nonfiction chocolate
resources
CHOCOLATE BOOKS
CHOCOLATE: The Consuming Passion by Sandra Boynton – Boynton is a humorist, so many of her opinions about chocolate are meant to be taken tongue-in-cheek. But you still learn a surprising amount about chocolate in the – very enjoyable – process.
Making Chocolate: From Bean to Bar to S’more: A Cookbook by Dandelion Chocolate – This is a deep dive into how chocolate is made, from Greg’s explanation of choosing cacao beans during his travels around the world to visit origin, to the recipes from Dandelion’s café involving the finished single-origin chocolate. Honestly, one of my favorite books about chocolate.
Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution: The Origins, the Makers, and the Mind-Blowing Flavors by Megan Giller — If you are curious about real-world craft chocolate makers, this book gives profiles of individuals and how they got into making craft chocolate.
Chocolatour: A Quest for the World’s Best Chocolate by Doreen Pendgracs – Doreen combines chocolate and travel in this travelogue, which introduces readers to chocolate makers from Europe and chocolate growers from Peru, Ecuador and St. Lucia.
The True History of Chocolate by Sophie D. Coe and Michael D. Coe – The authors attempt to present a dispassionate and accurate history of chocolate. By all accounts it is well-researched. (Michael Coe finished the writing of the book after Sophie’s death, but he emphasized early in the book that it is based on Sophie’s research.) The focus is on the early history, when chocolate was consumed as a beverage.
Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner by Peter P. Greweling and The Culinary Institute of America – If you want to get into the science of how chocolate is used to make confections, this is the resource you need. It also explains step-by-step technique for making the components of some of the more complex confections.
KID’S BOOKS
The Story of Chocolate: It Starts with Cocoa Beans (Step by Step) by Robin Nelson – This is a kid’s picture book that clearly explains the chocolate making process. It’s meant for beginning readers to read on their own.
No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart – This is a surprisingly complex picture book about how interconnected rainforest animals are with cacao trees, so that without them there would be no chocolate.
VIDEOS
Bean to Bar: A Film About Artisan Chocolate – This documentary lets you take a look inside how artisan chocolate is really made, and get to know several craft chocolate makers.
ON-LINE RESOURCES
The Bean to Bar World Map – This interactive map lets you find craft chocolate makers around the world.