Chocolate is nearly always with us―when celebrating or mourning, in love or alone, healthy or sick, happy or sad. This book offers a comprehensive look at how an exotic food grew to play such a central role in our lives.
No food in the world can offer as storied a history as chocolate. Chocolate: A Cultural Encyclopedia focuses on cocoa's history from ancient Mesoamerican beginnings as a symbol of ritual, life, and death, to its omnipresence in Europe, North America, and the rest of the world. In 10 thematic chapters covering chocolate in society and culture, 80 shorter entries, recipes, and a comprehensive timeline, this new book takes a closer look at how chocolate has served as a medicine, an indulgence, a symbol of decadence, a door to romance, a tempting taboo, a means of survival, and a snack for children and adults alike.
Why did popes and kings so fear their chocolate? Who invented milk chocolate, and why was its formula kept secret? Why did soldiers in World War II despise their chocolate rations? Who makes the most chocolate today? Find out the answers to these questions and more as this book tells you everything you wanted to know―and a lot you didn't even know existed―about the seed from the world’s favorite fruit tree.
- Detailed discussions of 80 chocolate-related topics for those who wish to know more
- A compendium of original recipes that have never been published before
- In-depth discussion of historical, cultural, and business aspects of chocolate never before available in a single book
- Extensive in-text references and bibliography
- Inviting and lively text for a general audience
- 30 visually striking images that bring life to the essays and entries
Author(s): Ross Collins
Publisher: ABC-CLIO
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 448
City: Santa Barbara
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Contents
Introduction
Chocolate Chronology
Essays
Natural History of Cacao
Chocolate Conquers the World
Sweet History: Chocolate and Health
Bitter History: Slaving for Chocolate
The Spirit of Chocolate: Myth and Religion
Putting the Sweet in Popular Culture: Chocolate and the Arts
Politics, Exploration, and Military: Cocoa for King and Country
Preparation: Rituals, Recipes, and Poisons
Processing Cacao
Chocolate for Profit: The Business of Cacao
Chocolate-Based Recipes: Dotty Curry
Chocolate Entries: A to Z
Adulteration
Alkali, Alkaline Salts
Antioxidants
Aphorisms
Aphrodisiac
Aztecs (Mexica)
Badianus Manuscript
Baker’s Chocolate, USA
Bean, Cocoa
Beverages
Cacao, Heirloom
Cadbury Chocolate (UK)
Caffeine/Theobromine
Callebaut Chocolate (Belgium
Carob
Chicha (Chocolate Beer)
Chocolat, Chocolate, and Xocolatl
Chocolate Islands (São Tomé and Príncipe)
Chocolate Soldier
Chocolatier (Video Game)
Chocumentary
Climate Change
Cocoa (Computer Programming Language)
Cocoa Butter
Cocoa Powder
Cocoa Shells (Drink and Garden Mulch)
Colmenero, Antonio de Ledesma
Conch, Conching
Cortés, Hernán
Cosmetics
Criollo
Dahl, Roald
Dark Chocolate
Debauve & Gallais (France)
Desserts
Dogs, and Chocolate
Dominicans (Religious Order)
Dufour, Philippe Sylvestre
Fair Trade Chocolate
Fat Bloom on Chocolate
Ferrero Rocher (Italy)
Festivals and Conferences
Flavonoids
Franciscans (Religious Order)
Fry Chocolate (UK)
Gage, Thomas
Ghana
Godiva Chocolate (Belgium)
Hernández, Francisco
Hershey’s Chocolate (USA)
Humoral Medicine
Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire)
Jesuits (Religious Order)
Linnaeus, Carolus
María Theresa (Marie-Thérèse)
Mars Wrigley (USA)
Maya, Mayans
Mesoamerica
Metate
Military Campaigns and Expeditions
Milk Chocolate
Molinillo, Molinet
Nacional Chocolate
Nestlé S.A. (Switzerland)
Nibs
Pandemic of 2020–2022
Pepys, Samuel
Poison
Postage Stamps
Processors
Ruby Chocolate
Slave Trade
Spanish Inquisition
Stubbe, Henry
Tempering
Tourism
Van Houten, Coenraad Johannes and Caspardus
Vegan Chocolate
White Chocolate
White’s Chocolate House (London)
Works Cited
About the Author and Contributors
Index
