From the Jewish library: ‘On the Chocolate Trail’

By Sheila Orysiek

SAN DIEGO — If one needs a reason to get on a trail – searching for chocolate is a better reason than most.  In On the Chocolate Trail:  A Delicious Adventure Connecting Jews, Religions, History, Travel, Rituals and Recipes to the Magic of Cacao, (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2013),  Rabbi Deborah R. Prinz and her rabbi husband, Mark Hurvitz, explore the history of chocolate.  The journey begins with its pre-Columbian cultivation in the Western Hemisphere to its worldwide conquest as a unique and ubiquitous delight.

Through the centuries it has assumed many forms and fulfilled many needs.

Initially consumed as a liquid, it has now evolved into many other shapes and consistencies such as a  powder, chip, morsel, bud, bar, flake and kiss.  Baked, boiled, melted, cooled, iced, crumbled and chunked – it is beloved in every form.  Used for religious purposes by the people inhabiting the Western Hemisphere, it was also incorporated into the rituals of the Catholic Missions.

The Sephardic Jews of the Iberian (Portugal/Spain) Peninsula were heavily involved in the business of chocolate, using their commercial contacts to ship it across oceans and continents (all the while consuming it themselves).  After the Expulsion from Spain, they took their business involvement with chocolate with them to Europe and on to the Ottoman Empire.

Prinz recounts her trips in search of this history, includes recipes (both old and new), and considers the cultivation, manufacture and purchase of chocolate in light of some less than desirous business practices – such as the use of child labor – and other social justice issues.

The book is a quick and tasty journey which was helped along by the Elite (from Israel) bar of dark chocolate in my hand.
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Orysiek is a freelance writer who specializes in arts and literature.  You may send your comment to  sheila.orysiek@sdjewishworld.com, or post it on this website provided that the rules below are observed.

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