Description
Book SynopsisA 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.
Today there are many different forms of drinking chocolate in Latin America, most of which reflect European (Spanish) influence, incorporating sugar, cinnamon, and milk.
The aim of this work is to peel back the years of cultural cross-pollination and anatomize the original Cacao-based beverages, which were richer, more complex, more potent, and darker (in every sense) than modern forms of chocolate.
This book delves into the ancient history of the human relationship with the cocoa tree, Theobroma cacao; it dissects the pharmacological properties of chocolate to the fullest possible extent; and it divulges the mythical and magical associations of human interactions with this incredible plant.
Table of ContentsDISCLAIMER
A WORD ON ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS
INTRODUCTION
PART I: CHOCOLATE ROOTS
CHAPTER ONE - A potted history of chocolate
CHAPTER TWO - Bodies of chocolate
PART II: MEDICINAL CHOCOLATE
CHAPTER THREE - The chocolate apothecary
CHAPTER FOUR - Pharmaceutical chocolate
CHAPTER FIVE - Chocolate, love, and bondage (Part I)
CHAPTER SIX - Associates and accomplices
CHAPTER SEVEN - Chocolate, love, and bondage (Part II)
CHAPTER EIGHT - Chocolate formulary
PART III: METAPHYSICAL CHOCOLATE
CHAPTER NINE - Death by chocolate
CHAPTER TEN - The dark side of Venus
CONCLUSION
ENDNOTES
APPENDICES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INDEX
