Beach Reads, Flicks, & Tunes | #PodSaveChocolate Ep53

“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.

If you buy only one general introductory history of chocolate book – this is the one to buy. I have a copy of the first edition, first published in 2006. I was fortunate to meet and correspond with Michael and was the head of the panel for The Big Chocolate Show that recognized him as a Legend of Chocolate in 2017.

My book. Published in October 2007. It’s a little dated today in some aspects of the history and brands, but there is still a lot of relevant information here.

“A connoisseur's guide to acquiring and consuming the world's best chocolates is a lavishly illustrated reference that provides information on cocoa-growing regions, makes recommendations for pairing chocolate with wine, and addresses the latest claims about the health benefits of chocolate.”

Finalist in the Technical/Reference category of the 2008 IACP book awards.

Max Hammond has a life other science-obsessed boys his age only dream of: he travels the world with his bee researcher dad and science writer mom. When the Hammond family arrives in Guatemala to study the enigmatic stingless bees of the Maya, Max meets Itzel, a young Maya girl who introduces him to the magic and wonders of rainforest gardens and animal spirit guides. It’s a world that transforms the meaning of all the science Max has ever learned—but its magic is not always benevolent.

Birgitte is a contributor to TheChocolateLife. This book is in the magical realism genre and is the one book on this list accessible to younger readers as well as adults.

More than two hundred years ago, the great Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus christened the cacao tree Theobroma cacao, “food-of-the-gods cacao.” Truly, chocolate is the closest thing we mortals have to ambrosia. But not all chocolate is created equal, a fact we instinctively know when we bite into an exceptional piece of chocolate. What qualities set artisanal chocolate apart from mass-marketed brands? How does chocolate impact our health? How will the rising popularity of microbatch chocolate affect the industry? To find out, The New Taste of Chocolate, Revised takes us on a journey beginning with Maya and Aztec chocolate rituals, followed by exploring the significance of cacao through the ages, up through groundbreaking contemporary genetic discoveries.

I bought my copy in 2008. Make sure you order the revised edition published in 2009.

These days, people are accustomed to seeing chocolate labeled 54%, 61%, or 72% on grocery store shelves, but some bakers are still confused by what the labeling means and how to use it. In Seriously Bitter Sweet, Alice Medrich presents 150 meticulously tested, seriously delicious recipes―both savory and sweet―for a wide range of percentage chocolates. “Chocolate notes” appear alongside, so readers can further adapt any recipe using the percentage chocolate on hand. The book is a complete revision of Alice’s 2003 Bittersweet, which was named the 2004 IACP Cookbook of the Year. 

A chocolate lover's guide celebrates the world's finest confectioneries as it explains how to tell the difference between good and bad chocolate, introduces new brands of gourmet chocolate to be savored, offers a connoisseur's tips on how to taste chocolate, and presents an entertaining history, lore, myths, and recipes.

I purchased a copy in 2006. Now dated.

Winner of the Society for Economic Botany's Mary W. Klinger Book Award

"A triumph of four-field anthropology. Botany, archaeology, linguistics, ethnography, and a small bit of physical anthropology are seamlessly united. . . . Without integration of the fields, few or none of the interesting conclusions in this work could have been reached."--American Anthropologist

"Contains a watershed of interesting and exciting information. . . . For those with a serious interest in food history and foodways, it is an invaluable source of up-to-date information on one of the most beloved and revered foodstuffs in the Americas."--Austin Chronicle

I pre-ordered this book in 2008 before it was published in 2009. Highly recommended. One of the article authors is Nat Bletter, who went on to found Madre Chocolate.

The Chocolate Tree chronicles the natural and cultural history of Theobroma cacao and explores its ecological niche. Tracing cacao’s journey out of the rain forest, into pre-Columbian gardens, and then onto plantations adjacent to rain forests.

I purchased a copy of this book back in 2007; highly recommended.

A fascinating guide to the history and medical uses of cacao. 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 book is about old-school chocolate; pre-Colombian, Central American, bitter-spicy-foamy-intense blow-your-socks-off chocolate; chocolate beverages made with toasted cocoa beans, water, and indigenous plants.

This book, written by global experts, provides a comprehensive and topical analysis on the economics of chocolate. While the main approach is economic analysis, there are important contributions from other disciplines, including psychology, history, government, nutrition, and geography. 

This absorbing narrative follows the craft community of French chocolatiers—members of a tiny group experiencing intensive international competition—as they struggle to ensure the survival of their businesses. Susan J. Terrio moves easily among ethnography, history, theory, and vignette, telling a story that challenges conventional views of craft work, associational forms, and training models in late capitalism. 

I purchased this book in ~2005 and highly recommend it.

This book provides a comprehensive review of our current [2005] knowledge of the diversity of the species. 

Cocoa and Chocolate,1765-1914 focuses on the period from the Seven Years War, to the First World War, when a surge of economic liberalism and globalization should have helped cocoa producers to overcome rural poverty, just as wool transformed the economy of Australia, and tea that of Japan.

I purchased this book back in 2007

The livelihood of Third World farmers conflicts with saving the remaining tropical forests. The advantages of growing cocoa in cleared primary forest drive from the fertility of virgin soils and low concentrations of weeds, pests and diseases. The consequent emergence of new 'pioneer fronts' has also been affected by cheap labour, relative commodity prices, pests and diseases, credit resources, entrepreneurship, information, physical infrastructures, and government policies. The dynamism of smallholdings and competitive private marketing over estates and marketing boards is demonstrated.

From Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Chocolat, from romantic gift to guilty indulgence, chocolate has a special place in Western popular culture. But what are the hidden histories behind this luxurious commodity? This book examines chocolate production from cocoa bean to chocolate box, illuminating the dynamics of gender, race and empire which have structured the cocoa chain.