History The True History of Chocolate

Cacao (the tree chocolate comes from) has been one of the movers and shakers in the plant kingdom, there is possible no other plant so intrinsically linked with love and death. From it's role in Mesoamerican religion and social structure, to a 300 year debate in the Catholic church, people have lived and died to attack and defend what is possibly one of the most universally recognized foods on the planet.

The Coe's sift through hundreds of years of history to bring a delightful and intelligent tale of one of the first drugs people will try growing up. While the mild waxy modern "chocolate" served up by Hershy's is often ignored by psychonauts, it has a rich history of mind altering use. At time it's been considered a medicine, food, beverage, mind altering drug, a tool of the devil, divine providence, and even currency. To be honest it's really always been considered all of these things and the Coe's do an excellent job showing that no matter the culture using it, chocolate has always held the same symbolisms.

I'm going to have to give this book 4 out of 5 stars. While it is a fantastically well written history, well worth reading, I felt that the general lack of historical chocolate recipes was a glaring omission.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Thanks for the review