Table Of ContentChocolate
Chocolate
A Cultural Encyclopedia
Ross F. Collins
Copyright © 2022 by ABC-CLIO, LLC.
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The publisher has done its best to make sure the instructions and/or recipes in this book are
correct. However, users should apply judgment and experience when preparing recipes, especially
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contained in this book. All yields are approximations.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Collins, Ross F., author.
Title: Chocolate : a cultural encyclopedia / Ross F. Collins.
Description: Santa Barbara, California : ABC-CLIO, [2022] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021058133 (print) | LCCN 2021058134 (ebook) | ISBN
9781440876073 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781440876080 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Chocolate—Encyclopedias. | Chocolate—Social
aspects—Encyclopedias. | BISAC: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Industries /
Food Industry | HISTORY / Civilization
Classification: LCC TP640 .C675 2022 (print) | LCC TP640 (ebook) | DDC
664/.5003—dc23/eng/20211221
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021058133
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021058134
ISBN: 978-1-4408-7607-3 (print)
978-1-4408-7608-0 (ebook)
26 25 24 23 22 1 2 3 4 5
This book is also available as an eBook.
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This book is printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
Contents*
Introduction ix
Chocolate Chronology xv
Essays
Natural History of Cacao 1
Chocolate Conquers the World 13
Sweet History: Chocolate and Health 31
Bitter History: Slaving for Chocolate 47
The Spirit of Chocolate: Myth and Religion 61
Karl Bakkum
Putting the Sweet in Popular Culture: Chocolate and the Arts 73
Michael J. Stein
Politics, Exploration, and Military: Cocoa for King and Country 85
Preparation: Rituals, Recipes, and Poisons 93
Processing Cacao 107
Chocolate for Profit: The Business of Cacao 119
Chocolate-Based Recipes 131
Dotty Curry
Chocolate Entries: A to Z 143
Adulteration 145
Alkali, Alkaline Salts 148
* All chapters/essays are authored by Ross F. Collins unless noted otherwise.
vi Contents
Antioxidants 150
Aphorisms 152
Aphrodisiac 157
Aztecs (Mexica) 160
Badianus Manuscript 163
Baker’s Chocolate, USA 164
Bean, Cocoa 166
Beverages 169
Cacao, Heirloom 173
Cadbury Chocolate (UK) 177
Caffeine/Theobromine 182
Callebaut Chocolate (Belgium) 184
Carob 185
Chicha (Chocolate Beer) 187
Chocolat, Chocolate, and Xocolatl 188
Chocolate Islands (São Tomé and Príncipe) 190
Chocolate Soldier 194
Chocolatier (Video Game) 197
Chocumentary 198
Climate Change 198
Cocoa (Computer Programming Language) 200
Cocoa Butter 201
Cocoa Powder 206
Cocoa Shells (Drink and Garden Mulch) 209
Colmenero, Antonio de Ledesma 211
Conch, Conching 214
Cortés, Hernán 218
Cosmetics 220
Criollo 222
Dahl, Roald 227
Dark Chocolate 228
Debauve & Gallais (France) 230
Desserts 232
Dogs, and Chocolate 234
Dominicans (Religious Order) 236
Dufour, Philippe Sylvestre 237
Fair Trade Chocolate 241
Contents vii
Fat Bloom on Chocolate 245
Ferrero Rocher (Italy) 246
Festivals and Conferences 250
Flavonoids 252
Franciscans (Religious Order) 255
Fry Chocolate (UK) 257
Gage, Thomas 261
Ghana 264
Godiva Chocolate (Belgium) 268
Hernández, Francisco 271
Hershey’s Chocolate (USA) 273
Humoral Medicine 278
Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) 281
Jesuits (Religious Order) 285
Linnaeus, Carolus 289
María Theresa (Marie-Thérèse) 291
Mars Wrigley (USA) 293
Maya, Mayans 298
Mesoamerica 301
Metate 302
Military Campaigns and Expeditions 303
Milk Chocolate 308
Molinillo, Molinet 313
Nacional Chocolate 317
Nestlé S.A. (Switzerland) 320
Nibs 326
Pandemic of 2020–2022 331
Pepys, Samuel 333
Poison 335
Postage Stamps 340
Processors 343
Ruby Chocolate 347
Slave Trade 351
Spanish Inquisition 356
Stubbe, Henry 358
Tempering 361
Tourism 363
viii Contents
Van Houten, Coenraad Johannes and Caspardus 367
Vegan Chocolate 370
White Chocolate 373
White’s Chocolate House (London) 374
Works Cited 379
About the Author and Contributors 413
Index 415
Introduction
Probably no food in history has become as enrobed into world culture as choco-
late. Its mythical beginnings tell a tale of ancient empires and great kings. The
mysterious Olmecs, the mighty Maya; both civilizations grew to tower over Cen-
tral America, and then fall into ruin, long before the rest of the world knew they
existed. The Aztecs had taken power by the time of Columbus. Early Spanish
explorers were dumbfounded to discover an entire culture underpinned by an
almond-shaped bean natives called xocolatl. The food was part of Aztec wed-
dings, funerals, harvests, and human sacrifice. It was a form of currency. It was a
drink of the gods, and a drink of an emperor who, purportedly, relied on it for
potency during visits to his mistresses. This was probably not literally true. And
yet it was mythically true, in the sense that it became the first of a series of fables
and tales, usually fascinating, sometimes lurid, often fanciful, that have for centu-
ries surrounded the lore of chocolate.
The first Spanish colonizers in the New World disdained chocolate. At the time,
it was usually an unsweetened beverage ritualized in Aztec culture but common-
place in the Maya culture of Mesoamerica. It was presumed to be a medicine,
perhaps because it tasted somewhat bitter. But colonizers saw its importance to
the natives and realized chocolate could be one answer to the real reason behind
colonial conquest: to get rich. In appropriating native customs, the Spanish and
Portuguese acquired a taste for chocolate. But they added sugar. That was the first
of several European changes that brought this peculiar beverage of the Spanish
and Portuguese colonies to eventually adorn the tables of popes and aristocrats
throughout Europe.
Chocolate was nearly always consumed as a drink during the first three centu-
ries of its history in the Old World, and for probably two more millennia before
that in the Americas. Because the first European occupiers of New World choco-
late lands were strongly Catholic, chocolate early on became associated with the
Roman Catholic Church. Chocolate culture in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and
Portugal) grew to widespread use among the aristocracy both secular and reli-
gious. Catholic Orders such as the Jesuits established extensive cacao operations
to pay their taxes to the Crown and to support their missionary work. The pope
became familiar with chocolate as valuable gifts from the friars, and his close
association with Italian aristocracy likely spread chocolate first to Italy. From
