Chocolate is nearly always with us-when celebrating or mourning, in love or alone, healthy or sick, happy or sad. This book offers a comprehensive look at how an exotic food grew to play such a central role in our lives.

No food in the world can offer as storied a history as chocolate. Chocolate: A Cultural Encyclopedia focuses on cocoa’s history from ancient Mesoamerican beginnings as a symbol of ritual, life, and death, to its omnipresence in Europe, North America, and the rest of the world. In 10 thematic chapters covering chocolate in society and culture, 80 shorter entries, recipes, and a comprehensive timeline, this new book takes a closer look at how chocolate has served as a medicine, an indulgence, a symbol of decadence, a door to romance, a tempting taboo, a means of survival, and a snack for children and adults alike.

Why did popes and kings so fear their chocolate? Who invented milk chocolate, and why was its formula kept secret? Why did soldiers in World War II despise their chocolate rations? Who makes the most chocolate today? Find out the answers to these questions and more as this book tells you everything you wanted to know-and a lot you didn’t even know existed-about the seed from the world’s favorite fruit tree.

Detailed discussions of 80 chocolate-related topics for those who wish to know more

A compendium of original recipes that have never been published before

In-depth discussion of historical, cultural, and business aspects of chocolate never before available in a single book

Extensive in-text references and bibliography

Inviting and lively text for a general audience

30 visually striking images that bring life to the essays and entries