Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage [Hardcover]

Louis E. Grivetti (Author), Howard-Yana Shapiro (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470121653 | ISBN-13: 978-0470121658 | Publication Date: March 3, 2009 | Edition: 1

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Not only does this book offer careful documentation, it also features new and previously unpublished information and interpretations of chocolate history.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.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grivetti (nutrition, emeritus, Univ. of California, Davis; Food: The Gift of Osiris) and Shapiro (global director of plant science & external research, Mars, Inc.) compile 57 essays by 100 experts—all members of the Chocolate History Group, a UC Davis-Mars collective—in fields ranging from art history to molecular biology; despite these connections to a major U.S. candy producer, branding does not taint this scholarly text on the evolution of chocolate. Antiques aficionados will find four separate studies of chocolate pots engrossing, while crime buffs may be surprised to learn that 13 people were once executed in England for chocolate-related crimes. Ancient chocolate recipes, the role of chocolate in the Inquisition, and an analysis of early chocolate advertising are of particular use to historians. The chapters are arranged in rough chronological, geographical, and topical order, as dictated by the subject matter, and are backed by extensive references. Eleven appendixes, including a comprehensive chocolate time line and a guide to library research etiquette; an index (not seen); and 64 pages of color plates complete this impressive textbook. Recommended for academic libraries and large public libraries.—Rosemarie Lewis, Broward Cty. Pub. Schs., Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Food studies scholars will appreciate the final chapter, which lays out promising areas for future research. The content of this book is deep, rich, sometimes dark, and emphatically not to be digested in a single sitting; rather, it needs to be slowly savored over time in small servings." (CHOICE, August 2009)

"Provides lots of chocolate-related trivia to introduce at your next party." (inform, February 2010)

"This book provides detailed information and interpretations of chocolate history and a wealth of unusual and interesting facts and folklore about one of the world's favorite foods." (Chemistry World, October 2009)

"Eleven appendixes, including a comprehensive chocolate time line and a guide to library research etiquette; an index (not seen); and 64 pages of color plates complete this impressive textbook. Recommended for academic libraries and large public libraries." (Library Journal, April 2009)

"Each essay has extensive references and often numerous endnotes; these are academic articles intended for a scholarly readership." (The Gastronomer's Bookshelf, April 2009)

"Chocolate: History, Culture and Heritage is a scholarly tome, full of articles on chocolate's connection to anthropology, agriculture, religion, ethics, art, medicine and technology." (New York Times, March, 2009)

"A collection of 56 essays edited by Louis E. Grivetti and Howard-Yana Shapiro, which traces the confection's path from pre-Columbian times to its worldwide proliferation in both culinary and medical uses in Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa." (HistoryChannel.com, February 2009)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1064 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470121653
• ISBN-13: 978-0470121658
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.7 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #688,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important, eclectic survey, August 20, 2010

By 

Donald Hausrath (Tucson, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage (Hardcover)

This is indeed a remarkable collection. As the editors stated, "much of the chocolate story has been told elsewhere" and the impressive historical research that went into this book does not attempt to make an encyclopedic sweep of the subject. For example, while you will find a ten page, well-illustrated article on "California's Chocolate History" with 80 footnotes, you will find just over a paragraph on Milton W. Hershey although one of the primary objectives of the study that produced this book was to "determine historical patterns of introduction and dispersal of chocolate products throughout North America." There are two references to the largest chocolate and coco maker in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, Stollwerck Brothers, ( Stolwerck's (sic) in the index). One is a sentence about a chocolate trade card and later a paragraph is included the Stollwerck pavilion at the 1893 Columbian Exposition. Stollwerck, according to a biographer of H J Heinz, "made chocolate like the Krupp steelworks made steel." Among the innovations Heinz and others were to emulate in America were a focus on the purity of the product from source to sales, niche marketing, and reliance on steam-powered machinery. While one of the book's objectives, to "identify the development and evolution of chocolate-related technology in North America," it is best to keep in mind that this important collection of essays sheds light on disparate, fascinating topics, but cannot survey the amazing story of chocolate, in all its "history, culture and heritage."

5 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chocolate, April 8, 2009

By 

Purwo Susanto (Los Angeles,CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage (Hardcover)

This book is written by so many authors from all kind of writers from the University as well as from the Companies.
It is well compiled and nicely arranged in a very thick book!
I would like to congratulate the authors(all of them)especially the editors by building a big Team!
I consider this book is the only historical book on `chocolate which can be used in the industry as well as in the public library !