Paper Palate

“The term chocholism is misleading. I therefore propose two new terms: chocophilia, for those whose love is essentially hedonistic, and chocomania, for those who feel their consumption has taken on the character of a necessity.”

- Doctor Chantal Favre-Bismuth

Indulgence: One Man’s Selfless Search for the Best Chocolate in the World sounds like a dream research project for every reader with a love of chocolate. And the seriousness of chocolate obsession can never be underestimated, as Richardson quickly discovers.

The quote above is heard by Richardson at a seminar at the Universite du Chocolat in Paris (yes, how enlightened are the French indeed!). The talk, entitled “Chocolate Addiction: Pathology or Pleasure?” reveals results of Favre-Bismuth’s toxicology study on chocolate addicts: not people who like milk chocolate (these people are merely addicted to sugar, Favre-Bismuth scoffs), but people who seemingly cannot survive without chocolate that is “black and bitter”.

Chocomaniacs, the study discovered, were often “intensely energetic, competitive types”. Most were on a daily fix of 100g. Richardson tells of how many seminar listeners eventually stand up to confess their own chocolate-fuelled obsessions.

Almost everyone I know loves chocolate. Few foodstuffs in this world have such universal addictive appeal. Each week as I contemplate a sugar-related topic to write about, I find myself reaching into my drawer and compulsively eating a chocolate or two . . . for inspiration, I try to reassure myself.

This chocolate obsession is why Richardson’s book is so fascinating. To begin with, Richardson heads back into history, exploring the cacao bean’s origins in ancient and modern Mexico and then onto its colonial journey.

A chapter on “Chocolate in the old world” takes the reader to Spain, Italy and France, slowly building to the birth of the chocolate industry and its widespread seemingly unstoppable appeal today.

Whilst early chapters can seem a little slow and historically detailed for the hungry reader, in hindsight these readings lay the essential groundwork in appreciating just how far chocolate has physically and spiritually become.

Much of the joy of course, comes in the later chapters, as Richardson takes us on a coveted tour of the Lindt factory in Switzerland–a tour no longer available to the general public–and as he relates his encounters with artisan chocolate makers in both London and Paris.

Described as part travelogue, part cultural history, part literary gastronomy, Indulgence offers a pleasing blend of all three. A list of artisan chocolate makers around the world, and a select bibilography for further reading provide plenty of leads to follow. The comprehensive index at the back of the book is also a useful reference tool.

Winner of Food Book of the Year by the UK Guild of Food Writers, readers are advised to have a bar of chocolate handy when browsing this one.

Dark chocolate. I insist.