Apr 15, 2011

Chocolate Wars: The 150-Year Rivalry Between the World's Greatest Chocolate Makers

It's a highly existential thing going on here (unlike many an other matter) -- maybe that's why we so enjoyed the book. From a review by Foreign Affairs. (Today's easter egg is a nod to V -- The Falcon)
This is the story, initially set in the nineteenth century, of seven chocolate makers -- three English, one Dutch, two Swiss, and one American -- struggling to produce salable products.
Eventually, determined entrepreneurs met the technical challenges of converting a bitter bean into the many delicious forms of chocolate familiar today. The three English firms -- Fry, Cadbury, and Rowntree -- were run by Quaker families, and the founder of the American one, Milton Hershey, had gone to a Quaker school. All the companies were imbued with a strong sense of social responsibility, founding orphanages, creating model towns, and engaging in other good works as they prospered.

No comments: