On the ChocolateTrail by Rabbi Deborah R. Prinz, Jewish Lights Publishing, 2002, ISBN 978-1-58023-487-0-51899; 237 pages including index, appendices, $18.00
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — Rabbi Deborah Prinz, former spiritual leader of Temple Adat Shalom in nearby Poway, and her husband, Rabbi Mark Hurvitz, who led Congregation Etz Chaim in Ramona, have been traveling and tasting together for many years, all the while indulging their twin passions for learning more about Judaism and about the history of chocolate.
Prinz’s book is an outgrowth of these pursuits — a one-of-a-kind volume that serves up dollops of Jewish history, chocolate recipes, and interesting facts about the uses and connections of chocolate to other religions be they those of ancient Central America or modern-day Catholicism. Along the way, Prinz educates us about ethical problems on cocoa plantations (in some cases, labor conditions amounting to slavery) and also delightfully indulges her taste for chocolate puns, exemplified in the following observation about Father Junipero Serra, who celebrated San Diego’s founding mass in 1769:
“When Father Serra left Spain for his duties in the New World, he nestled chocolate into his personal belongings. One of Serra’s reports about the trip complained that rationed water on the ship did not allow for chocolate drinking.”
Chocolate, like the Torah, is portable, and Sephardic Jews tended to carry their recipes with them wherever they went. Some families, like the Gomez family of Newburgh, N.Y., utilized chocolate as an important ingredient in compiling mercantile fortunes. In Europe, where the molding of chocolates in the image of Saint Nicholas was an established custom, Jews developed the idea of ‘Chanukah gelt’ to embellish their own winter holiday.
On the Chocolate Trail contains information about some of the most famous candies — including “Tootsie Rolls,” which honor the nickname of the daughter of founder Leo Hirshfeld — and informs readers about some of the more interesting chocolate museums and tasting rooms that may be found in various places around the world.
The book is not always easy to read, but it is always sweet.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com