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A Dark History of Chocolate looks at our long relationship with this ancient ‘food of the Gods’. The book examines the impact of the cocoa bean trade on the economies of Britain and the rest of Europe, as well as its influence on health, cultural and social trends over the centuries. Renowned food historian Emma Kay takes a look behind the façade of chocolate – first as a hot drink and then as a sweet – delving into the murky and mysterious aspects of its phenomenal global growth, from a much-prized hot beverage in pre-Colombian Central America to becoming an integral part of the cultural fabric of modern life. From the seductive corridors of Versailles, serial killers, witchcraft, medicine and war to its manufacturers, the street sellers, criminal gangs, explorers and the arts, chocolate has played a significant role in some of the world’s deadliest and gruesome histories. If you thought chocolate was all Easter bunnies, romance and gratuity, then you only know half the story. This most ancient of foods has a heritage rooted in exploitation, temptation and mystery. With the power to be both life-giving and ruinous.
“A beautifully written . . . and illustrated history of the Food of the Gods, from the Olmecs to present-day developments.”—Chocolatier This delightful tale of one of the world’s favorite foods draws on botany, archaeology, and culinary history to present a complete and accurate history of chocolate. It begins some 4,000 years ago in the jungles of Mexico and Central America with the chocolate tree, Theobroma Cacao, and the complex processes necessary to transform its bitter seeds into what is now known as chocolate. This was centuries before chocolate was consumed in generally unsweetened liquid form and used as currency by the Maya and the Aztecs after them. The Spanish conquest of Central America introduced chocolate to Europe, where it first became the drink of kings and aristocrats and then was popularized in coffeehouses. Industrialization in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries made chocolate available to all, and now, in our own time, it has become once again a luxury item. The third edition includes new photographs and revisions throughout that reflect the latest scholarship. A new final chapter on a Guatemalan chocolate producer, located within the Pacific coastal area where chocolate was first invented, brings the volume up-to-date.
Chocolate layer cake. Fudge brownies. Chocolate chip cookies. Boxes of chocolate truffles. Cups of cocoa. Hot fudge sundaes. Chocolate is synonymous with our cultural sweet tooth, our restaurant dessert menus, and our idea of indulgence. Chocolate is adored around the world and has been since the Spanish first encountered cocoa beans in South America in the sixteenth century. It is seen as magical, addictive, and powerful beyond anything that can be explained by its ingredients, and in Chocolate Sarah Moss and Alec Badenoch explore the origins and growth of this almost universal obsession. Moss and Badenoch recount the history of chocolate, which from ancient times has been associated with sexuality, sin, blood, and sacrifice. The first Spanish accounts claim that the Aztecs and Mayans used chocolate as a substitute for blood in sacrificial rituals and as a currency to replace gold. In the eighteenth century chocolate became regarded as an aphrodisiac—the first step on the road to today’s boxes of Valentine delights. Chocolate also looks at today’s mass-production of chocolate, with brands such as Hershey’s, Lindt, and Cadbury dominating our supermarket shelves. Packed with tempting images and decadent descriptions of chocolate throughout the ages, Chocolate will be as irresistible as the tasty treats it describes.
"From its origin as the sacred, bitter drink of South American rulers to the familiar candy bars sold by today's multimillion dollar businesses, people everywhere have fallen in love with chocolate, the world's favorite flavor...Join science author HP Newquist as he explores chocolate's fascinating history."--
'You'll never look at chocolate the same way again.' Quill & Quire (Canada) Chocolate is synonymous with pleasure, but the real story of chocolate is often far from sweet. Bitter Chocolate begins by tracing the fascinating origins and lore of the cocoa craze while showing that exploitation and inequity have always been closely tied to chocolate production throughout its long history. The modern heart of Bitter Chocolate is Carol Off's inside look at the situation in the Ivory Coast in West Africa, which produces nearly half of the world's cocoa beans. Ground-breaking and eye-opening, Bitter Chocolate is a social history, a passionate, personal investigative account and a brave exposé of the workings of a multi-billion-dollar industry that has institutionalised misery as it has served our pleasures.
International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) 2010 Award Finalists in the Culinary History category. Chocolate. We all love it, but how much do we really know about it? In addition to pleasing palates since ancient times, chocolate has played an integral role in culture, society, religion, medicine, and economic development across the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe. In 1998, the Chocolate History Group was formed by the University of California, Davis, and Mars, Incorporated to document the fascinating story and history of chocolate. This book features fifty-seven essays representing research activities and contributions from more than 100 members of the group. These contributors draw from their backgrounds in such diverse fields as anthropology, archaeology, biochemistry, culinary arts, gender studies, engineering, history, linguistics, nutrition, and paleography. The result is an unparalleled, scholarly examination of chocolate, beginning with ancient pre-Columbian civilizations and ending with twenty-first-century reports. Here is a sampling of some of the fascinating topics explored inside the book: Ancient gods and Christian celebrations: chocolate and religion Chocolate and the Boston smallpox epidemic of 1764 Chocolate pots: reflections of cultures, values, and times Pirates, prizes, and profits: cocoa and early American east coast trade Blood, conflict, and faith: chocolate in the southeast and southwest borderlands of North America Chocolate in France: evolution of a luxury product Development of concept maps and the chocolate research portal Not only does this book offer careful documentation, it also features new and previously unpublished information and interpretations of chocolate history. Moreover, it offers a wealth of unusual and interesting facts and folklore about one of the world's favorite foods.
A fascinating account for teen readers that captures the history, science, and economic and cultural implications of the harvesting of cacao and creation of chocolate. Readers of Chew On This and The Omnivore's Dilemma will savor this rich exposé.
This shocking exposé of the corruption and exploitation at the heart of the multibillion-dollar cocoa industry is “an astounding eye-opener that takes no prisoners” (Quill & Quire, starred review). Bitter Chocolate is both an absorbing social history and a passionate investigation into an industry that has institutionalized abuse as it indulges our whims. Award-winning journalist Carol Off traces the fascinating evolution of chocolate from the sixteenth century banquet table of Montezuma’s Aztec court to the bustling factories of Hershey, Cadbury, and Mars. In what will be a shocking revelation to many, Off exposes how slavery and injustice remain a key aspect of its production even today. In the Ivory Coast, the world’s leading producer of cocoa beans, profits from the multibillion-dollar chocolate industry fuel bloody civil war and widespread corruption. Faced with pressure from a crushing “cocoa cartel” demanding more beans for less money, poor farmers have turned to the cheapest labor pool possible: thousands of indentured children who pick the beans but have never themselves known the taste of chocolate. “Bitter Chocolate is less a book about chocolate than it is a study of racism, imperialism and oppression as told through the lens of a single commodity.” —The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Benjamin loves chocolate. He also knows a lot about it. But one person knows more - his grandfather Marco, otherwise known as the Chocolate King. Benjamin’s family arrive in France at the beginning of the 17th century, having escaped the Spanish Inquisition. They have nothing but the clothes on their backs and as many cocoa beans as they can carry. Back in Spain, Benjamin’s grandfather Marco was El Rey de Chocolate, famed for his delicious hot chocolate drink, a recipe he claims he learned from an intrepid Spanish explorer. But now, if the family are to make a living, they must persuade the people of France to fall in love with Marco’s strange mud-colored concoction. Benjamin is desperate to help, dreaming that he might grow up to wear the Chocolate King crown. Then, one day, Benjamin causes chaos in the kitchen. Covered head-to-toe in chocolate, he stumbles into the street and straight into the path of the real King - the King of France. Finally, the family get the breakthrough they need, and all of Benjamin’s dreams start to come true.
The Secret Life of Chocolate is a book about chocolate. Not the sweet, mass-produced fatty confection most of us are familiar with, though. This is about old-school chocolate - pre-Colombian, Central American, bitter-spicy-foamy-intense-blow-your-socks-off chocolate. Chocolate beverages made with roasted beans, water, spices, and indigenous plants. The book delves into the ancient history of the human relationship with the cocoa bean tree, Theobroma cacao, dissects the pharmacological properties of chocolate to the fullest possible extent, and divulges the mythical and magical associations of human interactions with this incredible plant.