ChocLingo™
- the Terminology of Chocolates
Here are some quick definitions of commonly used chocolate terms.
Ganache
A mixture of chocolate and fresh dairy cream
Praline
A smooth sweetened nutty centre, without any cream
(In the French and German languages, the word is simply used to mean “a chocolate” of
any kind.)
Gianduja
[Pronounced “jarn-doo-ya”] A ridiculous Italian word which simply refers to a praline mass
mixed with chocolate
Truffle
A chocolate rolled in cocoa powder or other material.
Cacao (or kakao)
= Cocoa
Cocoa beans grow inside cocoa pods which grow on cocoa trees. When the beans have been fermented, roasted and crushed, they constitute cocoa mass (a.k.a. cocoa liquor) which is the dark bitter ingredient used in all real chocolate. Cocoa powder is not an ingredient of chocolate, but merely the residue left after cocoa butter has been squeezed out - for use in making chocolate (and these days, some lipsticks). Swap the word "cacao" for "cocoa" in every instance in the above paragraph, and the meaning is the same and equally correct.
Cocoa
A corruption of the word "cacao", evidently caused by waterfront workers in England some centuries past, when they confused it with coconut. "Cocoa" and "cacao" are exactly the same and can be used interchangeably. In every language other than English - whether European, Asian etc. - the term "cacao/kakao" is universally used and "cocoa" does not exist.
Do you have questions about other terms?
Contact us and we’ll add the terms to ChocLingo™