Du cacao au chocolat

06/10/2009 - Article

A coffee table book on the history of chocolate, the saga of a delicacy known as "the food of the gods".

The author of this work, a scientist specialising in cocoa and a lover of chocolate, takes us on a journey around the world to discover how cocoa is grown and processed.
One by one, we rub shoulders with small farmers, merchants, traders and chocolate-makers. Nutritionists and law-makers then unveil a few secrets and anecdotes. We become chemists to investigate the molecules of the aroma and monitor them during the fermentation and roasting of the beans. And lastly we learn how to taste the chocolate and identify the different terroirs.

Michel Barel trained as a biochemist, and is a researcher and international expert in cocoa and coffee technology working for CIRAD. He has written more than 120 scientific publications and contributed to many scholarly and technical books on cocoa. Du cacao au chocolat, l’épopée d’une gourmandise is the first book he has written for non-specialists.

Du cacao au chocolat
L'épopée d'une gourmandise
Michel Barel
Publ. Quae
2009