Chocolate: The Consuming Passion

This is a lovely book! Beautiful and funny illustrations, delicious recipes, interesting facts ... "Chocolate The Consuming Passion" covers basically everything any chocolate lover would want to know. It includes chocolate profiles, information about different kinds of chocolate, chocolate myths and funny observations. One example is this: "The greatest tragedies were written by the Greeks and by Shakespeare. Neither knew chocolate." Of course, there is no causality, but still! Although this book is written for children, any chocolate lover will adore it, regardless of age. Actually, one does never really grow out of picture books, at least not the good ones.The first time I saw this book was in the window of the best chocolate store in my town, The Belgian House of Chocolate. I knew I must get it! I have not been disappointed.

I have always had a soft spot for anything Sandra Boynton does, but "Chocolate: The Consuming Passion" is probably my favorite of her books. I have bought it for more chocolate-loving friends than I can count and they have all been thrilled with it. Boynton deftly blends together her signature cartoon animals (who for the most part try to look dignified in less than dignified circumstances--the key to their hilarity), actual chocolate facts (on the front of the book, it says, "Written, Illustrated, and Overresearched by Sandra Boynton"), and a heaping helping of utter silliness. Boynton tosses her own opinion in wherever possible:"Those who favor dark chocolate have little patience with cute candy.""Whoever said, 'The best things in life are free' was, of course, just kidding. The best things in life go for $6.50 a pound and up.""Chocolate is not a privilege; it is a right.""If the remotest possibility exists that you could become snowbound, take this simple precaution: Remove and discard all insulation from ski jacket. Replace with seven lbs. (approx.) of shaved chocolate. Resew seams. Warning: Never warm up in front of a fire without first removing jacket."See especially Boynton's sections on white chocolate and carob (as you might expect, she's a dark chocolate snob, as are so many chocolate aficionados) and her hilarious explanation of the "myth of chocolate's fattingness." Boynton gives helpful information on opening up your own cacao plantation--on which you will need "4,000 or so cacao seedlings and time" and an international section on how to ask for chocolate in half a dozen languages.There are even recipes, including one for "Chocolate Chip Cookie (Theoretical yield: 48 cookies, 2 inches each) and "Hippo Pôt de Mousse." This book has pleasures that keep on giving even after the first, second, or fourteenth reading.

I cannot imagine a better combination of information, humor, and fun concerning the great pleasure we all get from chocolate. The only thing missing from this book were instructions about which chocolates to have ready to fortify yourself as you read and ponder Chocolate -- The Consuming Passion. Since the book describes every possible kind of chocolate (from baking chocolate to white chocolate . . . and of ever possible shape and quality), I suggest that you stock up every variety you can think of. Naturally, you will then get more benefit from the book if you eat a sample of what is being described as you proceed. I estimate that at least five pounds of each type mentioned is about the right quantity. Then, you can savor the experience . . . no matter how fast you eat chocolate!Ms. Boynton notes that "this book was written for the Chocolate Elite -- the select millions who like chocolate in all its infinite variety, using `like' as in `I like to breathe.'"Before going on, let me mention that I had the great honor of providing strategic consulting services for a chocolate business in 1973. It was heaven. I can still remember the wonderful aroma of the plant! In the process, I was thrilled to find out how chocolate is grown, processed, and turned into finished products like chocolate chips. Since that time, I had never seen a book that shared the same kind of information that I learned from working with my client . . . until Chocolate -- The Consuming Passion. So at an information level, the book is terrific.You should know that the humor is even better than the information though. Just when you've really gotten the scoop on what semisweet chocolate is, Ms. Boynton will drop in an unexpected joke. For example, she describes in great detail what happens with chocolate when it is too hot or too cold. Then you turn the page and find that above Dow 4000 chocolate also conglomerates, and you see a list of all the companies that have acquired chocolate businesses. Ms. Boynton's trademark hippos seem especially appropriate in the context of being a serious chocolate aficionado. The subjects covered are truly broad. You begin with a little history of chocolate, including how it was pronounced in different languages. Later, you return to that theme . . . and find out how to ask for chocolate in many more languages. The details on the definitions and ingredients of various chocolates are thorough without being boring. The humor keeps lifting your spirits while refreshing your taste for more information. The humorous "recipes" for making items out of chocolate are pretty funny. I especially enjoyed the suggestions for what to use the results of cooking flops for instead. Now, I was most impressed to find that Ms. Boynton took on the really big issues. Why is 55 percent of all ice cream consumed in the vanilla flavor while only 9 percent is chocolate? Why are delightful chocolate truffles given that cautionary name suggesting moldy fo

What could be better than a book written by my favorite greeting card author and illustrator? And about my favorite vegetable: CHOCOLATE (is a many-splendored thing)! To whet your appetite, I give you what the Pig says (on the reverse cover) from the lecturn/podium to the Turkey, Cow, Cat and Hippo in the audience:Pig: This comprehensive guide answers every possible question about chocolate.Turkey: Is chocolate available in nicer colors than brown?Pig: This thorough guide answers every INTELLIGENT question about chocolate.This is a genuinely educational book, to be sure; but the facts are always thoroughly interlaced with Boynton's inimitable wit (both verbal and graphic), with which she all but pulls your leg off at times while keeping her own tongue firmly in cheek. Buy a candy bar (or better yet, a box of chocolates) from Godiva to go with this book, and you're have the luck of the chimney sweeps follow you (or the lucky lass/lad you give them to) forever.

How Sandra Boynton has managed to follow me lo these many years without me noticing is an amazing feat. How else could she know of my intimate affair with the fruit of the cacao tree? After all, one of my earliest childhood memories is touring the Hershey factory, when you went through the actual factory and not an ersatz, carob-style tour. The book is funny to chocoholics, and I'm sure a complete mystery to anyone else. A great gift, if accompanied by at least a pound of you-know-what.