Synopses & Reviews
Chocolate, the world's favorite confection, was unknown in Europe before the sixteenth century, when it was brought back from the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors. Originally consumed as a highly spiced drink and attributed with curative, even aphrodisiacal powers, by the eighteenth century chocolate, served steaming hot with milk and sugar in delicate porcelain cups, had become a favorite indulgence in elegant aristocratic homes and royal courts.
Chocolate prices fell dramatically in the 1830s increasing its popularity. In England, the great Quaker chocolate-producing families, like the Cadburys, promoted chocolate as a "healthful, flesh-forming" drink, which they hoped would replace gin in the cups of the working class. To further their ideals of enlightened capitalism, the Cadbury brothers established a "model village" at Bournville to manufacture their chocolate. Cadbury introduced "French Eating Chocolate" in 1842, and the commercial chocolate bar was born, though it was not to gain in popularity until the end of the century.
Chocolate had been known in North America via Europe since at least 1765, when Dr. James Baker of Massachusetts established the company that today still produces Baker's Chocolate. As in Great Britain, it was not until the nineteenth century that chocolate became truly widespread, due in great part to the enthusiasm of Milton S. Hershey-- a caramel manufacturer from Pennsylvania-- when he saw German chocolate-making machinery at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Two years later, in 1895, the first Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar was sold.
Today, chocolate in all its guises has become an intrinsic part of our lives, something many people cannot live without. This stunning volume traces the history and production of chocolate from the tropical plantations where the cacao bean is cultivated to the finest manufacturers in Europe and the United States. The authors-- a panel of internationally renowned food specialists-- also introduce us to the master confectioners who still make an infinite variety of chocolate according to time-honored, gourmet traditions.
Illustrated with vintage advertising posters and chocolate packages, fine paintings, and lavish, specially commissioned photographs, this beautifully designed book also features a Connoisseur's Guide to the finest purveyors of chocolate throughout the world, as well as ten sinfully good recipes. A perfect gift for Easter, Valentine's Day, or any occasion, The Book Of Chocolate offers a stunning visual feast for chocolate lovers everywhere.
Synopsis
Based on the original Flammarion title, The Book of Chocolate, this lavishly illustrated book, now edited and brought up to date, takes readers on a journey through the history and production of the world's most seductive confection: chocolate. Learn how the cocoa bean, first enjoyed by the Aztecs, has traveled around the globe to produce endless variations of chocolate. Through the eyes of food critics, chefs, journalists, and historians, this book explores the rich history of chocolate, along with a modern-day investigation of its many flavors and forms.
A list of tantalizing recipes and a guide to the finest purveyors of chocolate worldwide make this volume indispensable to chocolate lovers everywhere.
If the list of recipes is not enough to bring out the chocoholic in you, just look at the delicious illustrations, specially commissioned photographs, rare vintage posters, and fine paintings all in honor of this favorite confection.
About the Author
Jeanne Bourin, the renowned French novelist and historian, evokes her lifelong love of chocolate in the preface.
John Feltwell, a British naturalist and
Nathalie Bailleux, a French historian collaborated on the chapter,
Cacao Plantations.
Pierre Labanne, a journalist and collector of chocolate memorabilia, wrote the chapter,
The History of Chocolate. In the chapter
Great Names in Chocolate, a team of journalists investigated the finest chocolate manufacturers in the world.
Odile Perrard, a writer, contributed the sections on France, Belgium, and the Netherlands; Italian chocolate was studied by
Mariarosa Schiaffino, author of
Chocolate in the
Simple Pleasures collection published by Webb & Bower;
Régine Kopp, a journalist, discovered the delights of Swiss chocolate;
Corby Kummer, a contributing editor at
The Atlantic Monthly and author of
The Joy of Coffee told the story of chocolate in the United States and Great Britain; and
Cristina Pauly, an Italian journalist, sampled the riches of Vienna. The final chapter,
The Taste of Chocolate, was written by
Hervé Bizeul, a celebrated French chef and sommelier.