Chocolate : the nature of indulgence / Ruth Lopez.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lopez, Ruth.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chocolate--History.

Chocolate.

History.

Chocolate industry--History.

Chocolate industry.

Chocolate processing.

Physical Description:

143 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Harry N. Abrams ; Chicago : In association with the Field Museum, 2002.

Summary:

It is a long way from the rainforest to the candy counter, but the story of how chocolate got from one place to the other is a fascinating tale -- as complex as chocolate's flavor -- it is a story that enhances our appreciation of the important role that chocolate may have to play not only in its own survival but also in the preservation of its original environment. Like other natives of the rainforest -- coffee, rubber, mangos, and many species of nuts -- cacao has an uncertain future, for its natural habitat is increasingly threatened with deforestation, whether by farming, grazing, logging, or mining. One does not need a book to appreciate the flavor of fine chocolate, but that flavor is significantly enhanced by the knowledge that one seed from one pod of a tree growing deep in the forest has such phenomenal power. Not only does the taste derived from that seed appeal to millions of people throughout the world, but the story of how that taste became so widespread gives us a unique opportunity to examine so many different aspects of our own culture, the most important of which may be our own relationship to the world around us.

Chocolate is one of the most popular flavors in the world, considered by many the ultimate indulgence, whether it appears in the form of a chocolate candy bar, a glass of chocolate milk, or a dish of chicken mole. Theobroma cacao, the name of the tree that produces chocolate, means "food of the gods," and indeed, the ancient Mesoamericans truly believed that it was a sacred substance. But in seventeenth-century Europe, where chocolate had become a fashionable drink for the wealthy, it was condemned by religious leaders at the same time that doctors praised its medicinal and nutritional value. It seems that chocolate has always stirred passion along with debate.

This richly illustrated book is filled with fascinating facts and stories about chocolate -- how it is grown, how it is processed, and how it has been used over the centuries since its discovery in the rainforests of South America. Hernan Cortes, leader of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, was the first to bring chocolate to Europe, where its bitter flavor was vastly improved by the addition of sugar and spices and where it eventually became a highly valued trade commodity. It was not until the late nineteenth century that condensed milk was added to produce milk chocolate, and it was not until World War I that chocolate was made in the form of bars for eating. Now a multibillion-dollar business, chocolate candy is produced by many international corporate giants and, increasingly, by talented chocolatiers who produce hand-made works of art that melt in your mouth.

In addition to describing the culinary and cultural delights of this delicious food, the author, Ruth Lopez, also investigates the dark side of chocolate -- its role in the slave trade, including the modernday exploitation of child labor in West Africa, and its use in wartime. She warns of the perilous future of chocolate, whose very survival depends on the health of the world's tropical rainforests. Unlike lemons, corn, sugar, and cashews, which can be grown very successfully away from their original habitats, cacao does not thrive in a cultivated environment outside the rainforest. Scientists are now hard at work studying the effects of rainforest destruction on the cacao crop, a subject of deep concern to chocolate manufacturers and chocolate lovers alike. This charming book, published to accompany a traveling exhibition organized by The Field Museum in Chicago, contains no recipes, and it is blissfully free of fat calories. Instead, it offers an abundant array of pictures and a heady supply of little-known chocolate facts and fallacies.

Contents:

1 Turning Trees into Chocolate 9

2 The Drink of the Gods 29

3 Chocolate Goes Abroad 47

Take Two M&Ms and Call Me in the Morning 63

4 Blood, Sweat, and Chocolate 71

War and Chocolate 84

5 Back to America 87

6 Growing the Business 107

7 The Future of Chocolate 129.

Notes:

Errata slip inserted.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0810904039

0810924420

OCLC:

48977476