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 fr.

Beginnings and religion. --Cacao use in Yucatn among the pre-Hispanic Maya / Gabrielle Vail -- Tempest in a chocolate pot : origin of the word cacao / Martha J. Macri -- Ancient Gods and Christian celebrations : chocolate and religion / Louis Evan Grivetti, Beatriz Cabezon -- Chocolate and sinful behaviors : inquisition testimonies / Beatriz Cabezon, Patricia Barriga, Louis Evan Grivetti -- Nation of nowhere : Jewish role in colonial American chocolate history / Celia D. Shapiro -- Medicine and recipes. -- Medicinal chocolate in new Spain, western Europe, and North America ; -- Chocolate and the Boston smallpox epidemic of 1764 ; -- From bean to beverage : historical chocolate recipes / Louis Evan Grivetti -- Chocolate as medicine : imparting dietary advice and moral values through 19th century North American cookbooks / Deanna Pucciarelli -- Serving and advertising. -- Chocolate preparation and serving vessels in early North America / Amanda Lange -- Silver chocolate pots of colonial Boston / Gerald R. Ward -- Is it a chocolate pot? Chocolate and its accoutrements in France from cookbook to collectible / Suzanne Perkins -- Commercial chocolate pots : reflections of cultures, values, and times / Margaret Swisher -- Role of trading cards in marketing chocolate during the late 19th century / Virginia Westbrook -- Commercial chocolate posters : reflections of cultures, values, and times / Margaret Swisher -- Chocolate at the World's Fairs / Nicholas Westbrook. Economics, education, and crime. -- Pirates, prizes, and profits : cocoa and early American east coast trade ; -- How much is that cocoa in the window? Cocoa's position in the early American marketplace / Kurt Richter, Nghiem Ta -- "C" is for chocolate : chocolate and cacao as educational themes in 18th century North America ; -- Chocolate, crime, and the courts : selected English trial documents, 1693-1834 ; -- Dark chocolate : chocolate and crime in North America and elsewhere / Louis Evan Grivetti -- Colonial and federal eras (part 1). -- Chocolate and other colonial beverages / Frank Clark -- Chocolate production and uses in 17th and 18th century North America / James F. Gay -- Chocolate's early history in Canada / Catherine Macpherson -- A necessary luxury : chocolate in Louisbourg and New France / Anne Marie Lane Jonah, Ruby Fougére, Heidi Moses -- Chocolate manufacturing and marketing in Massachusetts, 1700-1920 / Anne Blaschke -- Boston chocolate : newspaper articles and advertisements, 1705-1825 / Louis Evan Grivetti. Colonial and federal eras (part 2). -- Dutch cacao trade in New Netherland during the 17th and 18th centuries / Peter G. Rose -- Chocolate consumption and production in New York's Upper Hudson River Valley / W. Douglas McCombs -- Chocolate makers in 18th century Pennsylvania / James F. Gay -- Breakfasting on chocolate : chocolate in military life on the Northern frontier, 1750-1780 / Nicholas Westbroook, Christopher D. Fox, Anne McCarty -- Chocolate and North American whaling voyages / Christopher Kelly -- Southeast/southwest borderlands and California. -- Blood, conflict, and faith : chocolate in the southeast and southwest borderlands, 1641-1833 / Beatriz Cabezon, Patricia Barriga, Louis Evan Grivetti -- Sailors, soldiers, and padres : California chocolate, 1542?-1840 / Louis Even Grivetti, Patricia Barriga, Beatriz Cabezon -- From gold bar to chocolate bar : California's chocolate history / Bertram M. Gordon. Caribbean and South America. -- Caribbean cocoa : planting and production / Janet Henshall Momsen, Pamela Richardson -- Caribbean chocolate : preparation, consumption, and trade / Janet Henshall Momsen, Pamela Richardson -- History of cacao cultivation and chocolate consumption in Cuba / Niurka Núñez González Noriega, Niurka Núñez González -- History of cacao and chocolate in Cuban literature, games, music, and culinary arts / Estrella González Noriega, Niurka Núñez González -- Establishing cacao plantation culture in the Atlantic world : Portuguese cacao cultivation in Brazil and West Africa, circa 1580-1912 / Timothy Walker -- Europe and Asia. -- Cure or confection? Chocolate in the Portuguese royal court and colonial hospitals, 1580-1830 / Timothy Walker -- Chocolate in France : evolution of a luxury product ; -- Commerce, colonies, and cacao : chocolate in England from introduction to industrialization ; -- Chinese chocolate : ambergris, emperors, and export ware / Bertam M. Gordon. Production, manufacturing, and contemporary activities. -- Cacao, haciendas, and the Jesuits : letters from New Spain, 1693-1751 / Beatriz Cabezon -- From stone metates to steel mills : the evolution of chocolate manufacturing / Rodney Snyder, Bradley Foliart Olsen, Laura Pallas Brindle -- Adulteration : the dark world of "dirty" chocolate / Laura Pallas Brindle, Bradley Foliart Olsen -- Making colonial era chocolate : the colonial Williamsburg experience / James F. Gay, Frank Clark -- American heritage chocolate / Eric Whitacre, William Bellody, Rodney Snyder -- Twenty-first century attitudes and behaviors regarding the medicinal use of chocolate / Deanna Pucciarelli, James Barrett -- Fieldwork, methodology, and interpretation. -- Symbols from ancient times : paleography and the St. Augustine chocolate saga / Beatriz Cabezon, Louis Evan Grivetti -- Digging for chocolate in Charleston and Savannah / Laura Pallas Brindle, Bradley Foliart Olsen -- Management of cacao and chocolate data : design and development of a chocolate research portal / Matthew Lange -- Base metal chocolate pots in North America : context and interpretation / Phil Dunning, Christopher D. Fox -- Blue and gray chocolate : searching for American Civil War chocolate references / Louis Evan Grivetti -- Chocolate futures : promising areas for further research / Louis Evan Grivetti, Howard-Yana Shapiro.