sencillo. Yo uso un vaso de plastico con tapa para poder agitarlo. Y si eras mas de Nesquik --a mi no me hacia demasiada ilusion--, pues cacao alcalinizado, un poquito de canela, y andando!
El cacao en polvo le hay de dos clases: natural y alcalinizado. El alcalinizado es mas bien oscuro y tiene un sabor claramente diferenciado, que a mi particularmente no me gusta.
Esto es lo que se dice en On food and Cooking (Harold McGee) al respecto:
The application of an alkaline material to the beans either before or after roasting has a strong influence on their general chemical composition. In addition to adding distinctly alkaline taste (like that of baking soda), alkaline treatment reduces the levels of roasty, caramel-like molecules (pyrazines, thiazoles, pyrones, furaneol) and of astringent, bitter phenolics, which now bond to each other to form flavorless dark pigments. The result is a cocoa powder with a milder flavor and darker color.
Y en The Science of Chocolate (Stephen T Beckett):
3.4.1 Alkalising (Dutching) Most of the cocoa liquor that is used to produce cocoa powder is alkalised, whereas very little liquor that is used to make chocolate is treated in this way. The alkalising process was developed in The Netherlands in the nineteenth century, which is why it is also known as the Dutching process. The reason for doing this was to make the powder less likely to agglomerate or sink to the bottom when it was added to milk or a water-based drink. The actual ability of the alkali to do this is not entirely certain, but it does affect both the colour and the flavour. A solution of alkali, typically potassium carbonate, is normally added to the cocoa nib before roasting, although the cocoa liquor itself, or even the powder, can also be treated. Care must be taken not to add too much alkali. This is because the cocoa butter molecule is composed of three acids attached to a glycerol backbone (Chapter 6). These acids may react with the alkali to produce soapy flavours. To overcome this, small amounts of ethanoic acid or tartaric acid may be added after alkalisation, in order to lower the pH.
Última edición por Jose el Jue 24 Ene, 2013 19:08, editado 1 vez en total
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